Thursday, September 20, 2007

Anger EXTREME


I'm so FUCKING mad right now I could SPIT. I mean MAD.

I've already literally shed tears over it in the garage a little while ago. I've thrown tools. I've kicked stuff. I swore loud enough over and over that I'm sure someone probably heard me at one time or another. I am so mad that I refuse to interact with anyone tonight. I don't want to inflict my grief on anyone else, nor do I want anyone else giving me pity. I just want to be alone. I'm as mad as I can recall EVER being.

I fucked up my Harley. I cross-threaded a MAJOR bolt. It's a bolt that holds the rear of one of its two shocks on. Normally (like with a car) a shock is just a cushioning device that keeps your wheels from bouncing too much. However, on a Harley the shocks are also the springs. The whole rear of the bike will squat right down on the ground without them.

I have years of experience doing mechanic work, and I'm still in disbelief that I did it. How did it happen? Normally when you start a bolt or nut, you can "feel" the threads by running it partway in by hand until it starts to get too tight, at which time you switch to a wrench and finish the job. These bolts I was working on had a couple things working against me:

  • They are bolts that you use Loctite on. Loctite is a liquid that you put on bolt threads before assembly, and in the absence of air it forms a bond that keeps fasteners from working loose on their own. Because they have had (and require) Loctite on them in the past, they have a residue in the threads that makes turning them by hand almost impossible.
  • They are "shoulder" bolts. That means that they have a machined shoulder on the bolt of a certain length because they pass through something before the threads engage. In this case, they pass through the bushings on the shocks.
  • The bolts on the shocks are down underneath the Harley, impossible to access "straight on" with a socket and ratchet. Instead you have to use a wrench, and that increases the chance of the bolt not being straight.
I was putting the usual amount of muscle into it (I've had it off and on too many times already) and when I got tight at a certain point, I knew. I put my face up under there close and saw the bolt protruding at a non-perpendicular angle from where it needed to be.

What makes it worse it that I fucked it up trying to fix the shocks that I spent $200 on that I haven't liked since I first put em on. They have caused me problems too many times since I first put em on. This is at least the third time I've had them both off. I wish I could go back in time and not bought the motherfuckers in the first place.

In case this is all Greek to all of you, cross-threading a bolt means a bolt was forced into a hole against its will and ruined the threads that were there because it wasn't straight. No amount of finesse will ever get that bolt in. The only way to fix ruined threads is to run a re-threader tap into the hole, hoping like hell you get it going exactly straight. If you don't it just gets worse. If a re-thread tap doesn't work, you have no choice but to have the hole repaired. That may mean welding it closed and re-drilling it and re-tapping it, or enlarging it. Since the hole in question has to do with the whole rear part of the motorcycle frame/suspension, I've got to completely disassemble the whole rear half of the bike to get the offending part out. And when I do get it out, it's possible it may be unrepairable. If that's the case, my $200 shocks will also have a $300+ new swing arm tacked onto the bill.

Need I make matters worse? This Sunday is the Anacortes Oyster Run, which is Washington State's "little Sturgis" and I am obviously not going this year.

1 comment:

Rhon said...

Ahhhhhhhh, Rick I am so sorry to hear this. I know you had big plans to go and enjoy the run. Keep the faith, you will get through this.
Rhon