By Richandall on Sunday, May 26, 2002 - 09:53 am:

I use a local self-employed bike mechanic to do the work that is beyond me. He came recommended & seemed to know his stuff.

He fitted my new Sportec M-1's on Friday, collecting & delivering, & I took the bike out to my favourite fast & twisty bits on Saturday.

Forty minutes later I'd had my andrenaline high & was coasting through a village when I noticed a clunk each time I touched the front brake lever.

Stopped to investigate & found the RHS caliper hanging by its pipe with both securing bolt holes empty.

Checked the LHS caliper securing bolts & extracted them with my fingers - the spannerman had forget to tighten the nuts.

The nice part is, three bikers stopped to assist within a few minutes - two in vehicles!

And the really nice part is, I'm sitting at this keyboard typing in my experience, not giving you my views on the health service & hospital food.

Point is: What would you say to the mechanic that he might remember? Wit & brevity is preferred!

What have I learned? That one of the wisest posts I ever read on this site - and promptly forgot - was "I check the nuts have been tightened when someone's worked on my bike".

The only thing more dangerous than a nut with a spanner is a loose nut without one. (I can't believe I just said that)

- Rich




- Keep your nuts on! 

By Diablo_Mille_R on Sunday, May 26, 2002 - 10:04 am:

Christ Rich - that is appalling. You were probably a lot closer than you think to a big one, it does not bear thinking about if the caliper had jammed the front wheel......

One idea for you, if the caliper has hung on the brake line it will be well worth a few quid to replace the brake line, you never know if it has damaged the union or pipe by pulling it tight. Well worth a check I suggest.

Hope you find a good result, at least they should pay for a new set of caliper bolts. As the std ones are like toffee anyway RSVR.net do replacement ones in titanium, a lot tougher than std but not cheap.

What would I say, "you owe me a set of caliper bolts", then not take your bike back there!

LAter,
Rich  

By Befbever on Sunday, May 26, 2002 - 10:33 am:

Berluddy hell, Rich!
Having had similar experiences myself (how about ALL the brake lines ripped when the bike was in for a service. The mechanic luckily spotted it when replacing pads. And the lines were Frentubo...), my advice is not to think about this experience in the future when you're riding. It'll ruin you confidence.
What I usually do when having worked on the bike myself, is check the bolts more than once in the next days. I trust my mechanic more than I trust myself...
 

By Daz on Sunday, May 26, 2002 - 12:58 pm:

Fuggin' hell!!

I'd say:

"Head or stomach?!"

Glad you are okay though Rich!!

Daz 

By Richandall on Monday, May 27, 2002 - 01:43 am:

Unless Yous Guys came up with something better, I'll tell him I had a problem with the brakes & ask him to come over & take a look at them. I've left them exactly as they were at the roadside when I climbed off to take a dekko at them. This is what I saw....Caption Competition, anyone?



- Rich

 

By Diablo_Mille_R on Monday, May 27, 2002 - 02:02 am:

Aprilia launch new invisible caliper mounting system 

By Daz on Monday, May 27, 2002 - 02:19 am:

"Rich was determined to improve his corner entry speed"  

By Rca on Monday, May 27, 2002 - 02:27 am:

I would say you should check the brake hose, caliper, front wheel, and lower fork leg for nicks and scratches or any other damage. If you find any then the mechanic should pay to replace these items. If you get no joy, take him to court. You should also tell everyone else who this mechanic is so that no one else suffers from his mistakes.  

By Mental_Trev on Monday, May 27, 2002 - 05:45 am:

Not happy with hub-mounted discs BUT not yet entirely convinced about a fully rim-mounted braking system, Rich decided to try out a compromise solution!  

By Scotty on Monday, May 27, 2002 - 06:23 am:

I think the picture says it all..... can you not just show him that picture and ask do you see something wrong here?

Then ask do you believe its safe for me to ride a bike that this has occured on???

Then say I'll settle for you providing me two new bolts and I'll consider not reporting you for being negligent to the relevant authorities.

