Not much changes. I use NGK Iridium - best I can get -
on the sport bikes. I try to change them every 20,000
miles or so - the gaps open up.
The spark plugs are not easy to get at, on a dual overhead
cam engine on a crotch rocket, jammed up into the tank.
First, you take off all the fairings. Then, you take off
the radiator. Then, with a very special tool that drops
deep into the spark plug well, you can R+R the plugs.
You can bet your ass I put a dab of anti-seize on the
threads, so I can get them out next time.
Compared to adjusting the valves, that's actually
not a bad job. First, you measure the slack, then
you remove the fucking camshafts - really - and
replace the shim-under-bucket spacers which
are designated various thicknesses with letters,
assuming you can get the replacement shims
you need, and you do the arithmetic right.
Working on motorcycles is actually far demanding
than aircraft maintenance - the penalty for failure
is far higher.
The nice thing is that you don't need any paper
for it. TC comes along and doesn't like how you
do your motorcycle maintenance, or doesn't like
the paperwork on your motorcycle parts, well,
they can fuck off.
Last week, put a set of Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa
SP V2's on. Glorious. Like riding a much more
expensive motorcycle. They come stock on the
new high-end Ducati's.
Of course, there is no paper whatsoever for
retrofitting them to my sport bikes. TC can go
fuck itself.
[img width=500 height=297]
[/img]
Two stupid fucking airshow pilots, there. We
spend a lot of time with our heads down reading
the thick checklists we bring, on the sport bikes.
We need them because we forget how to ride them
sometimes and we find it convenient to read a
book while we're riding.
Here are another couple of stupid fucking airshow
pilots:
[img width=500 height=281]
http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/3 ... -GoPro.jpg[/img]
What you can't see in this photo, is that the guy
on the bike is holding a thick book in his right
hand, and he's reading it, as he grabs the tail
of the inverted Pitts with his left hand.
He needs to read the book while he's riding
because he's not too bright, and he forgets how.
I think that's Rob Holland's old S-2C, that he
flew 'way back when. That was when Rob was
just starting out in contest flying, and wanted
some dual on surface acro, which Arlo Speer
stopped him from getting, presumably to try to
make Rob crash. Fortunately Arlo failed, and
Rob taught himself, and didn't crash.
Why TC tries to stop advanced training is an
interesting question. Egalitarianism seems to
be far more important than safety.