costs of time/labor

[Jo Rhett]

You know, I feel good when I get a fairly major bit of work done...  
but last night I spent 5 hours working on the bikes, and in retrospect  
I wish I had someone nearby I could have just taken it to and paid  
them to do it in a single hour instead.

Find a way to prop up the race '02, now that I've taken the pegs off  
the subframe
Remove the old shock
* clean all the parts thoroughly
measure the old shock
adjust the new shock to the same measurement
mount up the new shock

(that was fairly easy)

Prop up the '01 street bike on the subframe pegs
Go to remove old shock, find a bunch of emissions crap in the way
Get it unscrewed, find that shock won't come out.
Finally figure out I have to take off kickstand, shock comes out.
Take some more parts off to clean everything thoroughly
(try to) Mount up the new shock
Figure out I have to remove bracket for emissions crap or shock won't  
fit.
Finally get shock mounted.
Learn I can't remount the kickstand due to bracket for ignition kill.
Spend a half hour whistling dixie and smacking head against wall until  
I figure out an improv solution that will get me to work today.
Do the same thing all over again mounting the reservoir

Collapse into bed at 1am.

Am I really a better person for having done this?  This is the kind of  
thing that Jim, Ernie or Zoran would have done in a half hour most  
likely.   I really wish I had a decent mechanic within a reasonable  
distance.

-- 
Jo Rhett /  velociRaptor Racing
#553 WERA / AFM