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good luck ad hope you're feeling better!

thanks for sharing your day, Stig!

still hasn't rained yet, thunder in the distance, hot, humid, my 40 year old AC isn't keeping up, medical expenses have eaten into my mini-split fund and I'm pretty sure I hear the bear family outside. awake at 2am

    hope it cools down and the bears leave you alone!!

I took my time, thought about every move before I acted...read and re-read the service manual.

 The biggest thing to watch out for was dropping the little cotter type pin (?) when separating the chain guide from the chain tensioner. I put shop towels completely around the tensioner and guide...there was nowhere for a dropped pin to go...I thought.

The ONE place I didn't cover was the little gap between the chain and the guide. I carefully removed the first pin and boom...it flipped up and disappeared between the chain and guide. I stared in disbelief. My stomach sank. I thought crap, I just ruined this motor.

Luckily I had been squeezing the chain and guide together below where I was removing the pin from, just to keep a solid hold on it. I looked down there with a flashlight and could barely see the top of the pin..held there tenuously between chain and guide. Had I let go of the pliers the pin would have dropped down into the engine. I tried to grab it with a magnetic pickup tool but it is not magnetic!

I yelled for my daughter for help but she couldn't hear me...my phone was just out of reach. (note to self, always keep phone within reach when working in garage). I finally was able to finally pull my phone close, called my daughter and she came to lend a hand.

She held the light and I was able to squeeze lower on where I was squeezing the chain and guide together..exposing the top of the pin. I used a scratch awl to stab at it and pull it out after about 10 tries.

I was much more careful removing the 2nd, lower pin. This let me remove the tensioner to replace with the new spring. That's as far as I got. Gotta know when to walk away.  I will start reassembly tomorrow. I experienced both full on panic and complete relief today.

pics of the cams, etc., the chain and guide (between these is where I dropped the pin) and finally, the offending damn, little pin. Can't think of the correct name for the stupid little aluminum cotter or holder pin.

Hawk - is your visor this dark - or is your movable tinted addition in its drop-down position?
Stig

Stig, It looks a lot darker in pictures. It is the light tint visor option. When looking directly at the helmet it appears so dark because you don't see any light behind it. Attached a pic with the visor raised so you can see through it and added one pic viewing through the visor.

I like it because it gives me some sun protection in the day and it's light enough to ride at dusk, if needed. If I think there's a chance I could be out after sundown I'll switch to my clear visor.

While I am waaay overdue for a new helmet (10 years old...) I thought I'd at least replace the worn out helmet pads with new ones for my Shoei R-1200.

I hadn't realized how much looser the helmet had become over the years. With the new pads it fits like it did when it was new (back in a previous decade..)

I also gave it a good cleaning on the exterior to remove the dead bugs, etc.  I probably should have also replaced the chin curtain as that is looking a little rough. Now I need the outside temps to lower a bit so I can get back on the bikes.

Poor Randy, best wishes from this side of the pond!

yes, hope you're feeling better!

Had a maintenance day with my minivan. Ever since I'd replaced the rear shocks, about 8 months ago, I've been having a clunking noise coming from the back end. When I did the shocks I also dropped the spare tire carrier to clean and lube everything...so the new noise could have come from a few different places? I couldn't pinpoint the source of the noise and even my good independent shop couldn't. They were stumped. They thought it was coming from the brakes..

So today I replaced the shocks, again. ($30 each so not a big deal). I also replaced the original rotors and pads in the rear on my 2014 Caravan with 112K.
Fronts are still original with over 50% of the pads left.

The shocks were easy, 2 bolts each. Done in less than an hour. I found the source of the noise. It was coming from the left rear shock. It seemed the first inch of travel in the shock was undamped...so any small bump made a clunking noise. Big bumps didn't and when I carried a heavy load of mulch in the back it must have compressed the shocks enough to eliminate the noise.

The brakes took a long time. Mostly it was the cleaning and rust removal on the caliper brackets. I must have filed on them for an hour each to get down to clean metal. If I'd have known I'd be spending that much time cleaning them I would have just bought new caliper brackets to save me time. I also had to make sure the hubs were spotless and then covered in a thin layer of anti sieze before the rotors went on.

So new shocks, new rotors and new pads. Everything  cleaned up and anti siezed where necessary. I also cleaned the inside of my wheels and ceramic coated them while they were off the van.

I am sore all over and hoping a few beers will ease my pain this evening. This job would have cost around $600 USD at my shop...I figure I saved almost $500 USD by doing it myself. I also know that I did a much more thorough job than the shop would have.

Sort of scooter related because it was after working on my scooters and motorcycles that I realized working on my car wasn't much more difficult and would save me $ and give me a lot of job satisfaction.  Attached a few pics. (van, new shock and caliper bracket)