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My computer broke two months ago.. But I'm back now. Anything goin' on? What'd I miss?
AHAHAHAHahahaa.
(Oh, that hurt) Haven't laughed in a long while.
No... I'm sorry to say, that T.C. hit the baby right on the head.
As you all know, or at least some of you, I serve mankind as a mechanic. Not a particularly brilliant one, but one does what one can with whatever limited ability one has.
Yeah, it bothered me. I can state that mildly now, but at the time...
Sure. Others have said the same over the years here, and in those cases, I dealt swift justice. But this time, instead of mocking them, or questioning their parentage...
This seemed different this time.
I took this as a personal attack.
Insults...? I'm insulted all the time(mostly by women) and it has never bothered me. T.C. mocks and "puns" me all the time, people call me a Vespa-riding Nancy-Boy, and MRO and TRBIG pass around those nude photos of me between themselves like they were trading baseball cards. This is known as good, clean fun.
But slandering a man's profession, also slanders the man.
I don't know about most of you... but have you ever visited other Owner's sites?
What a sorry bunch they are. This site is singularly blessed.
A fact unknown to the obvious oblivious, there are several breeds of mechanics that dwell here: Automobile, aircraft, machinists, to mention but a few... and then there are those such as me, the low-status motorcycle mechanic.
I shall not fail to mention all the other "Experts", either. While not currently employed as mechanics(or currently employed at all), their expertise and experience is what keeps this place going. Many are prolific posters,(T.C. a quadruple Guru) and it's the dedication of their time that has rescued many a frustrated XS owner.
"Stealerships", "bikes returned in worse condition", "liable to kill people..." I'm sorry, but this time, that was the camel that broke my last straw.
Let me take a break for a moment, as the thought is fresh... and focus on the other "experts" here.
"Mechanics today don't know how to work on the old bikes", etc.
That's odd... The majority of the new Kawasaki's I work on have shim and bucket valves systems. Most use the same 29mm shims that we do. I fail to see the difference.
"They don't understand how our carbs work." Funny... two main types of carbs on this planet: Mikuni's and Keihin's. All have pilot jets, main jets, floats, vacuum slides and pilot screws. If you can work on one, you can work on all.
"Vacuum timing advance"... yeah, so did my old Chevy!
And no dealership would ever hire, much less allow, an inexperience punk to work on a customer's machine. Can you just imagine the liability involved?
Sure, I had my son working at the shop this year. Prepped bikes, did oil changes, etc. But always under my watchful wooden eye. "Pull the tank and bodywork offa that thing so I can check the valves..." (If you think I'm an a$$hole now... try working for me sometime. There were days my son wouldn't even talk to me at closing time) Most mechanic's are like that. If I'm gonna sign my name to a work order, the job is gonna be done right.
Mechanics, mechanic, mechanics... shall we dwell on customers for a moment?
Anybody ever thank their mechanic? Not by just praising his ability... but where it really matters... with beer!
I posted a year ago on how to find and keep a good mechanic. You want a mechanic to remember you and take special care of you? It's easy, cheap too, when you think about it. Ever buy the shop pizza on a Saturday? What's it cost... $20? I've gotten home-made pies, cakes, brownies, etc. (I turn down cash tips as I consider it vulgar and insulting) I've got so many (as yet) unopened bottles of booze at home that even MAXIMAN's liver would shut down!
I'm sorry... I promised myself that I wouldn't insult anyone... for the record, MAXIMAN's new liver functions just fine.
And no, I haven't forgotten you either... "Take your Ritalin and stop interupting. The adults are talking, now."
Customers...? Let me share a few recent tales. Many customers make me just wanna leap over the counter and show them how a "choke" really works!
Guy fried the engine in his Quad, so I rebuild it. Comes back two weeks later.
"It smells hot... I want you to recheck your work."
I do so... find nothing wrong with my work... and charge him $37.50 for wasting my time and he sings about it.(His kid likes to have it idle for half an hour, all the while revving the p*ss out of it to impress his friends, which is how it siezed in the first place)
Guy puts on custom exhaust himself and brings it in for re-jetting.
"Sir... this exhaust doesn't require re-jetting. It'll run too rich"
"But all the internet "experts" on my owner's goup say it needs rejetting. I want you to raise the needle and go up two jet sizes."
"But sir..."
150 miles later, he's back with fouled plugs.
"Can you make it run right?"
"No problem", and I set it back to stock, and then he complains about having to pay twice to have his bike worked on.
"Sir, if I knock $25 offa your bill, would you be satisfied?"
"Yes!"
"Good, but since it seems that you are unhappy with the quality of the work we do, you might be happier taking your bike to another shop next time."