Rich - You might like to take you business elsewhere in the future!  

By Richandall on Monday, May 27, 2002 - 06:36 am:

Rich's liason with Brembo took a turn for the worse when after hooning her deftly across three counties he unexpectedly shot his bolt, leaving her dangling, insecure and somewhat superfluous.
(to be cont.)

- Rich

 

By Mark on Monday, May 27, 2002 - 10:18 am:

Hearing about fully floating discs, a bright mechanic decide to try fully floating calipers!  

By Mik on Monday, May 27, 2002 - 11:44 am:

...Sparky, the newest mechanic to join the team, was keen on all things motorsport. He'd been up the whole night previous reading the chapter on unsprung mass and was keen to exersize his new found knowledge.
He'd previously learned that those rubber things which were stuck onto the brake lumps were sufficiently flexible to do a full revolution of the round bit and effectivly stop the bike by resting on the front of the up and down pieces much like the disc lock does on his mates' peugeot speedster.
He looked forward to the excitement on the customers' face when he discovered the performance enhancement...

Mik  

By Crmc33 on Monday, May 27, 2002 - 12:31 pm:

"that should stop the damn disc warping"  

By Diablo_Mille_R on Monday, May 27, 2002 - 01:18 pm:

Rich,

I've just looked (in horror again!) at your pic and realised a problem. If you look at the RH disc the runnign area is two colours. This is because the bottom set of pads in the caliper are half on and half off the disc. If you have used the front brake lever like this (looks like you have from the disc colours) then it has probably worn the pads with a step in them. If you put the caliper back on it will then tip the pistons in the bores and do nasty things. make sure you take the pads out of that caliper and check they are dead flat. If not, new pads please. Also check the disc surface. I will be honest and say it will be a miracle if it has not warped the disc, do you have a dial gauge to check the runout?

Just my thoughts, you need to make clear any problems to the mechanic now, as after the event he can say it was caused afterwards and you cannot claim.

Hope you get it sorted though.
Cheers,
Rich  

By Richandall on Tuesday, May 28, 2002 - 02:19 am:

Rich DMR - you're quite right about the disc markings. Judging by the roughness on the wheel rim where the calipers jammed against it I'd say the brakes got some heavy usage while working with the new 'fully floating calipers' (nice one, Mark). I'll take it up, Rich, thanks for noticing.

To do him justice, spannerman took responsibility for his FU. After getting my call he said, 'I put the phone down & went white as a sheet' and 'I couldn't have tightened them'. Afterwards, as I watched him kneel down and put a spanner to a nut on the other caliper to remove it as a pattern, and knowing it was not even finger tight, I couldn't help thinking, 'This is your moment of truth'. He went fairly quiet as I watched the nut slip out, untorqued.

So. I'm going for braided hoses - any idea where I can find them? - and high tensile bolts on both front calipers. I've got an RSV shock arriving tomorrow. The bank holiday week end is going to be a busy one!

- Rich

 

By Dangerous on Tuesday, May 28, 2002 - 03:04 am:

Rich,

Regarding the pad replacement, get both sets replaced, as the braking effectiveness should be the same both sides to balance the forces on the forks.

Furthermore, does the picture show your front mudguard to have been damaged by the caliper? (don't remember you mentioning it).

Dangerous  

By Crmc33 on Tuesday, May 28, 2002 - 03:09 am:

youre gonna bankrupt the poor guy at this rate!

 

By Richandall on Tuesday, May 28, 2002 - 04:52 am:

Dangerous - slight damage to mudguard due to owner-induced disc lock situation...

I'm not upgrading the bike on the mechanic's bank account - that's what insurance company's are for!

But I can save the labour (£17 + VAT/hour) if he gives his time and I pay for the new bits - except where damage is a consequence of the bolts dropping off. I guess if one pad is 'stepped' I (he!) should replace both front sets.

