I recently had a bike working on weekend. I’ve
been having some mushy brake issues with the Big Girl since I got her.
We’ve bled the brakes numerous times but the problem never completely
went away so we decided to overhaul the front
brakes by installing some new spiffy stainless steel cables. This
would also allow us to bypass the ABS system. Disabling the ABS has
been on our list of things to do since we bought the bike. I understand
that ABS can save your life but I only have ABS
on two of my three wheels. There is no real way to put ABS on the
sidecar wheel. I don’t think having two out of three tires with ABS is
safe. On top of that, the ABS system has been malfunctioning for a
while. It’s a stuck piston according to the code.
I’ve had it repaired once only to have it go out again so it’s coming
off the bike. However, pulling the system is lengthy and not something
we are up to right now so bypassing it was the right answer. This was
the first big work I’ve ever done on brakes
so it was a good time to learn about brake fluid. I learned that you
always want to use a new bottle of brake fluid for every job because
brake fluid, once opened, pulls moisture out of the air into itself.
Using opened brake fluid opens you up to getting
water into the brake line. Looking at the dark brown fluid in my
master cylinder, I almost wonder if that was part of the problem I was
having. Apparently, your brake fluid should be straw colored . To
translate, my fluid should have looked like Sauvignon
Blanc but it looked like Tawny Port. Time and then some to settle this
brake issue.
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| I did do some of the hands on |
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| Old Cables |
I had wanted/ expected to be doing most of the work
myself. Mr. Man wound up doing a lot of it while I watched and asked a
bajillion questions. I was ok with this at the end because I learned a
whole lot even if I didn’t get as dirty
as I wanted. The whole process started me thinking a bit about the
concept of teamwork and how it works between Mr. Man and myself. A lot
of the reaching up into the bike and unfastening things was done by him
while I held the light and asked about a billion
questions. His arms are longer and he’s more bendy than I am so that
made sense. Also, he’s the main mechanic for the bike when we off road
so it makes sense that he works on Nightingale more than he does on
Skylark. Some things are easier with two people,
like bleeding the brakes and he had my full help and cooperation
there. Some things, I need to do myself so I know how to make basic
adjustments if I’m traveling by myself. My biggest job often does seem
to be asking about a billion questions. This time
I also helped by going inside and getting dinner in the oven so we
could eat when we were finished. Sometimes Mr. Man’s job is looking up
schematics on the computer. Sometimes he’s handing me tools, sometimes
I hand him tools. Early in our relationship
we had to establish that teamwork does not mean equal. That fair is
not always 50/50. He has always made more money than I have so to
establish an equal power dynamic in the relationship we set up roles and
duties. He puts in a higher percentage of his
income into our joint account than I do but I take care of paying bills
and most of the grocery shopping. When we travel, we are responsible
for different things. When we work on the bike, especially Nightingale,
we are responsible for different things.
I like it. I like the fact that in our relationship we are allowed to
bring our strengths to the table, not an arbitrary 50/50. We don’t keep
a ledger. I don’t think, well, I picked up all that oil and filters
for his bike so he has to pick up the groceries
for me. At least, I don’t think that too often. I am, after all,
still human.
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| New cables |
In the end, I had shiny new brake cables and my
goodness, my brakes work well now! I also had a better understanding of
my braking system and that’s maybe the most important thing for me to
take away. I know why we moved to stainless
steel lines from rubber. I know why we went with two lines instead of
one line and a splitter and I understand how we bypassed my ABS system.
Also, I have a much better comprehension of the mechanics behind a
braking system and what brake fluid does. So
even if I didn’t turn every wrench and run every line, I educated
myself making myself a better partner for off-roading. My better
familiarity with the brakes will help me troubleshoot on the road. Mr.
Man helped me learn and isn’t that what a team should
do? Shouldn’t it make you better?
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