My mechanical odyssey

[D-Mac]

As some of you know, I decided to enroll in the Motorcycle Service Tech program at Washtenaw Community College. It's weird - I work all day teaching classes at Albion and then ride quickly to class to listen to someone else do the teaching at night.

I'll use this thread to keep folks updated occasionally on my progress. From time-to-time there might be opportunities for you to give me some practice, so I'll keep this in Region-4 for that reason.

Week 1: Good so far. Instructors REALLY know their stuff (and they can teach as well). The lead instructor for my first course ran many service departments, including some of the most productive in the country. You can see why - the guy is amazingly well-organized and he knows bikes and people.

Things I'm looking forward to.....

The shop is amazing. They have the best equipment available - tons of lifts, new paint booths, welding equipment, and a massive machine shop than can do pretty much anything you want to an engine. The coolest setup is the dyno room. It has a massive separate room for air treatment (which costs many times what the dyno did) so the wind blows 25 mph through the dyno room during testing - removing the need to alter the exhaust flow on bikes by putting venting on the pipes; you can alter room pressure to simulate altitude changes, various temperature changes, etc.).

From the sounds of it, my first class is basic maintenance stuff and learning how a shop works. Other classes cover everything from electrical work to custom fabrication (no OCC stuff here - these guys make their own frames, lace their own wheels, etc.) They also seem to like building bikes that go very, very fast (there are turbos and nitrous kits lying around everywhere).

The program walks the line between Harleys and metric bikes. We will work on both.

[Sport-Touring]

[sammyseaman]

   

[duceduceexplorer]

yeah that program does just about everything. I know some people that have done the custom car program, but also know the "dean" (or whatever you call it) of that program just let us know when you get free dyno time :P

[sleazy rider]

 

[Ack535]

Ugh! I would love to have the time to run the course with you....

Damn job gets in the way of all of my fun.

[MadMax96]

Oh man that sounds awesome.  I so wish I had the time/money to enroll in something like that - even if I wasn't going to use the knowledge for a job or career.

You lucky bastage...  

[D-Mac]

Update....

Week 2: This week we spent some time loading and unloading bikes onto lifts and using various types of jacks. The rest of my time was taken up reviewing pretty much every type of tool you can imagine (and taking a test on it), IDing and measuring all sorts of US and metric fasteners, and covering a lot of material on thread repair and bolt/screw extraction (we'll be practicing this next week along with starting to tear down a bike I think).

[D-Mac]

Week 3:

This week we spent a lot of time in the shop. A lot of that time was spent drilling/tapping threads and extracting broken bolts. I now know I want a vertical milling machine when I win the lottery (although a regular drill press works well enough). While I've done some of this stuff before, I learned a lot of little things that make a big difference. I think it's safe to say I'll be much less likely to break off an EZ-out the next time I try to drill-out the screws on the cases of a 1960s Honda.  

We also worked a lot with high-precision measuring devices this week (some that measure down to one ten-thousandth of an inch). We learned how to measure cylinders properly so we can eventually re-bore them (although we don't do any boring until a later course). Apparently I will spend much of next week taking measurements from more than 20 motors/carbs/rotors etc. etc. for practice. We have another test next week as well. After that we're tearing down bikes and looking at suspension systems.

[sammyseaman]

FUN!  

[bomber]

what a great thing to do -- life-long learning ROCKS!

[D-Mac]

Week 4: We spent the week taking a test and doing a lot more precision measuring. I measured something like 25 cylinders (6 locations in each using various bore gauges+micrometer setups, which takes a lot more time than you'd think). Then I did the same number of pistons (much easier). I think my eyes are crossed permanently.

I scored 100% on the second test (just gotta throw that in there  ). It was a little surprised because it was very technical and had a few "trick" questions on it that I was unsure about. In general, I'm a good test-taker though. Being good on paper has worked well for me as an academic, but I doubt it means as much in the shop (or the so-called "real world" I've been hiding from for 20 years!)

Next week we start discussing engine design. There is a bike/car show on Sunday, October 2nd as well. I signed up to volunteer for the show, although I have no idea what I'll actually be doing. I think they're planning a dyno shootout as part of it. That would be fun.

[duceduceexplorer]

more details about the show?!

[D-Mac]

Brochure:
https://store.wccnet.edu/carsoncampus/images/template11/carsbikesoncampus_11_web.pdf

Registration forms for competitors:
https://store.wccnet.edu/carsoncampus/

Sounds like it runs from 11-3. I signed up to volunteer from 8-1, but I might hang around for the whole thing if I can get the time free.

