If I’ve got one or two things to do to the bike I’ll get stuck in – but if there’s a bucket load of stuff I simply haven’t got time to deal with, (like the last time I moved house just after getting the TW200, when the cat got mauled by the Doberman and the windscreen on the car cracked – long story) I’ll farm it out, but only to a place I trust (and only as far as I can throw them)
It boils down to “how practical” is me doing the work, as opposed to how practical is getting someone else to do it. Tires, I cannot do, I’m simply not set up for it
“Once upon a time”, I had a Honda VT250F. After a crash in the middle of London, (Baker Street), and having hit it into a skip, upside down, at speed, I sourced a new frame, and single-handedly had the lot sorted out in 24 hours. That kind of stuff I can do. Re-building the top end of a Suzi GT550 is easy, changing the clutch on a Kawasaki GT550 is simples, but if I had a mushroomed valve on the TW I would probably let someone else do it
“If” I had a carb problem on the TW, I would simply remove it, take it indoors, and much to disgust of my wife, re-build the thing. Removing the engine, although simple in itself, followed by the top end, would perhaps “strain” the relationship. My “garage” room is severely restricted, so, it comes down to what is “practical”, rather than what is within my capabilities.
Do I enjoy it ? – yeah – “tinkering around” with this stuff is a hobby of mine. But knowing when you’ve bitten off more than you can chew is equally as important, either in terms of difficulty, or in terms of diagnosis. When it comes to diagnosis, typically on here, is it the carb, the boots, the stator, or the CDI, or as simple as something like an ignition coil ?
Trying to pin this stuff down is notoriously difficult, especially if it’s not your bike, and you’re trying to read in-between the lines as to what any OP is telling you. Sometimes, throwing the problem at a third party shop, who is going to do it “by the book”, one step at a time, (who can’t charge you for a part that’s been proved you don’t need, such as a CDI), makes a lot of sense. And this is another reason for “farming” out the work
Like I said – do what you can, and accept what you (personally) can’t – it all comes back to “what’s practical”. On a project bike my opinion may differ, but when you’re burning riding time it’s not so funny …..
