And another thing.......

[Willowbilly3]

On top of the hassles with my baffles, I have a customers Honda 500 4 wheeler to put an engine in and should have been working on it instead of the exhaust.
It was one of those things you commit to and then an ugly story unravels later. He said he had bought a used engine online and only had 2 weeks warranty and could I install it right away when it gets here. His boss is an electrician friend of mine and I asked him to look at putting 220 into my garage. No problem and he will trade out for the engine swap. So they bring the 4 wheeler over the next day and it is in boxes, wish I'd known that before I committed. Then when the greasy, nasty engine shows up, I also find out a shop with a horrible reputation had torn the original engine apart. Now there are the guys who tore it down and the nasty, questionable used engine and everything that can go wrong will be on me. The owners intelligence is unfolding to be about as smart as a sack of 5 pound hammers so you know he'll be back here everytime the battery goes dead.
How do I get myself into these things? You'd think 30 some years in the business would make you smarter. Apparently it doesn't, pretty sure I'm going the other way now.

 

[donsrods]

Isn't it funny how something that starts out so straight forward can get so screwed up in the end ? Every time I have gotten into some deal like that it was because I was trying to do someone a favor.

Hope it turns out ok for you.

Don

 

[HOT40ROD]

Got to learn To say no. I have a friend right now that is after me to finish the chop on his merc that someone else started and missed up and let the car set out side for two years. I keep saying no.

 

[Old Iron]

Hot40rod, the way you say no, my just mean not right now to him

 

[sawzall]

I always tell my "friends" I will come see what needs to be done before I can commit to do the work and quote a price, a lot of times it does not go any farther then that. It has always worked for me and most times while I am there I get a couple of cold ones.

 

[cycledog]

A boy and his dad were walking down the street. In a yard are two dogs doing doggy things.
The boy asks his dad what the one dog is doing on top of the other dog.
Trying to be discrete to explain the situation to his young son he says the dog on top has a broken leg and the other one is helping him to get home.
The boy pipes up and said..."Isn't that just the way it goes, every time you try to help someone out you just get screwed."

 

[Willowbilly3]

It's actually going together better than I expected, probably because I expected the worst. When I started doing some small engine work I wanted to avoid ATVs, for a couple reasons. One is because parts are so expensive and I have to drive to another town for a lot of it or deal with the local incompetent, over priced dealer. And parts are generally just ridiculous. Last year, just a needle, not needle and seat, for a Polaris carb was $48.
And the main reason is because most of them are ranch vehicles, pounded into the ground and caked with mud. By the time they won't run at all and they bring them in, they aren't worth fixing anymore.

 

[ScaryVoodooGirl]

Got to learn To say no. I have a friend right now that is after me to finish the chop on his merc that someone else started and missed up and let the car set out side for two years. I keep saying no.

my closest friends and family are almost always last on the list to get tattooed when I'm in town. And only my little brother gets work done for nothing. But that's because he knows I'm putting him to work on the car. Seems to be the way it goes anyways.

 

[Pookie Bros]

A boy and his dad were walking down the street. In a yard are two dogs doing doggy things.
The boy asks his dad what the one dog is doing on top of the other dog.
Trying to be discrete to explain the situation to his young son he says the dog on top has a broken leg and the other one is helping him to get home.
The boy pipes up and said..."Isn't that just the way it goes, every time you try to help someone out you just get screwed."

Aint that the truth.[cl

 

[Magnum]

Used to mud race ATV's nationally... be glad you didn't ever have to work on some of mine... totally high performance, & sucking in muddy water isn't good on the innards...

wanna trade some work, for putting that 220 in your shop

 

[Sam_Fear]

When it showed up in pieces, it was time to re-negotiate. Or at least let them know how things had changed in light if the current situation.

When I made my recent race car purchase, we agreed on a price, and then less than two minutes later the kid says he needs to keep the battery! I blurt out sarcastically "What else you plan on takin' too?!" Kinda stunned him. I told him he could store it for another week and then deliver it to my house.

I didn't even care if I got the battery or the cost, I was ticked because the deal was made. Wasn't even mad at him, he just hadn't thought to say anything before. But I wasn't gonna let it go.

 

[Willowbilly3]

So, it's back to what I expected. I get it all bolted together and it won't start. They are here doing the wiring and want to "help", which I hate. Try everything and it's not getting gas. There is fuel and the float bowl is full but no run. Dick around for a couple hours with them "helping" but no progress. So I told him I had done all I could and more than I agreed to.
There are lots of electronics on it, including a throttle position sensor and some other sensor in the bottom of the carb (not a fuel shut off solenoid, checked that). There could be something that needs reset. I went through that on a Kawasaki a few months back, would have never figured it out if the dealership mechanic hadn't told me how to reset it.
Do you want the plastic back on it or not?

 

[Sam_Fear]

Good idea - walk away from it.

 

[sgtpontiac]

Here is the labor rates.....

50 bucks an hour
75 bucks an hour if you watch
100 bucks an hour if you help

I can't remember when a "project" that I agreed to do as a "Favor"..ever worked out to be in MY Favor...... seems to go that way...."oh, simple fix for you, you'll have it done in no time"..... they might be right.... won't be done in anyones time.... frustrating to say the least.... and if you notice.....it is always something that you normally don't work on and you have no manuals to cover......at least till you buy one to do the guy a "favor".....

 

[POOKIE BROS.]

:d:d aint that the truth.[cl

yeah aint it

 

[Willowbilly3]

Hey magnum, I used to race some 4 wheelers too. My step daughter was 2 time state champion motocrossing on 4 wheeler and I've owned as many as 3 Suzuki 500 quardracers at one time, I think 7 total. The most fun was the ice racer, pulled a lot of all nighters getting it ready for a race after doing a meltdown in practice. It was a fast ride, it would pull the front wheels about a foot when I hit 5th on the straights, averaged about 70 on 1/8th oval and run out 85-90 on the straights.
All of our mud riding had a trip to the carwash on the way home, never brought the muddy bikes to the garage.