We know it's Halloween so we decided to post the scariest thing we could think of, an email exchange between Jason Weigandt and Aaron Hansel, where Weege admits to just how scary his lack of bike maintenance knowledge is! So, grab your bucket of candy and prepare for nightmares tonight. Just a couple of tips from the editor: buy at least one extra air filter (long stretch for Weege to buy anything, especially a backup, I know) that way you always have one ready to go and do not have to wait for it to dry. And most spark plugs come pre-gapped, just don’t drop it and don’t worry about it. We are sure you have some maintenance tips for Weege too, so feel free to post them in the comments.
Hansel!
Another stressful day trying to get the kid up and riding this week. Is it ever not stressful? I got him signed up for a riding school that started at noon, he had to stay in school until 11 to not count as a full absence day. Rushed from school to track, got there by 11:40 which left us 20 minutes to unload bikes for me and him and get geared up. My son is now on a 65 and I had him start it really quick to get to the rider’s meeting, he felt rushed, so he took off with the choke on, not hearing my screams of “YOU LEFT THE CHOKE ON!!!” as he sprayed smoke all over the pits. A minute later I grab my bike and see my kid is standing there with the bike leaning against the fence. Tells me, “It just stalled.” Sure kid. Learn to use the clutch, okay? So, then we attend the rider’s meeting and are about to head out to the track and his bike won’t start. I’m kicking and kicking and kicking. He fouled a plug from riding with the choke on! Now, I’m clueless, I don’t have an extra plug and I wouldn’t know how to change one even if I did. I mean, I could try it but I've never met a bolt I didn't strip, so I'm terrified about working a bolt that's connected to the engine! I pushed bike back to pits. As usual, a kind moto dad had to bail me out with a fresh plug, and he changed it for me. It’s always something like this.
That was the start of the day. When it the riding was over, my kid finally got back to his comfort blanket—his 50—and went for a rip on the track. Half a lap later, he’s done. “It’s out of gas,” he tells me. I had not topped off the 50 with gas, of course. He was supposed to ride the 65! Also, I couldn’t top it off because I had just stopped at the gas station and filled the can and didn’t have time to measure out a perfect amount of pre-mix. Had to push the bike back to the pits. If you’re counting, that’s starting the day pushing one bike back to the pits and ending the day pushing the other one back to the pits. Bro. It’s always something like this, but only for me. Everyone else knows what the hell they’re doing. This is really more stressful than it is fun, and I wonder A) why I do it and B) if it will ever get better.
Weege
Weege,
Fortunately for you, you should be used to this kind of thing by now. It seems like this is how it always goes whenever you get within five feet of a motorcycle. I’m actually surprised any of the teams let you into their pits at the races. But I digress. The short answer to question A is because it’s “fun,” and the answer to B is, probably not. At least not for you.
Until I became a father, I had zero clue how stressful it is trying to take kids riding. There’s so much more to keep track of! Extra bikes to prep, extra lunches to make, extra gear to pack, and exponentially more potential fires to extinguish. Then there’s the thrill of waiting to see if the boots you bought them three weeks ago still fit. And in your situation, you were up against a clock! Are you out of your mind!? Kids are allergic to being anywhere on time. Just ask my daughter, who literally takes ten minutes to put her shoes on every single morning before school. It had to be extra stressful for a cheap ass like you too, thinking you were going to miss out on five minutes of a non-refundable class you already paid for.
I really do feel your pain. But, at the same time, c’mon man, you gotta have a spare spark plug with you, and you gotta know how to change it, especially on a two-stroke. It’s right on top of the engine!! You can literally see it! When you break a shoelace do you just throw the shoes away!? And how the hell do you run out of gas? I’m starting to get angry just typing this! Yes, there’s an optimum fuel-to-oil ratio, but you ain’t gonna blow the engine up if it’s a little too rich or a little lean. Make an educated guess as to how much oil you need to put in and let that kid ride! You went through all the stress of getting everything ready to go, suiting up and now you’re not going to let him ride because you’re scared you won’t get the fuel-to-oil ratio exactly right? COME ON MAN!
In the future, measure out your oil and put it in the fuel jug before you even leave the house. Then, at the gas station, fill the jug with the correct amount of fuel to match the amount of oil you put in. Also, get a Ratio-Rite mixing cup and just make it one of the things you take to the track. Sadly, I know you won’t do any of this because you’re going to say, “Who has time for all that?” And this brings us back to the answer to your final question. No, it probably won’t get better. At least not for you.
Despite this situation, I can bet you’re not going to go to the motorcycle shop to buy a couple spare plugs, you’re not going to make sure you have a wrench with you to change it, and you’re not going to measure out fuel ahead of time. Admit it, you’re not, and you know it. All that is just a hassle and who has time for all that nonsense, right? It reminds me of something an old mechanic (shoutout to Jim Jepsen) used to always say to me, “Never time to organize your tools, but there’s always extra time to look for them.”
