I had my pre-trip service last night, when my mechanic went over the entire bike, using a little torch to check all the electrics. Luckily he did, a rat had built a nest under the tank. It had carefully pulled in some scrunched up newspaper, a bit of the broom, dog hair and a beanie. FUCKNOSE how it managed to stuff everything in to the space without me noticing, except I haven't had the tank up since my last trip.
Rick said it must hop out when I get on the bike every morning and hop back in when I get home at night, because it all but had a stereo and a disco ball in there.
That's why I go to my mechanic, he misses nothing.
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I started my apprenticeship as a motorcycle mechanic in '79 at a motorcycle wreckers. The Master was a great bloke who taught me a lot about bikes and had a wonderful philosophy that he tried to instil in me; "If it's man-made its fixable". He is a legend, can fabricate anything, tune any bike and find the most obscure problems quickly. But he was a hopeless businessman and folded business after business.
He was employed by a qualified motorcycle mechanic who happened to be a hopeless mechanic but a shrewd businessman. The Boss was also a shyster, he would be on my back to get bikes serviced ASAP. He'd actually tell me not to bother with things like valve clearances and oil filters. He'd tell me to 'crack' the oil filter to make it look like we'd been in there and to change only the spark plugs and oil.
The Master would calm me down and say things like "focus on learning and improving your skills, speed will come with experience". He'd step between the Boss and myself, ensuring the services were done correctly.
One day the Master went his own way to start (and fold) another bike shop. The Boss maintained the rage and I left three days later, to a competitor around the corner who was an engineer by profession, motorcyclist by passion. He was another fantastic teacher and also a hopeless businessman. Fortunately I was able to complete my time there before his business collapsed.
I then worked for a succession of bike shops, wreckers and dealerships. Eventually subbying out to various places. Always the pressure to get the job done in the least amount of time (fair enough) but occasionally specifically told how to do the service. I'd always fight it and get my own way. But eventually I got the shits with the bike trade and left because the honest guys where getting fewer and fewer.
So now I do something completely different, but my heart is still with tuning and repairing motorcycles. It really is shit money for the knowledge and skills you need to maintain, let alone for the tools you need to fab or buy. I've kept my skills up and have done a lot of work on Busa's over the last 12 months. I love them. They're a culmination of all the learnings the Japs made from their UJM mistakes over the years. The design of the engine is just so right and so simple. They've engineered out most of the faults we in the trade had to make workarounds for.
Maybe one day I'll go back to tuning, repairing and modifying motorcycles for a living. I might even take on an apprentice to pass on my skills and knowledge. I look forward to that day.
Camel
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