On Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:22:58 GMT, George W Frost wrote:


>George, I have to disagree with you there,
>In times gone by, and I am only going back 30 - 40 years, there was no such
>thing as a motorcycle mechanic, an owner had to do any repairs himself or
>take it to a motor car garage and get the mechanic there to fix the problem,
>or attempt to fix it.
>No-one knew knew exactly what they were doing, they learned along the way.
>Most repairs were done by the owner at home and that was where you learned
>about how the bloody thing worked, or didn't want to work.
>You madew a lot opf misteaks, but in all, you got your bike going one way or
>another.
>You pulled things apart and learned how it went together, you read up books
>written by others who had the same or similar problems and you fixed it.
>
>In saying that, I am, not suggesting that everyone starts fixing their
>broken or near broken bike, I am saying that look at and try to work things
>out yourself.
>You will save a lot of money that way and also learn about how bikes work
>and run.
>
>Also, given that, there are some riders out there who wouldn't have a clue
>how to fix anything

Yeah fair enough George. I can relate to a lot of what you are saying.
I also know that brake failure is bad for your health. Time bombs like
using the wrong cleaners, wrong fluid, leaky joints, contaminated
fluid (air or dirt et al) are all things that all too often creep up
on you when you least expect them, ask anyone who has spent a decent
amount of time in a repair shop. Then there are the mistakes that are
just plain expensive like incorrect assembly, mis-wired electrics...
I learned a lot of what I know through trial and error too, but I
suggest that things like brakes should not be treated with cavalier
arrogance (and ignorance) as suggested elsewhere in this thread.

--
GWD

In aus.motorcycles on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:45:32 +1100
GWD <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> On Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:22:58 GMT, George W Frost wrote:
>
>
>>George, I have to disagree with you there,
>>In times gone by, and I am only going back 30 - 40 years, there was no such
>>thing as a motorcycle mechanic, an owner had to do any repairs himself or
>>take it to a motor car garage and get the mechanic there to fix the problem,
>>or attempt to fix it.

What?

it is now 2010. 30 years ago was, I regret to inform you, 1980.
Rather a lot of motorcycle mechanics around in 1982 when I started
riding, can't believe they all sprung up in 2 years?

Even 40 years was 1970. Now it might be that there weren't massive
numbers of motorcycle shops with mechanics in Oz then, but considering
there were ones in the 1920s there had to be some.

Hey Theo, when did Ted Stolarski start? Pitmans in Adelaide dates
from at least the mid 70s, ditto The Bike Factory. I'm pretty sure
Central had been in business since the mid 50s.

Then there's all the ads in my early 70s copies of 2 Wheels for shops
and people offering service.

Even in country towns!

So better sigh, count the grey hairs, and change the whine to "50-60
years, in country towns"

(Because in those aforementioned 70s mags are ads for places
announcing they've been in the motorcycle business for 20 years...)

Zebee

Zebee Johnstone wrote:
> In aus.motorcycles on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:45:32 +1100
> GWD <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>> On Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:22:58 GMT, George W Frost wrote:
>>
>>
>>> George, I have to disagree with you there,
>>> In times gone by, and I am only going back 30 - 40 years, there was no such
>>> thing as a motorcycle mechanic, an owner had to do any repairs himself or
>>> take it to a motor car garage and get the mechanic there to fix the problem,
>>> or attempt to fix it.
>
> What?
>
> it is now 2010. 30 years ago was, I regret to inform you, 1980.
> Rather a lot of motorcycle mechanics around in 1982 when I started
> riding, can't believe they all sprung up in 2 years?
>
> Even 40 years was 1970. Now it might be that there weren't massive
> numbers of motorcycle shops with mechanics in Oz then, but considering
> there were ones in the 1920s there had to be some.
>
> Hey Theo, when did Ted Stolarski start? Pitmans in Adelaide dates
> from at least the mid 70s, ditto The Bike Factory. I'm pretty sure
> Central had been in business since the mid 50s.
>
> Then there's all the ads in my early 70s copies of 2 Wheels for shops
> and people offering service.
>
> Even in country towns!
>
> So better sigh, count the grey hairs, and change the whine to "50-60
> years, in country towns"
>
> (Because in those aforementioned 70s mags are ads for places
> announcing they've been in the motorcycle business for 20 years...)
>
> Zebee
When I was living in Unzud in the 1960's the local bike shop in Petone
had started just post war , the same owners until the retired around
1970 and several of the larger shops in Wellington had traded from the
1920's. I would expect the same in Au

On Mar 12, 7:56*am, Zebee Johnstone <zeb...@gmail.com> wrote:
> In aus.motorcycles on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:45:32 +1100
>
> GWD <g...@nsw.chariot.net.au> wrote:
> > On Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:22:58 GMT, George W Frost wrote:
>
> >>George, I have to disagree with you there,
> >>In times gone by, and I am only going back 30 - 40 years, there was no such
> >>thing as a motorcycle mechanic, an owner had to do any repairs himself or
> >>take it to a motor car garage and get the mechanic there to fix the problem,
> >>or attempt to fix it.
>
> What?
>
> it is now 2010. *30 years ago was, I regret to inform you, 1980.
> Rather a lot of motorcycle mechanics around in 1982 when I started
> riding, can't believe they all sprung up in 2 years?
>
> Even 40 years was 1970. *Now it might be that there weren't massive
> numbers of motorcycle shops with mechanics in Oz then, but considering
> there were ones in the 1920s there had to be some.
>
> Hey Theo, when did Ted Stolarski start? *Pitmans in Adelaide dates
> from at least the mid 70s, ditto The Bike Factory. I'm pretty sure
> Central had been in business since the mid 50s.

