Has anyone ever...

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robertorolfo · #46 Post by **robertorolfo** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 1:33 pm

Aladin, there are lots and lots of nice looking girls here in Rome, but for the most part they are a huge pain in the ass. You are much better off going to Milan or Bologna if you are looking meet a nice lady. You will see more mini-skirts in Milan than you would think is humanly possible... and the girls will actually give you the time of day.

Aladinsaneuk · #47 Post by **Aladinsaneuk** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 1:36 pm

oooo

so glad my wife has just gone to work.....

Syltiz · #48 Post by **Syltiz** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 3:24 pm

robertorolfo wrote:Aladin, there are lots and lots of nice looking girls here in Rome, but for the most part they are a huge pain in the ass. You are much better off going to Milan or Bologna if you are looking meet a nice lady. You will see more mini-skirts in Milan than you would think is humanly possible... and the girls will actually give you the time of day.

My mum was Born in Milan - never been there but I ought to. My father was born in Abruzzo and his father was a champion Italian skiier of some sort. I hold an Italian passport but never been there

k1w1boy · #49 Post by **k1w1boy** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 8:02 pm

Chabby wrote:My mate runs a one man garage.

If he comes up against anything likely to break and cost the customer more money he contacts them first to let them know the score.
If they aren't happy he doesn't do the job.
Saves hassle as he can spend hours fixing stuff which wasn't apparant at the time and he's got a business to run at the end of the day.

In your case I would say with you standing watching, you had the chance to tell Mr Hamfist not to bother and by not doing so implied that you consented.
That said, it depends whether he tries to charge you extra and if so, how much.

.... a story in a similar vein: after falling off (no smartarse comments please

) my Firestorm a few years ago, cracking the left and hanger I took it in to my Honda spannermonkeys to get a replacement one swapped. The gaffer Len said it would tke a quarter hour and it was fine if I hung around and watched. Little did either of us know that the left hanger was pinned on by the axle/bolt/thingy that went through the swingarm and the bike needed to be jacked up, bolt pulled all the way out, before the new hanger could be put on ... it took about an hour. Much to my surprise (I was prepared to roll over and pay whatever I was asked to) they only charged me for the quarter hour labour. I was dumb enough to ask why so cheap, and Len (bless him) muttered something about charging me for how long he thought it'd take. Understadably, I still use these guys now.

Firestarter · #50 Post by **Firestarter** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 8:21 am

k1w1boy wrote:Understadably, I still use these guys now.

Regularly?

Sorry, couldn't resist

k1w1boy · #51 Post by **k1w1boy** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 3:35 pm

Firestarter wrote:
k1w1boy wrote:Understadably, I still use these guys now.
Regularly?

Sorry, couldn't resist

....

yes, regularly... my brief flashes of mechanical hypochondria here are nothing compared with what Len, Simon and the kid who does most of the work on my bike have to put up with. They have a sense of humour about my fettling failings and rarely charge me for investigating the rattles, hums, bumps and schimmies that most riders of my experience just ignore.

robertorolfo · #52 Post by **robertorolfo** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 2:17 pm

Oh, I forgot about another interesting tidbit...

So the mechanic was asking me about the bike in general, and I mentioned that I was having problems finding an Aprilia shop to actually open the engine and service the valve (check clearances....). And his response was, "why would you want to do that?"

So I said, "the thing has 52K kilometers on it, and I have no idea what the service history was prior to the last 10K."

To which he (with the head nodding agreement of his assistant) responds, "Don't even worry about that stuff. If you hear a noise or think you have a problem, then do something. If not, just leave it be and do basic servicing. You dont want anybody opening it up unless there is something wrong with it... you are better off that way."

Any thoughts on this? I know if flies in the face of the 'regular valve clearace checks' conventional wisdom... but I also know that in most of what I have read about the subject, people usually find that there isnt any adjustment necessary. I specifically remember some Dutch motorcycle magazine that rode one for 70K kilometers (or something like that) and then totally stripped down the motor... only to find it was well, well within tollerances.