(Brembo's Affair - cont.)
After several days in a state of free floating anxiety, Brembi (as she preferred to be known) decided to make a fresh start in life. Now where had she read that gold braid was the new black? Would Rich still love her with her new high tech implants? And if she returned to him would she ever be able to stop him again? Troubled thoughts crowded into her mind. Still, she reflected as she reached for the dot four, he would always need her when life in the fast lane got too much for him.
(To be concluded)

- Rich



 

By Dave on Wednesday, June 05, 2002 - 07:55 am:

Rich - he didn't tighten the bolts, he pays for ALL damage AND labour - end of story! His insurance should pay for his incompetance. I had the same reciently and am getting a brand new rear oz because the free floating rear caliper put some slight scrapes in the rim...  

By Daz on Wednesday, June 05, 2002 - 10:16 am:

Hey Dave, that is great to hear mate, sorted!!  

By Dave on Thursday, June 06, 2002 - 02:04 am:

Er - not so sorted actually - my starter clutch is apparently f*cked! , and my mecco is at the iom!

Symptom, you know on the odd occasion when your starting it, and it stoppes with a kind of brief grinding 'kshshshsh' noise - well that has been getting steadily worse over the last week or so, and then finnaly it just wouldn't start, every attempt at turning it over ended in this!

I called Steve (Harry Nash) who immediately said starter clutch, he's allready done one this month, and I think I read riecently of someone else with this problem.

Needless to say my face is on the long side at the mo - especially as, thanks to the TT I could only find an ER 5 to rent for the week - on the bright side I've decided to get a commuter/winter bike, I can't decide between a H*nd* Bros or an XJR13, which I'm test-riding this Sat! 

By Daz on Thursday, June 06, 2002 - 11:21 am:

Ah balls, sorry Dave! If it's not one thing it's another eh?

Still it'll make you appreciate the times when the thing is actually running okay eh?!

XJR13?! Go Dave!!! 

By Befbever on Thursday, June 06, 2002 - 11:44 am:

Dave,
(where the bloody hell have you been?)Why not get a Virago for winter? That way, if it snows and you've got wide-legged trousers on, you can have your very own snowballs!

XJR13: watch those brakes! A mate of mine bought one and binned it within 300 miles. Breaking his arm in the process...

Sorry to hear about your misfortune, mate. Hope you get it sorted. Psst! Faults database...

Btw, Assen TT is off. Assen WSB is on. See you in September? 

By Scotty on Friday, June 07, 2002 - 02:03 am:

Dave - sorry to hear about your problems.

Speaking of new/changes of bikes Suzuki DRZ-400E for me I think! Maybe excercising my Credit Card for one this weekend!

As to whats happending with my falco well.... I should probably sell it before it costs me too much more money in routine maintenance and servicing.

BTW speaking of problems I had a small oil leak from the right hand side of the engine from the head (looks like gasket/seal issue). I say had cos it seems to have got a lot worse recently. I have a feeling that I'll be told to f-off if I ask for this to be done on warranty now.  

By Daz on Friday, June 07, 2002 - 10:14 am:

Scotty - have fun at the weekend then mate, go for it!! First person to post pics of their new bikes is the winner (thats me, you and Gav so far who can contest this comp, lol!)... 

By Andyjfalco on Wednesday, June 12, 2002 - 11:06 am:

Holy Shit! I've not been on the site in the last two weeks so my comments are a bit late. Rich, I suggest you relieve him of his plums and/or teeth. This guy must be a complete idiot. Did he used to work for shittycycle city??? Glad to see your ok though.  

By Richandall on Monday, June 24, 2002 - 06:42 am:

Hi Andy - been away too so just saw your post.
Was a bit of a facer but decided to play it cool. Asked around a bit and discovered at least one of the local shops quite like this guy 'cos they get quite a lot of work from his ex-customers. He'll go on to my 'don't return calls' list.

Did you gather I'd fitted a Mille shock and Sportec M-1's since we met. Got myself a proper hooligan bike now what with those NOISSSYYY RSC's 16 tooth sprocket etc.

- Rich