[D-Mac]

Good week. I got lots more practice measuring cylinders   I discovered after measuring about 20 of them that my micrometer was bent. Dial gauge was fine, so all my measurements were off by exactly the same amount. Lovely. Good thing none of them were being re-bored!

We also got into engine design this week. I spent a lot of time looking at various setups and learning about which engine mods work and which ones don't (and how to figure out what works best). Very cool stuff.

I worked the annual bike show/dyno shootout all day today. Since I'm only an intro student I was mostly helping to clean/prep the shop and direct traffic. At one point one of my former students (from where I teach) showed up with her boyfriend. It took her a few minutes to recognize me in my "Washtenaw student" t-shirt. I guess my double life as a mechanic trainee has been exposed.  

I'll post up a couple of pics of the show tomorrow. It was a blast. I continue to be impressed by the quality of this program. Apparently we're nearing the point of this course where the rest of the semester will be spent in the shop.

[OU812]

How cool!

[D-Mac]

Still gotta post those pics.

Another week down. Tuesday was (I think) the last of a series of classroom lectures/labs. We spent the time covering a lot of info on 2-strokes.

Today we took apart single-cylinder engines and put them back together. Fun stuff. I had a few tense moments trying to remove a flywheel, but it worked out ok. We practiced on old engines first, which was a good thing because several students made substantial mistakes (e.g., mistaking the inch-pound torque wrench for one that reads foot-pounds! )

[duceduceexplorer]

which was a good thing because several students made substantial mistakes (e.g., mistaking the inch-pound torque wrench for one that reads foot-pounds! )

i just use an impact on EVERYTHING! all bolts all the time!  

[D-Mac]

Another week down.

We spent both classes this week (7 hours) in the shop tearing down the top ends on several different engines. So far I've done a Honda 300ex, an HD Twin Cam, and a Yamaha 2-stroke. The Honda was the toughest, but easily the most fun. I've always wanted to know how to set the timing on a bike, and it was actually very easy, although there are lots of "tricks" that help prevent you from screwing something up. We had to take various measurements on each bike (piston diameter, piston-cylinder clearance, bore at various points, stroke, displacement, etc.) and compare our specs to stock specs. Some of the engines were modded and some weren't - one goal was for us to figure out what work had been done on each one. We got lots of practice torquing down dozens of fasteners! The instructors don't miss anything, and they often lie in wait to answer questions they know we'll have (e.g., what do we do if we don't have the "special part" that the manufacturer keeps referring to.....how to I compress the rings again? etc.) They also have to sign off on various procedures that we're doing. As always, we use time cards to keep track of our efficiency versus "book time" to complete each task. I beat the book time on the Harley and Yamaha, but not the Honda.

We had a small test on Tuesday. My 100% average is still intact   Our midterm is next Tuesday, and that will be tougher. After that it's back to the lab to tear down a Suzuki 2-stroke and a Kawasaki V-twin. Once that's done I think we're starting in on wheels/tires. I hope so because I've got 16,000+ miles on my tires and I want to change/balance them!

[D-Mac]

On Tuesday this week we had our midterm. It was easier than expected (everyone else found that true as well). Afterwards, I had just enough time to tear down the top end of a Suzuki two-stroke twin and most of a Kawasaki V-twin.

I got the midterm back tonight. 102% (managed to get the "bonus question" right as well.   ) We then reviewed the use of the tire changer and dynamic balancer (waaaaay too much information - this is gonna take me a while). We then learned how to replace wheel bearings (several types) and measure wheel run-out. Lots of "special factory tools" make things much easier here!

Next week we'll actually get to use the tire changer and practice wheel bearing replacement ourselves. We'll be spending nearly every class in the shop from here on out.

I got the Winter class schedule the other day. It looks like I'll be able to "sneak" out of work enough to take the next Motorcycle Service course starting in January. I'm going to try and fit in the required welding class too (or the required machine shop course if the welding class fills up before I can register for it). I had hoped to get the machining AND welding classes done so I could cram in the remainder of the motorcycle courses next summer, but it doesn't look like that will work out. I'll probably end up taking the machine shop and third motorcycle classes in the summer, and the final motorcycle class next fall. After that there are "advanced" courses in fabrication and dyno operations too.

[Meemuh]

Interesting stuff - keep the reports coming.