It's absolutely baffling to me because you’re one of the smartest people I know. I mean, you invest your money in stocks. In multiple companies! You’re a leading journalist and you’re on TV! That’s like, full on smart adult shit. Yet, you’ve decided you just don’t know how to do anything on a dirt bike, so when learning opportunities like this arise you just say, “Well, this is what always happens to me.” I’ve given up trying to change your mind. You’re your own rev limiter and you’ve set the maximum at zero.
Please don’t fire me,
Hansel
Hansel,
Man, that’s great advice, shoutout to Jim Jepsen, although that sounds like a fake name you’d make up on the spot if you got in trouble for something.
I considered putting oil in the gas can first, but I was worried, what if I accidentally pump too much gas at the gas station? Ratios will be all wrong. So, I went with gas first and oil later—too much later, as it turned out.
Okay, so, you’re saying you can just have “some” oil in the gas and it’s not gonna destroy the motor? How do you know this? It’s tough because whenever you ask people about pre-mix, they always have their own personal ideas. Same with cleaning air filters (never use gasoline/always use gasoline) or how to wash a bike. Everyone has time-tested techniques they’ve honed through the years. Also, when you’re washing a damned filter, do you realize how long it takes for that thing to dry? You’re not supposed to use a hair drier but dude, if you don’t clean that thing 48 hours before riding it could still be wet when you start to reinstall. It’s made of foam! It’s basically a sponge! It’s amazing that you can spray aerosol filter oil on a filter that’s only like five percent wet and it just instantly turns into ice. Looks like a slushy at 7-11. Could we solve global warming by just spraying some filter cleaner on the polar ice caps? How can aerosol filter oil be that cold???
Back to the pre-mix. Just when you think you have your pre-mix ratio just perfect, not too rich and not too lean, some dad then brings up jetting, which also uses the same rich/lean terminology. Can you have a bike that’s jetted rich but an oil ratio that’s lean? Vice versa? Does one impact the other? When I fouled that plug, a dad told me maybe YZ65s come rich from the factory, and I need to lean out the jetting a bit. Yeah, like I’m gonna figure out how to do jetting. I can’t even figure out pre-mix ratios. By the end of the day, my kid’s silencer was coated in oil. Is this A) from riding with choke on B) pre-mix ratio was too rich C) jetting was too rich D) kid wasn’t wringing the bike out enough? One of life’s great mysteries.
Oh, and I can’t just buy spare spark plugs because they have to be “gapped” and I don’t know how to do that. Without the gapping, they’re useless. But, come to think of it, was the rando plug that dad put in my kid’s bike have the correct gapping? Is the bike gonna blow up now?
But all this mechanical stuff pales in comparison to trying to pack enough snacks, food and drinks for the day to keep an unpredictable nine-year-old satisfied. You’ve probably noticed that if the riding is going well there’s no need for any food, but if it’s a struggle of a day, not even Golden Corral catered on the spot could satisfy the appetite. So now I gotta prepare five square meals out of the three things my kid will actually eat.
So, look, I know you take your kids riding. Do you bring your bike with you? Give me a typical day and please tell me it gets crazy at times.
Weege
Weege,
Jim Jepsen is indeed a real mechanic I worked with at a motorcycle store for three years in Santa Rosa in NorCal. He used to race street bikes and Ralph Sheheen even gave him the nickname, Jammin’ Jim, when Ralph was announcing at local races back in the day. Legendary dude, that Jepsen.
Yeah, some oil, regardless if it’s a little on the rich or lean side, will meet the primary objective of keeping the engine lubricated. You can argue for hours with people over the proper ratio. Hell, you can argue with moto guys over just about ANY maintenance procedure, from how to properly tighten spokes to how much free play a throttle cable should have. Pick a subject and there’s a moto dad who thinks everyone who doesn’t do it HIS way is an idiot. Really though, it’s all just splitting hairs, and we all argue because we just want to seem like we know what we’re talking about.
Don’t believe me? Next time you’re at the track go ask a group of dudes about tire pressure. You’re going to get a range from anywhere between 10 and 14psi, and everyone will be absolutely convinced they’ve got the correct line. But the reality is, it doesn’t matter! As long as there’s enough air to prevent the tire from getting a pinch flat, the primary objective is met. Mere Mortals like us, who can’t even do five laps without getting tired, aren’t going to notice a minute difference in tire pressure. The same concept applies to fuel-to-oil ratios. Yes, you need to get it within an acceptable range, but that range is broader than you think, and it’s not going to hurt anything to go from 40:1 to 32:1, or 50:1, for an afternoon. The reason for the oil on Lane’s silencer could be attributed to any of the things listed, but some oil spooging out of the silencer isn’t uncommon in two-stroke land.
