I hurt. Still. · 4:26am Apr 7th, 2015
Saturday, I had to swap cylinder heads on my CCM. Broken exhaust bolts etc.
Problem 1) baffle refused to let go of the header pipe.
I WAS THERE FOR A WHOLE CUNTING HOUR WITH A BLOWTORCH AND A CLUBHAMMER BEFORE THE FUCKING THING LET GO!!!! I was almost to the point of getting the grinder out and just cutting it off!
Problem 2) starter motor bolt seized. Head sheared off.
Had to lever it up and get in there with a junior hacksaw, with a blunt blade no less, to cut off enough of the bolt that I could get the starter out and still have enough left to get some grips on and remove said bolt... At some point in the future.
Problem 3) starter mount was in the way of an engine mounting bolt. And the bolts holding said mount in place were seized. No surprises there.
HELLO MR. GRINDER, WOULD YOU LIKE TO COME OUT AND PLAY?!! Needless to say, things were not going well by this point.
As a side note, my starter motor has been left sitting on the bench awaiting a rebuild. It's more than a little stiff when turned by hand. Probably go some way to explaining why it keeps throwing the sprag clutch off and making horrible graunching noises. Yet another issue to rectify.
Fast forward to the point we have everything back together with my spare head in place. We'll leave out the swearing and cursing and briefly mention that this job should have been started and finished inside about 4 hours instead of the 8 it actually took...
Problem 4) starting. Or rather, the lack thereof.
Now, I am sure you are aware (if you've been paying attention) that my bike currently has no starter motor. How does one start it with no starter motor?
A kick start. Which Rotax deemed prudent to put on the LEFT, not the right as is the usual place for these things.
Cue half an hour of kicking this evil monstrosity with every ounce of remaining strength I had before FINALLY GETTING THE BASTARD THING TO FIRE!
I have never, never ever ever, in all my years of working on bikes, had to fight SO HARD to get a bike to start after engine work! Bloody Austrian fickle piece of machinery!
But yes! Here I am, Tuesday morning, STILL sore from the events of that day...
Fuck.
My.
Life.