Guy drops off his bike, and is told that it would be about a week before I would even have a chance to look at it. He then calls the very next day, and every day after that, asking if it's done. So I call him back...
"Sir, you can come and pick up your bike now."
"Is it done!"
"No, I haven't touched it yet. Just come pick up your bike!"
Lastly, my favorite. And I include this one because it happened the same week as those comments were posted in the other forum. The timing of the two events is what really set me off here, and caused my departure. For you see, I really do return bikes worse than when they are brought in.
Bike came in for tires and an oil change. I finish the service and fire it up. It knocks and the oil light is on. Yes, fellow XS'ers... I ruined this man's engine. Ok... I left out a few details. He didn't ride it here, he trailered it. It only had one quart of oil in it instead of three and a half. This made me suspicious, so I called him in to talk about his bike. He arrived and I then told him about his engine having no oil pressure. He proceeds to tell me everything that he read on the internet, concerning oil pump gears, how they go bad, and that contrary to the facts, they can be replaced without pulling the engine apart. My, my, my... this man was just a wealth of knowledge and research. He knew an awful lot about what was wrong and how to correct the problem on his bike... though I had only told him of the problem 5 minutes earlier!
Myself, the general manager, and my big boss get to meet this fine gentleman again next week... in court. And as usually happens in cases between customers and "Stealerships", the shop loses.
Yes, I took the insults here this time personally.
I did have a nice vacation during my self-imposed exile. Cleaned up around the house, read a little Shakespeare, made a nifty hook-rug and knitted a pair of warm winter socks using all the dog hair vacuumed from the living room.
I now, (in the words of my probation officer) am ready to rejoin society, where I shall once again sit amongst the exhaulted Gurus, offering sage mechanical advice and marital counselling, as the need be.
Thank you to those who wrote PM's and e-mails inquiring about my health and dubious mental stabilty during my unexplained absence.
The apologies were really unwarranted, Gentlemen. (I never ask for apologies, as then I can't hold grudges)
I consider us all friends here, with the exception of PGGG, who can spew his verbal vomit back into his clock-wise flushing, southern hemisphere toilet from whence he came.
I will try to be here as often as I was before, but as the riding season is approaching, I'm spending more nightly hours at work trying to get things ready.
I still haven't even had time to take down my tree yet!
[IMG]
[/IMG]
PROMETHEUS
And don't make fun of my Goodwill lamp, WildKat. It turns on and off, which is all I require of it. It might not be a stylish fixture, but it's still brighter than you are!
AHAHAHAHahahaa.
(Oh, that hurt) Haven't laughed in a long while.
No... I'm sorry to say, that T.C. hit the baby right on the head.
As you all know, or at least some of you, I serve mankind as a mechanic. Not a particularly brilliant one, but one does what one can with whatever limited ability one has.
Yeah, it bothered me. I can state that mildly now, but at the time...
Sure. Others have said the same over the years here, and in those cases, I dealt swift justice. But this time, instead of mocking them, or questioning their parentage...
This seemed different this time.
I took this as a personal attack.
Insults...? I'm insulted all the time(mostly by women) and it has never bothered me. T.C. mocks and "puns" me all the time, people call me a Vespa-riding Nancy-Boy, and MRO and TRBIG pass around those nude photos of me between themselves like they were trading baseball cards. This is known as good, clean fun.
But slandering a man's profession, also slanders the man.
I don't know about most of you... but have you ever visited other Owner's sites?
What a sorry bunch they are. This site is singularly blessed.
A fact unknown to the obvious oblivious, there are several breeds of mechanics that dwell here: Automobile, aircraft, machinists, to mention but a few... and then there are those such as me, the low-status motorcycle mechanic.
I shall not fail to mention all the other "Experts", either. While not currently employed as mechanics(or currently employed at all), their expertise and experience is what keeps this place going. Many are prolific posters,(T.C. a quadruple Guru) and it's the dedication of their time that has rescued many a frustrated XS owner.
"Stealerships", "bikes returned in worse condition", "liable to kill people..." I'm sorry, but this time, that was the camel that broke my last straw.
Let me take a break for a moment, as the thought is fresh... and focus on the other "experts" here.
"Mechanics today don't know how to work on the old bikes", etc.
That's odd... The majority of the new Kawasaki's I work on have shim and bucket valves systems. Most use the same 29mm shims that we do. I fail to see the difference.
"They don't understand how our carbs work." Funny... two main types of carbs on this planet: Mikuni's and Keihin's. All have pilot jets, main jets, floats, vacuum slides and pilot screws. If you can work on one, you can work on all.
"Vacuum timing advance"... yeah, so did my old Chevy!
And no dealership would ever hire, much less allow, an inexperience punk to work on a customer's machine. Can you just imagine the liability involved?