I bought my first Guzzi from Ted in 1976, but he was supplying
scooters (real Italian ones) to Perth City parking Insoectors for at
least 15 years before that.

> Then there's all the ads in my early 70s copies of 2 Wheels for shops
> and people offering service.
>
> Even in country towns!
>
> So better sigh, count the grey hairs, and change the whine to "50-60
> years, in country towns"

I can't agree with that Zebee. My country town, Northam, with a
population of 8000, had two motorcycle shops, both with excellent
mechanics, in the mid-fifties. That's 65 years ago and they were both
well-established businesses.

Theo

On Mar 12, 9:07*am, JohnO <varc...@msn.com> wrote:
> On Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:54:21 GMT, Lars Chance

> >Pfft! Lever, piston, pipe, piston(s), pads, disk(s). *What could be
> >simpler?
> >Has anyone you know ever suffered a genuine (problem-causing)
> >brake-failure? (Apart from maybe a snapped cable on a drum)
>
> One of the regulars in here (FWOAR) [1] was barrelling flat chat down
> the main straight at Eastern Creek on his Kawa when the disk rotor
> (cast iron) shattered as he applied the brakes.
>
> I am sure that was a bit of a problem for him - No idea as to his
> speed at the time but I am sure it would have been reasonably quick!

I witnessed a sidecar race where a rotor shattered at Wanneroo
raceway. The outfit didn't make the corner. I spoke to the driver
afterwards, John Bertina, I worked with his Brother Hans for 25 years
at NCR.

Theo

On Mar 12, 9:20*am, atec 77 <"atec 77 "@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Zebee Johnstone wrote:

> > Then there's all the ads in my early 70s copies of 2 Wheels for shops
> > and people offering service.
>
> > Even in country towns!
>
> > So better sigh, count the grey hairs, and change the whine to "50-60
> > years, in country towns"
>
> > (Because in those aforementioned 70s mags are ads for places
> > announcing they've been in the motorcycle business for 20 years...)
>
> > Zebee
>
> When I was living in Unzud in the 1960's the local bike shop in Petone
> had started just post war *, the same owners until the retired around
> 1970 and several of the larger shops in Wellington had traded from the
> 1920's. I would expect the same in Au

Pal & Panther in North Perth has been in business for three
generations, since 1928.

Theo

"theo" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:62c96770-66bf-4c27-acb7-(E-Mail Removed)...
On Mar 12, 7:56 am, Zebee Johnstone <zeb...@gmail.com> wrote:
> In aus.motorcycles on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:45:32 +1100
>
> GWD <g...@nsw.chariot.net.au> wrote:
> > On Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:22:58 GMT, George W Frost wrote:
>
> >>George, I have to disagree with you there,
> >>In times gone by, and I am only going back 30 - 40 years, there was no
> >>such
> >>thing as a motorcycle mechanic, an owner had to do any repairs himself
> >>or
> >>take it to a motor car garage and get the mechanic there to fix the
> >>problem,
> >>or attempt to fix it.
>
> What?
>
> it is now 2010. 30 years ago was, I regret to inform you, 1980.
> Rather a lot of motorcycle mechanics around in 1982 when I started
> riding, can't believe they all sprung up in 2 years?
>
> Even 40 years was 1970. Now it might be that there weren't massive
> numbers of motorcycle shops with mechanics in Oz then, but considering
> there were ones in the 1920s there had to be some.
>
> Hey Theo, when did Ted Stolarski start? Pitmans in Adelaide dates
> from at least the mid 70s, ditto The Bike Factory. I'm pretty sure
> Central had been in business since the mid 50s.

I bought my first Guzzi from Ted in 1976, but he was supplying
scooters (real Italian ones) to Perth City parking Insoectors for at
least 15 years before that.

> Then there's all the ads in my early 70s copies of 2 Wheels for shops
> and people offering service.
>
> Even in country towns!
>
> So better sigh, count the grey hairs, and change the whine to "50-60
> years, in country towns"

I can't agree with that Zebee. My country town, Northam, with a
population of 8000, had two motorcycle shops, both with excellent
mechanics, in the mid-fifties. That's 65 years ago and they were both
well-established businesses.

