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  #1  
Old 21 May 2008
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Position Vacant: XT Girls Mechanic & Tutor

Shockingly, our gifted Bike Whisperer decided that he would no longer be our mechanic and tutor, simply because I have filed for divorce. (My solicitor said I can't have the house, all the money, all the bikes, the tools, the cat AND force him to remain our mechanic until after our trip. Whats HAPPENING to the world?!)

Anyway - the XT Girls therefore, require the services of:

Gifted Motorcycle Mechanic

Applicants will need:
Superb mechanical skills & knowledge
Many, many years of experience
Patience of a saint
Ability to impart knowledge to women, without losing patience
Patience of a saint
Good cooking skills


Duties:
Teach XT Girls motorcycle maintenance & mechanics, incl repairs and bike prep for a RTW trip, as well as the minutae of how to hold a screwdriver, the difference between a nut and a bolt etc. etc.
Accompany XT Girls everywhere they want to go on their bikes, or be on call 24/7 in case they break down
Carry heavy things, open stuff with tight lids, undo stuff thats too tight
Tune in the DVD, cable & broadband
Be on call 24/7 to pick bikes up that have fallen on XT Girls
Go shopping with XT Girls for bike stuff every time they feel depressed and help them carry whatever they bought


Offered:
Live-in accommodation shared with bikes, tools and a cat (and XT Girls)
Unlimited motorcycle-related talk, entertainment, media etc.
Whatever money is left over after prepping bikes and paying for trips
The very honorary title of : XT Girls' Bike Whisperer


Please Note: This is not a permanent position, applications to be accompanied by photograph. (of your bike)


oooo
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  #2  
Old 23 May 2008
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Its ok lads, i'll take one for the team.

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  #3  
Old 23 May 2008
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Sorry girls, can't stand cats. Now if that was a dog......
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  #4  
Old 26 May 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nomadic1 View Post
Its ok lads, i'll take one for the team.

Uhm. Sorry. Forgot. No hairy chests.

(unless you're willing to let us wax it)
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Old 28 May 2008
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hmm...yea ok. I dont like hairy armpits, so can I do yours?
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  #6  
Old 4 Jun 2008
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Hey girls! Sorry to hear about the loss of your bike whisperer - damn shame. And now I am one of those annoying people that post on your thread but with nothing productive to say. Sorry m'dears but just wanted to empathise with your situation. I am lady with a bike and a world to zig zag across, but my mechanical knowledge starts and ends with "lefty loosy, righty tighty", which is something I have to say everytime I pick up a socket!

Thankfully I have my amazing wonderful male friend Gabriel (Baronbolton) who is slowly teaching me all that I need to know (shame you are on the other side of the country otherwise we could have shared him). He patiently puts up with my tears and a few tyre levers being thrown across the garage; never try to change a tyre for the first (or second, or third, or even at all) time while hormonal! And he even took me off-road training to Tommys Farm. On the third time of falling off in as many minutes he was there to give me hug and prop me back up on my feet as I sobbed into my lid scared I would never make it down a green lane in England, let alone round the world.

Heres to you Gabriel. Thank you!!!!!!

Well, if you are ever in Somerset and have need a quick mechanic session, then let me know and I will hook you up! The best of luck with finding one, and I look forward to keeping up with your journeys on your website!

Take care

Char
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  #7  
Old 4 Jun 2008
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Don't feel bad !!

Charlotte,

Don,t feel bad. I am a Mechanical Engineer, a Certified Auto Technician at the highest level, a Honda Line Mechanic, and an organizer of Motosport Events, yet my 3 grown daughters have not picked up on ANY mechanical things !! Maybe because they have a Daddy that will always take care of them. When they bring home a suitor, I'm going to have to check their mechanical abilities because I've managed to create 3 mechanical dependents !!

Now, my 17 yr old son ( the one who I took on the Around the Block 2007 | for his "coming of age" ritual last year) tackled a Subaru engine rebuild as his first mechanical adventure, and it is still running 18 months later...... And they say there are no differences between boys and girls (or maybe our expectations...)

Blessings,
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  #8  
Old 4 Jun 2008
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Char

Dont be put off by green laning, it is as hard if not harder than stuff you encounter on a RTW trip. I tried it the other way round (i.e. did a big overland trip with lots of 'not roads' then tried green laning when I got back). I was useless.....

See you in Somerset (will work on bikes for pints of green!)
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  #9  
Old 5 Jun 2008
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We Salute You, Gabriel!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlotte Goose View Post
Hey girls! Sorry to hear about the loss of your bike whisperer - damn shame. And now I am one of those annoying people that post on your thread but with nothing productive to say. Sorry m'dears but just wanted to empathise with your situation. I am lady with a bike and a world to zig zag across, but my mechanical knowledge starts and ends with "lefty loosy, righty tighty", which is something I have to say everytime I pick up a socket!

