What did you do in your garage today..?

Dirtbike maintenance.

Removed my exhaust, shock, linkage, and swingarm. Re-grease and clean everything.

A friend is helping me heat the dents out-of my pipe, and we're using his scavenging vacuum pump to replace my shock oil.

-14° in my shed thismorning... not so nice.
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Yesteday... 'Buddy's F800GSA

*New rear wheel bearings
*New rear tire
*New sprockets front and rear
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Today... 'Coffee and installed a new chain.

On the list still to be done..
*Brake pads all 'round
*New front wheel bearings
*New front tire
*Coolant change


I think that's it
 
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Looked at my bike. Moved battery tender from mine to my wife's. Looked out at the rain, saw the huge snowbanks getting a little smaller by the day, and crossed fingers we're in the dying days of this winter.
 
Diesel heaters are awesome, but for an uninsulated two car garage in the winter you would definitely need a big one.

I had a small one in our last camper and it was great - the amperage draw on the 12 V side of things was literally in the watts vs amps region which made it insanely more efficient than the propane furnace which gulped amp hours in comparison, as well as propane. I went winter camping for four days last winter between Algonquin and silent lake and it kept the camper cosy for the entire time on a few dollars worth of diesel
 
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'Get yourself one of these... $150

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When it's under zero degrees outside it'll heat my two car garage up to about 15 deg. in about an hour.
I kept a heat gun on low to toast up my fingers. Tools are still ice cold, even with a heater going.

I've used a radiant oil heater when it was nearly unbearable, but if its that bad, bike maintenance can wait!

I just took lots of breaks.

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Diesel heaters are awesome, but for an uninsulated two car garage in the winter you would definitely need a big one.

Luckily I insulated my garage when I "finished" it... Even the roll up door is insulated.
When it's cold out, what I'll do is go turn the heater on then go back into the house, have a coffee and suggest to Mrs. Gaoler we "go upstairs"...
She rejects my proposal citing some BS reason like she "just had a shower" or has a hair appointment in an hour.
If I'm lucky she'll say "later", which usually turns out to be a lie.
By the time I give up and my coffee is done... The garage is up to a comfortable temperature, I pour another cup and head out.
 
Sadly, my garage is not well insulated. Last winter when I had a lot of spare time on my hands and farted around out there for a few months I had 3 propane heaters going (one single head radiant, 1 dual head radiant, and a forced fan construction heater) and that would warm it up comfortably, but if there was any wind sucking the heat out through the soffits in the garage you’d need to leave several of those running constantly to *stay* warm.
 
Realized Honda pulled the same tricks on their CB750s as they did with their Wings.
The rear calipers on the 82 and 83 are both dual piston and nearly identical. I mixed them up and the 83 caliper was sold off as parts. I now see where they are different.

Anyone got one they can spare???
 
Yesteday... 'Buddy's F800GSA

*New rear wheel bearings
*New rear tire
*New sprockets front and rear
efnVBLM.jpeg


eZNb6qa.jpg


Today... 'Coffee and installed a new chain.

On the list still to be done..
*Brake pads all 'round
*New front wheel bearings
*New front tire
*Coolant change


I think that's it

You are doing all this for free?
.
.
.
Can we be friends?
 
You are doing all this for free?
.
.
.
Can we be friends?
Free..?
Lol...
I even have to bring the coffees with me when I go to his place to wrench on his bike..!
Why would I charge a buddy..?
I will however remind him of how much he's NOT paying for maintenance/repairs on his BMW 😉
"Hey.. How much do you think BUDDS in Oakville would charge for this.?"

I mean even a simple valve check must cost at least $100 at the dealer these days..?

Seriously though... Wrenching is fun and interesting when you're a YouTube Certified tech. :)
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Shock disassembled, cleaned, bled with the vacuum pump, and shot full of 145lbs of nitrogen. Cool home made machine my friend built.

Pipe heated and dents pulled out.

That was...err... interesting. 2 expansion plugs, safety wired, one with a schraeder valve. Bicycle pumped up to 120lbs. Bled down to 80 or so, when we are sure its holding pressure. Heat the dents with a map-gas torch.

