• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

DonÔÇÖt ya just hate it when this happens while wrenching?

rad

Retired from riding
You know, everything is going well on a maintenance job you know pretty well, then it happens, a small important part falls and you did not see where!
That was how 2 hours were added to my fuel filter replacement job on my S today. When the tank is off there are a myriad of nooks and crannies the shouldered metal washer for the gas tank mount, with its corresponding rubber washer, could have been swallowed by.

After 20 minutes of searching I had to break out the heavy artillery, my good flashlight and my small mirror on the expanding stalk.
20 more futile minutes and I had to employ classic search and rescue techniques, I had to keep expanding my search area.

In the past my two worst/best lost items were; a bolt that had attached itself to the underside of my brand new magnetic parts dish. Second was a rear wheel spacer on an Oil head that dropped onto the ground as I pulled off the rear wheel. Little did I know, for hours, that it had rolled out of my garage down my driveway and made a hard left turn before reaching the sidewalk and took a long nap on my neighborÔÇÖs lawn.

i-Pj4qHXD-M.jpg

At the one hour mark I missed my trusty garage maintenance companion, Sierra, my big beautiful and ultra-mellow Shepherd. Had she still been alive, at the 1 hour mark I would have noticed her get up from her favorite spot and slink out of the garage. She always knew before I did that I was about to lose it. She would know swear words were coming, and tools, non-fragile ones of course, might be forcible placed back on the lift or work bench..Im soooo mature sometimes. :brow

Success did come at last, when I gave up looking for the missing part. :clap Instead, I decided to feel for it. Daymn, why did I not do that 2 hours before, I found it in a place I could not see even with my nifty neato findum mirror.

Thanks for "listening"
 
Many year ago I was replacing the idler arm on my TR-3. Lying on the frame rail was a thermostat housing covered by years of road grime. It had fallen down there years ago, some poor sap probably spent god-knows-how-long looking for it before going out and buying a replacement. Always think of that when I lose a piece. :banghead
 
I have heard the sound of said item hitting the bike lift, only to spend the next hour searching for the bounce zone...have found many panel screws in all sorts of locations when working on others bikes as well.
It is amazing how far some things bounce/roll! Never had one roll that far as you Rad...not yet anyway:D

My dog story was when I was a young knucklebuster in my first shop on my parents back porch. I never saw the stealth move to grab a wrench,gasket set, pistons or whatever fit in her jaws. I would search the low bench for item/tool only to find it out under the tree she used as her watch spot. My 14mm combo wrench seemed to be her favorite...great memories!
 
I have heard the sound of said item hitting the bike lift, only to spend the next hour searching for the bounce zone...have found many panel screws in all sorts of locations when working on others bikes as well.
It is amazing how far some things bounce/roll! Never had one roll that far as you Rad...not yet anyway:D

My dog story was when I was a young knucklebuster in my first shop on my parents back porch. I never saw the stealth move to grab a wrench,gasket set, pistons or whatever fit in her jaws. I would search the low bench for item/tool only to find it out under the tree she used as her watch spot. My 14mm combo wrench seemed to be her favorite...great memories!

Bounce zone. I have come soooo close to dropping a second fastener in order to watch where it bounces in hopes of finding the lost one.:laugh

Dogs, ya gotta love the silly critters. :thumb

As much as I love riding I must admit, a warm day, my dog in the garage with me, a cold brew or glass of wine on the work bench and my world champion SF Giants on the radio is almost as good.

i-vv2L9Wm-M.jpg
 
Back
Top