Thankfully I have my amazing wonderful male friend Gabriel (Baronbolton) who is slowly teaching me all that I need to know (shame you are on the other side of the country otherwise we could have shared him). He patiently puts up with my tears and a few tyre levers being thrown across the garage; never try to change a tyre for the first (or second, or third, or even at all) time while hormonal! And he even took me off-road training to Tommys Farm. On the third time of falling off in as many minutes he was there to give me hug and prop me back up on my feet as I sobbed into my lid scared I would never make it down a green lane in England, let alone round the world.

Heres to you Gabriel. Thank you!!!!!!

Well, if you are ever in Somerset and have need a quick mechanic session, then let me know and I will hook you up! The best of luck with finding one, and I look forward to keeping up with your journeys on your website!

Take care

Char
Hey Char!

That just warms the cockles of our hearts!!

And -- look after Gabriel -- he sounds like a gem!!


Here's to Gabriel and all the other great blokes out there like him
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Old 5 Jun 2008
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What's on the agenda? When are you leaving? Where to?
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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

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  #11  
Old 5 Jun 2008
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Sorry girls i missed the beginning of the thread been away.

If i can help out drop me a line I do have a couple of years experience I know i'm at the opposite end of the country but initially maybe a weekend meet/trail ride might be a good idea.

anyway my email is Brian(at)BrianEland.com
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  #12  
Old 5 Jun 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mollydog View Post
If you really want to learn to work on your bike, take a course. Then come to San Francisco and get a job as an apprentice at Werkstatt,
There aren't very many good bike courses in the UK, I have been searching for one and couldn't find one (apart from one near London). Get an old bike, get the book of lies and take it apart, then put it back together. There will always be blokes hanging around that would love to feel manly by helping you with any particular problem you run into, we are fundamentally weak like that. Might be easier than going to the states and working for 'the woman' (who would want to get paid in dollars anyway?!?)

Quote:
Originally Posted by mollydog View Post
You do have one of those fiddly little tools don't you? You will N E V E R be able to break the bead with the valve core still in unless your tire is totally flat. That tube must go totally flat! Removing the core ensures this.
Conti inner tubes are not only very very good natural rubber but the valve cap has a little insert in it, this allows you to turn it over and use it to take the core out. Frickin genius. Needle nose pliers work OK. I am pretty sure that you can break a bead with a partially deflated inner (as breaking the bead takes an almighty wallop I cant see the inner tube holding it out much). A piece of 2" angle iron makes it easier (place on wheel, jump on steel, hey presto!)
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  #13  
Old 5 Jun 2008
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True enough about US dollars. Worthless, thanks to Bush and his illegal war.
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Last edited by mollydog; 24 Mar 2009 at 19:13.
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  #14  
Old 5 Jun 2008
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yep, I read in Time years ago that the bill had come to 90 billion usd, majority borrowed from China with a 90 year repayment period. Still, no point not shafting your childrens children for the sake of another 4 years eh?

apologies for the off-topic politiking.....
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  #15  
Old 5 Jun 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mollydog View Post
Girls,
I think when you've finished Africa and make it to Latin America, you should hook up with Lois Pryce for a copy of her long llst of Green eyed Antonio Banderas look a like mechs she collected all across S. America. No one was allowed to have their way on her hapless XT Serow unless they passed the "Antonio" test.

....

If you really want to learn to work on your bike, take a course. .....

...... Tires will be your biggest challenge. My advice? Whenever possible, get someone to do the work for you. This is what I do. .....

.......

That is my tip for the day! Learn this and many other tips and short cuts at
any good mechanics course.

Good luck,

Patrick

What's on the agenda? When are you leaving? Where to?


Thanks Patrick!

We are indeed VERY KEEN to learn and do everything ourselves eventually. Having lost our 'resident bike whisperer' does complicate things a little... but now we just have knuckle down and do it the hard way. i.e. find books, and other lovely chaps when they're free and available, scavenge on HU for info and just get down and dirty.

A course unfortunately is not available in the UK. We've done extensive looking around: the only thing you can do is a fullon mechanical engineering type thing, which takes 2 years.

The only other option over here, is to take an apprenticeship -- impractical, cos its full time, and we both need our city jobs, to pay for our extravagant lifestyles : )


As for our plans: Gigi is off to do the same trip I had just completed with substitute XT Girl http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...345#post191578

And I'm hoping to put together a 2 week trip to Tunisia in November.. .with support vehicle so that we can get some more desert riding experience. (Anyone interested to join us, get in touch.. I'll post details soon)

And then ofcourse, we're still on track for the 'big' trip, London to Cape Town.


The most important journey, we're on at the moment though... is learning to get to know our bikes inside and out.
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