Its the little things they forgot to mention in the manual

Ok, so al lot of these may be common sense and some ... well, maybe I'm just stupid. But here's a list of things that in my experience someone forgot to mention when you're discovering the joys of working on your bike:

1. Time - Do not bother to set a time by which you expect to complete a job! This is surely the must futile exercise part of doing any work on your bike for the first time. Everything will take twice as long as you thought. If you're lucky;

2. Tools - Don't buy an oil filter (chain type) wrench from Halfords. Its rubbish. They're rubbish;

3. Nuts and bolts - Don't think you'll just "remember" where everything goes because you've got a photographic memory. You might have, for 5 minutes. But after that you're buggered Goldfish!

4. Nuts and bolts - Do make a little template or label your nuts and bolts (little freezer bags with labels are especially useful for this) if you're taking off a lot or stripping down parts of the bike. You will thank yourself for the effort taken to do this;

5. Re 3 & 4 - The Haynes manual does not help you if you forgot what bolt goes where and you're too much of an idiot to remember ;

6. Spark plugs - Iridium or not to iridium? After some comprehensive research (i.e. 10 minutes on Google) I was utterly confused so simply went with the more expensive option. Flame me now please if I'm unlikely to ever feel the difference between an iridium and standard type spark plug

7. Spark plugs II - Hayne's lies! The Internet lies! Its not difficult to change the plug by the rear cylinder next to the coolant bottle. Its friggin impossible man! How bloody long did it take me to change one freaking spark plug?

8. Spark Plug III - NGK are b@sta@rds. Hayne's lies. After changing plug 1 (see above - if it had broken me I would have given up) I couldn't re-attach the plug cap. Checked the spare and it didn't have the same "screw-in" end as the original. "B@ast@rds! They must have sent the wrong ones! But how could that be? I checked the part number myself!" ... ... OR, what no one bothered to mention was that the "screw" is in fact connected to a screw cap which just appears to be the normal metal end of the spark plug. You have to unscrew and remove this part for the Spark plug to fit into the plug cap socket. Then please refer back to Number 1!

9. Swingarm - Suzuki are B@st@rds and Haynes should know better . Haynes should have mentioned at the start of the bloody swingarm removal chapter that a "special Suzuki tool" will be needed to remove the swingarm. Not after following the bloody guide step-for-step only to find out that Mr cheap ass Suzuki did not provide this tool in the toolkit, but wants me to buy it of em! Then, minus points for Haynes suggesting I make one myself. If I didn't have the foresight to read the entire guide first before starting the job (see number 10 below) what makes Mr Haynes think I'd be intelligent enough to just "mod" myself up a tool?

10. Read the friggin instructions completely before you start the job.

11. Shopping for parts - For nuts and bolts, there are few options for which to choose. Of course you can get an Anodised kit from Probolt (Bling Bling), but you might need use of your Kidney one day. Or you could join a merchant website and try to score some cheap Titanium bolts from a Chinese supplier! ... Yeah, that didn't work either. But if you can be ever so inclined (read sad) to learn all about nuts and bolts, thread size, pitch, tensility, grade and material, then it is possible to find a supplier who won't charge you £15 for a replacement R&G engine mounting bolt;

12. Rear wheel reinstall - Its a two man job really. Obviously it can be done. But the first time you do it on your own, just warn your neighbours before you start cursing ;

13. There's more - Like reassembling the fork with new oil and feeling well proud of yourself that you haven't stripped the threads ... until you turn around and notice there a little spring with oil in the bottom of the plastic bag used to store all the bits and pieces you disassembled for forgot to check carefully before putting the forks back together ] (*,) Or feeling so pleased that you've nailed it that you just had to turn the bike on to "listen to that motor" when its parked in the back alley between your neighbours ... at 9pm

... But I'll leave it there for now. You're more than welcome to add to my eponymous list

[Bibio]

inexperience + tools = mistakes

BTW there is a specific code for spark plugs

manuals. your fault for not reading the whole chapter FIRST before commencing the task

[DJ123]

Unsure why you think the rear wheel install is a 2 man job. It's pretty simple to do on your own.

Originally Posted by daddyjob

Unsure why you think the rear wheel install is a 2 man job. It's pretty simple to do on your own.

How?

[Bibio]

i sit at the back of the bike and lift the wheel in with one hand and slide the spindle with the other. the trick is to set the calliper carrier and the spindle in the swingarm first making sure that the spindle is not sticking out further than the face of the carrier.

[DJ123]

Originally Posted by Runako

How?

Originally Posted by Bibio

i sit at the back of the bike and lift the wheel in with one hand and slide the spindle with the other. the trick is to set the calliper carrier and the spindle in the swingarm first making sure that the spindle is not sticking out further than the face of the carrier.

^^^^ Like that. Prepare everything before you get the wheel in situe. Then you roll the wheel forward to put the chain onto the sprockets. The line up the spindle with the wheel centre et voila. Takes a bit of practice but you get there. It's a nightmare making sure the spacers don't fall out of the wheel!

Obviously I've done this lads, but it was by no means easy because of that very reason you mentioned. The bloody spacer! Holding up the wheel so that its level with the spindle, without shaking that little bugger loose is difficult. There is clearly a knack to it which comes from experience but with an extra pair of hands it takes a minute. I would recommend captive spacers to make the job easier (remember, this is more about trial and error when doing things for the FIRST time. I'm stupid but smart enough to learn quickly )

[Bibio]

clean the grease off the spacers and the dust seals.

i also find moving the calliper out the way helps or making sure that the pads are well pushed back

[garynortheast]

I set the spindle and caliper in place, in the offside of the swingarm first, then put a piece of wood on the ground, thick enough to raise the wheel to the correct height when the wheel is rolled onto it. Then another piece of wood behind the wheel to wedge it into position. This leaves both hands free for putting the chain on and sliding spacers and spindle into place.

[Tomor]

stick a spade on a block of wood and lift the rear wheel using your foot on the spade. bit tricky the first time but a bit easier now