Sure, I had my son working at the shop this year. Prepped bikes, did oil changes, etc. But always under my watchful wooden eye. "Pull the tank and bodywork offa that thing so I can check the valves..." (If you think I'm an a$$hole now... try working for me sometime. There were days my son wouldn't even talk to me at closing time) Most mechanic's are like that. If I'm gonna sign my name to a work order, the job is gonna be done right.
Mechanics, mechanic, mechanics... shall we dwell on customers for a moment?
Anybody ever thank their mechanic? Not by just praising his ability... but where it really matters... with beer!
I posted a year ago on how to find and keep a good mechanic. You want a mechanic to remember you and take special care of you? It's easy, cheap too, when you think about it. Ever buy the shop pizza on a Saturday? What's it cost... $20? I've gotten home-made pies, cakes, brownies, etc. (I turn down cash tips as I consider it vulgar and insulting) I've got so many (as yet) unopened bottles of booze at home that even MAXIMAN's liver would shut down!
I'm sorry... I promised myself that I wouldn't insult anyone... for the record, MAXIMAN's new liver functions just fine.
And no, I haven't forgotten you either... "Take your Ritalin and stop interupting. The adults are talking, now."
Customers...? Let me share a few recent tales. Many customers make me just wanna leap over the counter and show them how a "choke" really works!
Guy fried the engine in his Quad, so I rebuild it. Comes back two weeks later.
"It smells hot... I want you to recheck your work."
I do so... find nothing wrong with my work... and charge him $37.50 for wasting my time and he sings about it.(His kid likes to have it idle for half an hour, all the while revving the p*ss out of it to impress his friends, which is how it siezed in the first place)
Guy puts on custom exhaust himself and brings it in for re-jetting.
"Sir... this exhaust doesn't require re-jetting. It'll run too rich"
"But all the internet "experts" on my owner's goup say it needs rejetting. I want you to raise the needle and go up two jet sizes."
"But sir..."
150 miles later, he's back with fouled plugs.
"Can you make it run right?"
"No problem", and I set it back to stock, and then he complains about having to pay twice to have his bike worked on.
"Sir, if I knock $25 offa your bill, would you be satisfied?"
"Yes!"
"Good, but since it seems that you are unhappy with the quality of the work we do, you might be happier taking your bike to another shop next time."
Guy drops off his bike, and is told that it would be about a week before I would even have a chance to look at it. He then calls the very next day, and every day after that, asking if it's done. So I call him back...
"Sir, you can come and pick up your bike now."
"Is it done!"
"No, I haven't touched it yet. Just come pick up your bike!"
Lastly, my favorite. And I include this one because it happened the same week as those comments were posted in the other forum. The timing of the two events is what really set me off here, and caused my departure. For you see, I really do return bikes worse than when they are brought in.
Bike came in for tires and an oil change. I finish the service and fire it up. It knocks and the oil light is on. Yes, fellow XS'ers... I ruined this man's engine. Ok... I left out a few details. He didn't ride it here, he trailered it. It only had one quart of oil in it instead of three and a half. This made me suspicious, so I called him in to talk about his bike. He arrived and I then told him about his engine having no oil pressure. He proceeds to tell me everything that he read on the internet, concerning oil pump gears, how they go bad, and that contrary to the facts, they can be replaced without pulling the engine apart. My, my, my... this man was just a wealth of knowledge and research. He knew an awful lot about what was wrong and how to correct the problem on his bike... though I had only told him of the problem 5 minutes earlier!
Myself, the general manager, and my big boss get to meet this fine gentleman again next week... in court. And as usually happens in cases between customers and "Stealerships", the shop loses.
Yes, I took the insults here this time personally.
I did have a nice vacation during my self-imposed exile. Cleaned up around the house, read a little Shakespeare, made a nifty hook-rug and knitted a pair of warm winter socks using all the dog hair vacuumed from the living room.
I now, (in the words of my probation officer) am ready to rejoin society, where I shall once again sit amongst the exhaulted Gurus, offering sage mechanical advice and marital counselling, as the need be.
Thank you to those who wrote PM's and e-mails inquiring about my health and dubious mental stabilty during my unexplained absence.
The apologies were really unwarranted, Gentlemen. (I never ask for apologies, as then I can't hold grudges)
I consider us all friends here, with the exception of PGGG, who can spew his verbal vomit back into his clock-wise flushing, southern hemisphere toilet from whence he came.
I will try to be here as often as I was before, but as the riding season is approaching, I'm spending more nightly hours at work trying to get things ready.
I still haven't even had time to take down my tree yet!
[IMG]
[/IMG] PROMETHEUS
And don't make fun of my Goodwill lamp, WildKat. It turns on and off, which is all I require of it. It might not be a stylish fixture, but it's still brighter than you are!
)
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