humbucker

Well, I put it all back together and it all works fine. My first time ever changing the seals and I am proud of myself. Also saved a shed load of money. I found the youtube video by moonfleet41, Delboy, a great help. Well worth looking at his channel for 'how to' stuff.

My friendly German neighbour has an aladdin's cave for tools etc and in about three seconds, he managed to free the damper rod bolt. So far so good. I then remembered the bit about pulling the fork apart, Sadly, King Kong mode meant that I didn't so much pull it apart as rip it apart. Bits flew everywhere. I am ok with the seal, the washer and the top bush. What I am not sure of, is the at the order at the other end. There is little spring and what for the lack of a better word, I shall call a 'thing'. Do these fit in the order shown or do they go somewhere else please? http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s291/Jayeman/Bike/2015-04-17%2011.27.57_zpsmeibjxfq.jpg

Thanks for the help guys, I reassembled the fork but it still wont budge. I even tried the other fork whilst it was still clamped to the bike and hadn't been touched. For now I will just replace the seals, the MOT (Spanish style) is due in 2 days so as long as it isn't leaking, it will buy me some time to clean them out properly.

Well, I seem to have hit the age old problem of that damper rod retaining bolt which just will not crack free, the rod spins round without the bolt unscrewing. I know this may sound like an odd request, but in order to replace the seals, do I even have to take the fork apart? I have the spring out and drained the old oil, can I not somehow carefully prise the old seal out, replace the oil and put the new seal in?

The problem is, the staff here will not jump on you as soon as you walk in the door. The Spanish are far less inhibited and customers tend to go straight up to the staff and start talking, irrespective of what that person is doing if they need their services. We see it as rude, they see it as simply getting something done. Of course, the opposite side of that coin means that when you do not speak to the staff, they just assume you do not want their attention and will blithely ignore you. Because I did not immediately make a fuss at the mechanic, he just went ahead with whatever it was he needed the bike for. My question about it being sold had no bearing on what he was doing. The salesman however was just being a jerk. We all meet them. To get their attention, you have to act like a local and 'do one'. I have always found the service in Spanish shops to be top notch, because usually I play it by their rules. Having my daughter with me and being conscious of her enthusiasm, I took my eye off the ball. You do have to be far more up front here, holding back and waiting for a moment to speak gets you nowhere. The British DNA tends to over ride that but it works. And don't get me started on the 'please and thank you' scenario.

There is a largish bike shop in Alicante where I took my 24 yr old daughter who was interested in a CBF600. We looked over their one model for about 15 minutes and not one of the sales staff came over to enquire if we needed any help. That wasn't the best of it. Whilst my daughter was obviously engrossed in a closer look at it, a mechanic came out of the workshop, without saying a word, lifted it off the stand and wheeled it away. We looked at each other in disbelief. I followed the mechanic and asked if the bike was sold. Without turning round he just shook his head. I asked him if he didn't want us to look at it or something, he ignored me. I went back into the showroom and approached the sales desk where I related what had happened. The man there didn't even look up, shrugged his shoulders and pretended to make a call. I asked loudly if there were any non mutes that worked there. An older man came over with a smile and asked if there was anything wrong. 'Yes', said I, 'You need a sign on the outside of your display window saying 'Ignorant bast*rds work here'. That made them all look up. 'Oh we thought with you being English, you wouldn't speak Spanish so no one bothered you'. 'So what was the excuse when it was obvious that I can speak Spanish?' No reply What a fecking attitude. Count your blessings folks. On the plus side, the other dealerships and clothes shops are top drawer, friendly and one even offered my daughter a female member of staff to come out and help her with clothing. No prizes for guessing where our money went. Shame she hasn't got the Honda yet but she will. She will.

I used Camrider in Peterborough, they were brilliant. Good luck with it all, keep us posted.

