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The Grim Shed
Blog Date - 31 January 2014
I have an afternoon free. Time to re-check the tappets on the CBF 250. Urgh. Not looking forward to this at all. Not only is it a fiddly job but it's tipping it down outside and damn cold too. My shed isn't a nice shed. It's not a proper man-cave with a heater and a pretty workbench. There's no nice windows overlooking a neatly trimmed garden. It's a metal shed with a bodged on DIY extension filled with 3 bikes where there should be 2 and a flagged floor perfect for losing little screws and shims. It's squashed into a little back yard with barely room to swing a mouse let alone a cat. Poor me. Poor poor me.
I remove the tank and clean, I don't want dirt falling into the nice clean oil so I clean. That's paraffin on a paint brush or toothbrush washed off with cold water from an oily hose pipe. Cold. I remove the coil and the breather. And clean some more with cold water. I then have to dry, I don't want water getting into the nice clean oil either. I use an oily rag that gets wet and cold.
Tank's off and it's all cleaned up. There's not "mushroom" in here! Laugh, ya gits.
I remove the rocker cover, bolts, caps and finally the camshafts. The cold oil covers my stiff fingers and it's dim in here. The rain batters the roof I can't hear myself think. Even in the shed as the wind whips through the door and various gaps in my construction a little rain gets in. My pants are damp, my tools are a little wet, at least I'm keeping the motor dry. I remove buckets and get to the shims.
I'm in! Careful not to lose the camchain, solved with a good 'ole zip tie.
Inside the house I use oily fingers on my keyboard to look up the tappet settings. It's going to take months before I get everything clean again. Who am I kidding...I'll start to put things right then another oily dirty job will need doing and I'll be back to square one anyhow. Suffice to say the shims are out but not by a great deal. I decide to put everything back together and use the bike while I await the inevitable wait for new shims to be delivered. I have a small collection of old shims, but you've probably already guessed by the way my day is going none of them are any use.
I got shims, just not the right bleeding size.
I go back outside and start the rebuild It's now getting dark and even with the torch I can't find the Top-Dead-Centre mark on the flywheel. Sod it. Sod it all. I'm going inside for a warm and a dry. I'll finish it off tomorrow. Those of you who know me will be thinking "Go inside for a warm and dry?!" It's a fair point. It's not warm in here and with leaving the back door open for the last few hours it's not that dry any more either. Ho well.
Would I have it any other way? I do dream of a luxurious mansion with a large fully equipped workshop. It will have a bike lift to ease these stiff knees. It will have a heater. A kettle and an endless supply of tea. Tools hung on a large wall with outlines to show what I'm missing. A painted floor that's easy to brush or mop up oil spills. Shelves filled with spares. A TV and a comfy chair for when I need a break or to think. Bright lights at every angle. Oh it is to dream. But...but where's the fun in that? It keeps me tough freezing my bits off in a damp, windswept and GRIM shed.
Reader's Comments
john de ville said :-
Why didnt you wheel the bike into the kitchen ?
01/01/2000 00:00:00 UTC
Ren - The Ed said :-
I do for more serious work, but it's a ball-ache to get into and out of the house with the bike.
01/01/2000 00:00:00 UTC
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