Bike maintenance

Part of the fun of riding a bike, is doing the maintenance and repairs. I used to fix my bike where I was at college, then my moped, my motorbike and my car, a Morris Minor.

Cars today have become a lot more complex and electronic, and you need a lot more expensive equipment to do car repairs. But I can still fix my bike.

Today, I replaced the brake shoes; I seem to do that very frequently, and they did need replacing, because I could see the metal on the brake shoe. Then I adjusted the PDA carrier so it would let me slide it on and off more easily, then I adjusted the back rack to give a bit more clearance and move the saddle bags forward a little. Apart from the brake shoes, that was all procrastination - what I really needed to do was take the front wheel apart to investigate the wobble.

It was a bit of a struggle to get the motor apart; I'd forgotten that you have to remove the left hand nut. But I got it apart, poured out the water that had gotten in (left there, it will corrode things, and maybe even cause a short). I've ordered smoe gasket sealant from Ebay, I'll use that next time I do this. I cleaned out the inside with paper towels, gave it ten minutes from a fan heater to help it get dry, regreased and reassembled. One of the bolts holding the motor together wouldn't tighten; the thread is stripped. So I replace the bolt with a nut and bolt; it looks strange, but that's better than not having the motor sealed properly.

So it's all assembled now. And the wobble is still there. But I don't think I'm going to be able to fix it, unless I replace the motor, which is *very* expensive.