Hindsight- there was alot of carbon built up in the pipe. We heated the last dent with two torches; ended up getting the dent so hot that it ignited the carbon/2 stroke soot. We turned the pipe into a gun... The safety wired/gear clamped stopper flew out the end like a bullet. We had it clamped in a vise, and were away from the plugged ends...

Sounded like a shot-gun going off.
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Lol... That's a nanosecond of WTF until your brain figures out what just happened
It was absolutely a WTF moment.

I was prepared. I had earplugs in. My friend did not!

I should have had the camera going.

The two map gas torches going on that dent had it cherry red... I wonder what the pressure spiked to at the moment of ignition!

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Shock disassembled, cleaned, bled with the vacuum pump, and shot full of 145lbs of nitrogen. Cool home made machine my friend built.

Pipe heated and dents pulled out.

That was...err... interesting. 2 expansion plugs, safety wired, one with a schraeder valve. Bicycle pumped up to 120lbs. Bled down to 80 or so, when we are sure its holding pressure. Heat the dents with a map-gas torch.

Hindsight- there was alot of carbon built up in the pipe. We heated the last dent with two torches; ended up getting the dent so hot that it ignited the carbon/2 stroke soot. We turned the pipe into a gun... The safety wired/gear clamped stopper flew out the end like a bullet. We had it clamped in a vise, and were away from the plugged ends...

Sounded like a shot-gun going off.
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ce734200f4bee704667ec7e4acafec01.jpg


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What year is the KTM? Have you inspected/replaced the bendix bushings?
 
It was absolutely a WTF moment.

I was prepared. I had earplugs in. My friend did not!

I should have had the camera going.

The two map gas torches going on that dent had it cherry red... I wonder what the pressure spiked to at the moment of ignition!

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Peak pressure would be mostly limited by plug friction. You essentially had a single cylinder, single shot engine. About 8:1 compression, fuel and heat. Next time, use your nitrogen and no bang will happen.
 
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Having a heated,insulated garage has always been a priority for me. Not really hard to do and can be done over time as your budget allows. I’ve done a few over the years. I always start with a decent insulated door, a bit of wiring and a bag of insulation as your budget and time allows. In a year or two it’ll be done. If you you’ve got the budget I’d recommend getting it spray foamed, I’ve housed Stevens Spray Foam a number times and their prices are not much more than conventional insulation when you factor in your time messing around with properly installing a vapour barrier and savings in heating costs. A properly insulated 2 car garage (20’x20’) can easily be heated with a $100 4800w heater to a comfortable working temperature. You can get a gas heater but that’s going to cost you closer to $3000-$4000. Not as much difference these days in operating cost and if your only out there a few hours a week electric heat is the way to go unless your dead set on gas. Never liked those kerosene or propane heaters that aren’t vented, I find they put too much moisture in the air.
 
Having a heated,insulated garage has always been a priority for me. Not really hard to do and can be done over time as your budget allows. I’ve done a few over the years. I always start with a decent insulated door, a bit of wiring and a bag of insulation as your budget and time allows. In a year or two it’ll be done. If you you’ve got the budget I’d recommend getting it spray foamed, I’ve housed Stevens Spray Foam a number times and their prices are not much more than conventional insulation when you factor in your time messing around with properly installing a vapour barrier and savings in heating costs. A properly insulated 2 car garage (20’x20’) can easily be heated with a $100 4800w heater to a comfortable working temperature. You can get a gas heater but that’s going to cost you closer to $3000-$4000. Not as much difference these days in operating cost and if your only out there a few hours a week electric heat is the way to go unless your dead set on gas. Never liked those kerosene or propane heaters that aren’t vented, I find they put too much moisture in the air.
If you really want to be warm fast and cheap, the first step is make a tent in the garage with some poly (similar to a temp spray booth). That greatly reduces the volume to be heated and slows down air exchanges. Throw in a 15A electric forced air heater and while the heater needs to be on all the time when you're working, it will be quite comfortable.

It sounds like PP may have open rafters. If so, he should have lots of ventilation for this propane heaters but also it means getting the garage up to temp isn't really possible as new cold air is being brought in in huge quantities. I've insulated a commercial parking garage before from the bottom. We put up wires perpendicular to framing to keep batts from falling, installed batts, installed poly, then boarded. Technically you shouldn't leave the poly exposed but if money was tight and you were careful with flame, board could be phase two.
 
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