As far as air filters are concerned, try this trick. After you clean it, squeeze as much water out as possible, then let it hang with a fan blowing directly on it. The airflow does a pretty good job at evaporating the moisture. Oh, and the reason the air filter spray is cold is because compressed gasses escaping through a small hole and rapidly expanding are cold. Some gasses get colder than others. I don’t know why, or even how I know this, but I do know that if it’s humid out and you remove the valve from your car tire, you’ll see bits of frost starting to form on your valve stem. I don’t recommend you personally do this, Weege, because I don’t have faith in your ability to reinflate a tire or swap it out for the spare.
[Note: That is correct, Hansel. When I put the air gauge on a tire, if I take three attempts I will get three different results. There’s like a “feel” to how long to keep a tire gauge on a tire, I guess. -Weege]
I agree with you that the rich/lean terminology is a bit confusing. Just like how the word “ground” in household electricity and automotive electricity mean completely different things. So dumb. If you mix your fuel rich, you’ve mixed it with more oil. BUT, in terms of carburetion, these terms are referring to the fuel-to-air ratio. An engine that is running rich has a little too much fuel for the amount of air that’s going into the engine. If it’s lean, there’s not enough fuel. Air density is always changing too, and things like the season, elevation, temperature, and more, will change how an engine performs. As long as it’s running well, and it probably is with the stock jetting, you’ve met the primary objective.
You don’t have to gap a spark plug. Yes, there’s an optimum range for the gap, but the primary objective (am I sounding like a broken record?) is for the spark to jump that gap and ignite the fuel/air mixture. As long as it’s doing that IT’S FINE! Buy spare plugs, and when you need one, install it without checking the gap. I dare you.
[Weege note: Oh, so, you have to get spark plugs gapped but you actually don’t?]
As for the food struggle with kids, I’d rather try to fix old trailer lights or jam a broken spoke under my toenail. My 11-year-old daughter, when (not if) she gets hungry, will just start complaining about everything, even if the subject of her ire was something she was thrilled with five minutes prior. It’s exhausting and I’ll slam a club sandwich in her mouth mid-sentence just to make it impossible for her to keep talking! My 8-year-old son deals with it a little better, until he crashes. If he’s hungry and takes a spill, you’re going to want to hide in a nuclear fallout shelter. He gets mad at the bike, mad at the terrain, and especially angry at me. A couple weeks ago he high sided and then ripped into me, demanding I go rake the rocks out of the corner where he crashed. I told him to shut up and eat some Sun Chips, and five minutes later he was back smiling and spinning laps.
Very, very rarely do I take my own bike anymore when I take the kids riding, especially if the wife doesn’t come. There’s really no point. They need help with everything, constantly. They get mad if I’m not watching them ride for two seconds, and they complain when I want them to watch me for a couple laps. It’s just a waste of an entry fee because I only end up doing maybe ten laps all day. I’m just a blunt instrument they pick up when the need something done, and I’ve accepted it. Besides, it’s so much fun watching them ride together! My daughter is three years older, but my son is a little better on the bike. It’s hilarious to see her tense up and try extra hard when she notices him creeping up behind her. It’s even more hilarious hearing the excuses she comes up with later when she can’t hold him off. Who knew a tight glove, muddy boot, or a bit of dust on one’s goggles could have such an adverse effect on speed? At the end of the day, it’s not the hassle I’m thinking about, it’s how much fun it was watching them, and how good I feel knowing I’m sharing the joy of dirt bikes with them. I guess that’s really the primary objective, right?
Hansel
Hansel,
Yes, that is what it’s all about. You want them to have that joy, but it takes so much non-joyous work to create that joy. I do not care at all how fast my kid is or if he even races or what results he gets when he does race. Really don’t care. But you don’t want it to go so badly that it’s not fun, because then he won’t want to do it, and we both lose. It’s really the catch-22. The amount of work that goes into making this fun really makes it hard for it to be fun. So there I was, wishing I had turned the choke off before he took off, wishing I knew how to change (but not gap) a spark plug, wishing I had taken him riding more on the 65 and taught him more, wishing I had actually set the sag on that bike, cut the bars, slid the forks up and turned the compression clickers out to make it more comfortable, and also wishing I had done that while also finding the time to put oil in the gas can, and just generally struggling. I suppose I should mention here that, mid-way through the day I tipped over in a corner and the bike landed on my foot, so my foot hurt for the rest of the day, especially when I was pushing that 50 off the track, out of gas. X-Rays the next day confirmed two broke metatarsals in my right foot. Wife was pumped on that news!
Every week is gonna be the week where I look forward to doing this instead of fearing the inevitable disaster. I’m still waiting for that day.
Weege