I found that all the years of driving stood me at a disadvantage when I practiced the hazard perception. All of those hours on the road teach you to spot and predict where hazards are potential long before an inexperienced road user would. I found trying to forget everything I know and concentrate on what I can see happening, rather than correctly anticipating, got me through the test. I also did abysmally on the practice tests but when I invested in the DSA software I understood what it was that they were looking for my scores increased dramatically. Also bear in mind that the resolution of many practice site videos is not always clear enough to see what is really happening. Hope this helps and good luck.

Ha! I like that and the OP still cant tie his shoe laces

I have to vote for myself. I now have the 'mark of a biker'. You know the one, or maybe you don't. The graze between your eyebrows after you removed your helmet and forgot you were wearing glasses. Sigh.

Well written and very enjoyable. Thanks for posting it.

Still counter nodding.

The answer is simple. You travel so fast on your bike, that for you time slows down. Over the years you have only aged 57 years but the world we all live in has aged 60 years. You are living proof of relativity.

Great read, enjoying this.

Fabulous, this bike may get the last laugh on me yet! Thanks Tango

This is a photo of the back of the front caliper and the bolts holding the pads in. Before I do anything stupid, has anyone seen this kind of plate holding the bolts in before and of so, how do I remove them? I am not sure if the photo is clear enough but there is a lug against the bolt head preventing it from being turned. Any help appreciated. http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s291/Jayeman/Bike%20bits/2015-03-05%2012.20.25_zpspul4cdks.jpg

We met on Valentines Day 1982 so we tend to make it a special day. A light lunch at a local Pizzeria, take her to the shop full of shiny things and then dinner at a lovely little Spanish restaurant where we are never crowded in, the food is sublime and celebrate our good fortune at having shared another year together. It's enough to make you throw up I know, but we like it.

Roller for us as well. We paint the inside of our house every three years but it is all white walls and celiling so it is straightforward. A retired Painter nearby tried one of the spray things and said it was more trouble than it was worth, unless you buy pro gear have a decent compressor and know how to thin the paint properly. Anyway, leave the painting, you have a Dalek to build!

I love the Brit sound of a Les Paul and a Marshall, used their amps for years and now that I have a Line 6 XT live with a passable Marshall cab emulator I dont even need the Marshall pre amp anymore, time is a healer but also a thief and humping gear about is no longer an option. Great clip that, your timing and phrasing don't need much brushing up. My daughter plays a Jaguar and loves it, she has tried all sorts, SG's, Strats, Les Pauls, Ibanez and still rates the Jag. She is a big fan of Nirvana so that may explain it.

Facebook, a brothel for attention whores.

34/36 = Fat...hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha You havent even started!

And that is exactly how it should be, it warms the cockles of my heart to hear of people being in a band, having fun, playing pubs & clubs. Wish you many more happy years of it. I miss it like hell, one of the things that I found difficult to give up. But they do say, never say never, so who knows?

So would I but my Daelim finally developed too many faults, the last being the clutch falling to pieces so until some money I am waiting on comes out from the UK, I have to hoof it everywhere. 1 hp, well at least it's 0.75 more than a Daelim. I have my eyes on a VFR nearby, it's just a waiting game. I love the Les Paul as well but found it way too heavy for a night's work, old injury and all that. I am also a big fan of the Ibanez RG series. If the money were not a problem though, I would deffo have myself a Pensa Suhr Mk1...mm yeah.

I've been in bands, duo's and solo since the late 70's. Started in a punk band, angry young man and all that crap and travelled and matured through rock, dance, Eagles tribute, the works. I have recently hung up my guitar as Spain has been the worst place I ever experienced for live music and it isn't worth the hag of dealing with w**ker landlords who rip off musicians all the time. If you feel the buzz of playing live then do it! I don't want to turn this into a how to form a band post, so all I will say is get out there, look them in the eye and enjoy yourself. A band having a good time covers a multitude of errors and is infectious to the crowd. Good luck with it. As for instruments, despite my forum name, I am a Strat whore and just love the original single coil pickups. I also played piano for a while until I found girls prefer guitarists!

Congratulations! Wishing all of you the very best