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Ladies of the forum...

7K views 59 replies 25 participants last post by  GoldWolf 
#1 ·
I am just curious to know of all the ladies on the forum, who all does their own work on the bike? I do everything on my bike and actually quite enjoy it but most of my friends and acquaintances think I am somewhat of an anomaly. Am I just weird or are there other likeminded ladies out there?
 
#5 ·
I will speak for my wife here... She does all of the cleaning and polishing. She helps with everything else that is done UNLESS I do it for a surprise! She has the knowledge and talent to do most of the work, but I just do it for her.
Coop
 
#10 ·
Well speaking of knowing a bit about the bike you ride, I had an interesting occurrence happen on the way to work the other morning. I pulled away from a stop light and when I went to shift into second the shifter lifted up with no resistance whatsoever. After pulling over into a side street, I ascertained what had happened. Apparently a bolt had worked its way loose that held my shifter to the connecting rod. After a little brainstorming, I found some wire on the side of the road which I used to hold everything together enough to make it a little ways down the road to the nearest gas station. Once there, I was able to fashion a better temporary fix that would get to work and back home out of a car battery terminal. (gas stations are somewhat limited on their selection of possible fixing agents) all of this and I STILL made it to work on time :)

Excuse the ratty nature of my bike ... It is not a beauty queen by any means.
 

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#11 ·
take this tip to heart, it matters not if it is a Harley or a Honda ( and anything in between ) do a periodical check of not only your fasteners but your frame.. one would be surprised at how common a stress crack is on bikes.
 
#12 ·
Truthfully folks, male or female if you ride you should know at least the basics. Many of you grew up gear heads and that is good, some of you however have no experience with anything other than a keyboard or cell phone.. nothing wrong with that but it ain't gonna get you far on a dark road with no cell phone reception and not a living soul in sight..being stranded isn't fun and in many cases there is simply no reason for it. Most roadside maladies are easily self fixable if you know what to look for and have a basic understanding of mechanics ( electrical wouldn't hurt either )

So.. Go, take a course, buy some tools tinker.. if you don't want to experiment on your primary ride and if you have the cash, buy a running basket.. something where the engine and tranny work reasonably well, but could use tuning or a top end rebuild.
Pace yourself at you current skill but be eager to grow. Back in my day tearing off cylinder heads, adjusting points, getting the distributor "right"..were all a matter of necessity.. we owned clunkers and clunkers needed to be kept running cheaply, which means learning to do because mechanics cost $$$$$ that we did not have.. pretty much sums up today too. I think women wrenching there own bespeaks independence far more them shouting feminist slogans. I shows me a sense of self determination and self worth rather then a demand for unearned respect simply because one is a female.
 
#26 ·
I don't claim to be an expert on anything. I am just somewhat mechanically minded. I don't have any formal training but most things I can pretty much figure out (it just may take me little longer than someone who knows what they are looking for from the start). It also doesn't hurt to not be afraid to jump into a project and get it done. I am confident in myself and my abilities to figure it out in the end even if I am not necessarily an expert on what I am doing.
 
#31 ·
No, I agree. But maintenance is one thing, rebuilding a gearbox is another.
Yes they are different things and it irritates me that it is assumed that a woman cannot do the latter because she is...well, a woman.

I sir, have not rebuilt a gearbox, but I have performed many a top overhaul and I shall assure you that I can not only grind and lap my own valves but adjust my own ring gaps unassisted.

And I'm pretty sure that there are quite a few men out there who not only cannot do that, but also have no idea what I just said.

Ok. Getting down off my soap box now.




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#30 ·
Oh I agree. That is one thing about confidence. It goes both ways. I can be confident in what I CAN do, but I can also be confident in what I can NOT do. I can research and get advice as to whether it is something I can tackle myself but sometimes its not. And even then, it doesn't necessarily mean I don't think I can do it, but the circumstances surrounding it may just not be favorable (don't have the right tools, don't have the time, don't have the money, etc) Bottom line is there are multiple aspects that determine whether or not I attempt to work on a project.

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#34 ·
I know lots of women who can work on their own cars and bike. I also know men who like to cook. The shop I work in a a few women that run circles around the men. Also my wife can turn a wrench as well has the guys. The only difference with my wife is she doesn't have too, cause I do it. Another note I like to cook, nothing like coming home from work and seeing that my wife (stay at home mom) has had a rough day and cooking dinner so she can relax for a bit. Hell my 4 year old son cooks with me and is in the garage with working on the vehicles. Sex doesn't matter when it comes to abilities in the garage or kitchen..

Tcspencer211
 
#42 ·
Is it to early for a sammich making comment?

My wife does some maintenance on the shadow. But most of that is left to the mechanic we use. She knows basic things. She doesn't care to know more.
 
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