Theo


***********************


****, what happened to the past 10 years?
you have us in 2020 already Theo.

"Zebee Johnstone" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> In aus.motorcycles on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:45:32 +1100
> GWD <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>> On Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:22:58 GMT, George W Frost wrote:
>>
>>
>>>George, I have to disagree with you there,
>>>In times gone by, and I am only going back 30 - 40 years, there was no
>>>such
>>>thing as a motorcycle mechanic, an owner had to do any repairs himself or
>>>take it to a motor car garage and get the mechanic there to fix the
>>>problem,
>>>or attempt to fix it.
>
> What?
>
> it is now 2010. 30 years ago was, I regret to inform you, 1980.
> Rather a lot of motorcycle mechanics around in 1982 when I started
> riding, can't believe they all sprung up in 2 years?
>
> Even 40 years was 1970. Now it might be that there weren't massive
> numbers of motorcycle shops with mechanics in Oz then, but considering
> there were ones in the 1920s there had to be some.
>
> Hey Theo, when did Ted Stolarski start? Pitmans in Adelaide dates
> from at least the mid 70s, ditto The Bike Factory. I'm pretty sure
> Central had been in business since the mid 50s.
>
> Then there's all the ads in my early 70s copies of 2 Wheels for shops
> and people offering service.
>
> Even in country towns!
>
> So better sigh, count the grey hairs, and change the whine to "50-60
> years, in country towns"
>
> (Because in those aforementioned 70s mags are ads for places
> announcing they've been in the motorcycle business for 20 years...)
>
> Zebee


Maybe I should have explained what I meant,
I presumed everyone would understand
although there are some who don't want to understand or even try to

What was meant, was that 30 - 40 years ago,
there was no fully qualified motorcycle mechanics around, they were all self
taught and learned from their experiences.
Ands by fully qualified, I mean Trade School taught,
there was no official training course for motorcycle mechanics.

There may have been motorcycle shops and motorcycle repair shops, but they
didn't have full Trade School training

"theo" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:7c7d4600-efa0-4946-9b71-(E-Mail Removed)...
On Mar 12, 9:07 am, JohnO <varc...@msn.com> wrote:
> On Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:54:21 GMT, Lars Chance

> >Pfft! Lever, piston, pipe, piston(s), pads, disk(s). What could be
> >simpler?
> >Has anyone you know ever suffered a genuine (problem-causing)
> >brake-failure? (Apart from maybe a snapped cable on a drum)
>
> One of the regulars in here (FWOAR) [1] was barrelling flat chat down
> the main straight at Eastern Creek on his Kawa when the disk rotor
> (cast iron) shattered as he applied the brakes.
>
> I am sure that was a bit of a problem for him - No idea as to his
> speed at the time but I am sure it would have been reasonably quick!

I witnessed a sidecar race where a rotor shattered at Wanneroo
raceway. The outfit didn't make the corner. I spoke to the driver
afterwards, John Bertina, I worked with his Brother Hans for 25 years
at NCR.

Theo]

**************

That was luxury to ride in an outfit with hydraulic disk brakes
I learned on a pre-unit Triumph with drum brakes and the luxury of the day,
was to have twin leading shoes.

George W Frost wrote:
> "Zebee Johnstone" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> In aus.motorcycles on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:45:32 +1100
>> GWD <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>> On Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:22:58 GMT, George W Frost wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> George, I have to disagree with you there,
>>>> In times gone by, and I am only going back 30 - 40 years, there was no
>>>> such
>>>> thing as a motorcycle mechanic, an owner had to do any repairs himself or
>>>> take it to a motor car garage and get the mechanic there to fix the
>>>> problem,
>>>> or attempt to fix it.
>> What?
>>
>> it is now 2010. 30 years ago was, I regret to inform you, 1980.
>> Rather a lot of motorcycle mechanics around in 1982 when I started
>> riding, can't believe they all sprung up in 2 years?
>>
>> Even 40 years was 1970. Now it might be that there weren't massive
>> numbers of motorcycle shops with mechanics in Oz then, but considering
>> there were ones in the 1920s there had to be some.
>>
>> Hey Theo, when did Ted Stolarski start? Pitmans in Adelaide dates
>> from at least the mid 70s, ditto The Bike Factory. I'm pretty sure
>> Central had been in business since the mid 50s.
>>
>> Then there's all the ads in my early 70s copies of 2 Wheels for shops
>> and people offering service.
>>
>> Even in country towns!
>>
>> So better sigh, count the grey hairs, and change the whine to "50-60
>> years, in country towns"
>>
>> (Because in those aforementioned 70s mags are ads for places
>> announcing they've been in the motorcycle business for 20 years...)
>>
>> Zebee
>
>
> Maybe I should have explained what I meant,
> I presumed everyone would understand
> although there are some who don't want to understand or even try to
>
> What was meant, was that 30 - 40 years ago,
> there was no fully qualified motorcycle mechanics around, they were all self
> taught and learned from their experiences.
> Ands by fully qualified, I mean Trade School taught,
> there was no official training course for motorcycle mechanics.
>
> There may have been motorcycle shops and motorcycle repair shops, but they
> didn't have full Trade School training
>
>
Of there were correctly trained bike mechanics , either ex factory or ex
military remember many were European hence trained