D-Rider · #53 Post by **D-Rider** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 3:11 pm

Yeah - a regular subject of mirth - the periodic discussion of valve check clearances and subsequent reporting that "once again they were checked and didn't need adjusting"

There must be someone, somewhere that's had one go out of tolerance at some time and some mileage ..... but I'm not sure we've met them.

Of course, few of us would choose to avoid the check as we all know that an unchecked valve would suddenly decide to leap out of tolerance with catastrophic consequences .... so we usually check them anyway so they don't think we've forgotten them.

Syltiz · #54 Post by **Syltiz** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 3:14 pm

robertorolfo wrote:Oh, I forgot about another interesting tidbit...

So the mechanic was asking me about the bike in general, and I mentioned that I was having problems finding an Aprilia shop to actually open the engine and service the valve (check clearances....). And his response was, "why would you want to do that?"

So I said, "the thing has 52K kilometers on it, and I have no idea what the service history was prior to the last 10K."

To which he (with the head nodding agreement of his assistant) responds, "Don't even worry about that stuff. If you hear a noise or think you have a problem, then do something. If not, just leave it be and do basic servicing. You dont want anybody opening it up unless there is something wrong with it... you are better off that way."

Any thoughts on this? I know if flies in the face of the 'regular valve clearace checks' conventional wisdom... but I also know that in most of what I have read about the subject, people usually find that there isnt any adjustment necessary. I specifically remember some Dutch motorcycle magazine that rode one for 70K kilometers (or something like that) and then totally stripped down the motor... only to find it was well, well within tollerances.

I dont know.... if your clearances are over the upper tolerance limit then you will hear the tappet knocking sound and you can act - no harm done... but what if the clearances are below the lower tolerance? You wont hear anything but your valves will burn and engine compression will be down resulting in poor performance.

Taper One · #55 Post by **Taper One** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 12:45 am

This is the thing about modern engines and oil. The clearances rarely increase due to wear. The problem is that the valves settle into the seats reducing the clearance, hence no warning from increased noise. As mentioned, the first thing you know it aint right is when the valves burn out. This is why you should check them. Take my Navi as an example. The rear cylinder needs adusting due to tight clrearance, but the front cylinder is within tolerance. Apparently, this is common on the Navi (TL1000 engine) Allegedly, this is due to the increased heat on the rear cylinder.

But, as my recenrly aquired Falco has only done 5K, it is something I will need to think about after a few European trips next year

robertorolfo · #56 Post by **robertorolfo** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 11:53 am

Thanks for all the helpfull feedback guys. I do get a very slight ticking noise for somewhere, but I don't know if it is normal or not, as I have never ridden one that was new/in good order. Fingers crossed for now.

As tempted as I am to invest a bit more in it, it does have 50K on it, and I have no idea how hard the first 40K were. The bike has never been in a garage, and so it is well worn on the outside.

And then I saw this yesterday, which I havent been able to get out of my head. I feel so guilty, but just look at the thing. It is magnificent, and only has 19K kilometers on it. So yummy...

http://www.moto.it/usato/usato03.asp?EID=1844524

HowardQ · #57 Post by **HowardQ** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 1:40 pm

Looks nice!
Bit different to ride, a bit higher so you feel more like you're sitting on it, (with the Falco you feel a bit more like you are sitting in it, if you know what I mean). It's also a bit heavier on the wrists than the Falco, so not quite as comfortable, but handles great and still has the V60 motor.

D-Rider · #58 Post by **D-Rider** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 2:53 pm

Ah - the Falco's uglier sister .... but better than that munter of a Tuono ....

(sorry - just a personal view of aesthetics)

Pierre · #59 Post by **Pierre** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 10:45 pm

pfffff flog it till it blows then buy another off ebay for £200 and spend a pleasant day in the garage swapping it over. If your lucky you wont even have to top the oil up

HowardQ · #60 Post by **HowardQ** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 12:57 pm

D-Rider wrote:Ah - the Falco's uglier sister .... but better than that munter of a Tuono ....

(sorry - just a personal view of aesthetics)

Oooopps.

F9 and Okamoto will be round to see you this weekend!