Resurecting Mikuni VM SH 24

[stepthrutuner]

Just got through working on my old bosses' '91 Yamaha Timberwolf 250 four wheeler. The carb bowl had had so much water in the bowl for so long that it had eaten away the bottoms of the jet bosses. The tapered-nose bowl drain screw was eaten away so as to render it useless. I just had to tap out the drain hose boss, seal a screw in there with gasket adhesive and teflon tape the tapered-nose screw heavily so it wouldn't leak.

Anyway, I disassembled the carb, and soaked everything in carb cleaner overnight. The next day I scraped and rotary brush dremmeled all the leprosy away that I could get to. I used a fiberglass rust spot brush to get to the inaccessible creases. Then I chased out all the bosses and inner portions of the jet tubes with various size drill bits by hand.

Removed the plastic gas tank and removed the strainer-riser-petcock assembly amd sprayed the black muck off of it. I could hear something rattling in the empty tank. It turned out to be a pine tree stringer thing that they shed in the spring. Removed it with a pair of kitchen tongs.

He bought oil, a filter and a new foam air filter element. He changed the oil and filter(filter was really mucky). His headlamps were milky and one of them didn't work so he bought a new pair of those too. The terminals were different so I had to butt splice the old terminal leads to the new lights and seal the connections with heat shrink tubing. One light still didn't work so he still has a wiring/sw/relay prob.

I poured the gasoline back in the tank via a qt. glass jar so I could watch for water. Turned out to have a tsp. or so in it in the last pour so I discarded about 1/2 cup.

She started up after a second or so of cranking w/o the choke(temp in the seventies). When warm she srarts with a stab of the button. Seemed to run very well.

Also welded a broken fender support and made him a neg. batt. terminal out of some copper tubing. Removed and cleaned pos. terminal too.

He was happy and will pay me $75 tomorrow.

[90GTVert]

Sounds fun. At least it's running now and you'll be gettin' paid. I just had an old '83 Honda Trail 110 (CT110) dropped off tonight that hasn't ran for at least a year and it's full of gas. It had no compression and I found bent/stuck vavle. Once that's done, I have a feeling Ill be doing a little of what you just were.

[stepthrutuner]

It definitely made my day when that baby fired up. It would not start before. He said the exhaust pipe got red hot the last time it ran. I was expecting to see a CV carb on it. Do you advertise your services?

[90GTVert]

Always good to know what you did worked, and good to call it a day too.

Word of mouth and passing out business cards. There's a local custom bike shop that said people call them about scooters sometimes so they'd be willing to hand out my cards when people ask or pass on my info. My father works at a hardware store and talks to tons of people and he gets me business too. I've been considering quitting it though. I get calls from folks that wanna do something and never get it done, and I've had a couple of folks never show up when they were supposed to drop off their scoots and never call. Literally, 80% of the people I talk to don't go through with doing anything. It's getting old to me. I'm not that type of person so it bugs me. On the other hand, I can always use more money. This is the only bike I've worked on (not counting mine) all month. There just aren't many scooters in this area and this time of the year they're getting stored away by many people. Prob doesn't help that there seem to be lots of Honda and Yamaha scoots here, so people can take them to a dealer easily.

[stepthrutuner]

I think I'll check out places like laundromats where there are bulletin boards where people post their services like baby sitting or housework. I might check out a local small engine repair shop or two to see if they ever turn down scooter work.

[190mech]

I get the same "phone tech" calls all the time and never see
the machine.I post my cards at boards all over town,but all
my work really comes from word of mouth.I'm busy with projects
,but always enjoy another one because a mechanical challange
keeps the mind and body in gear!

[90GTVert]

Business cards are a good investment IMO. I paid under $50 for $1000 cards from iPrint.com using a special offer they had at the time. 1000 cards is actually more than I'll need for quite some time, but at least I don't hesitate to hand someone a stack of them. If you get any customers that ride in a group, be sure to give them plenty of cards. I know they're working because people will call and say, "I saw your card and..." or "I've had your card for a while and I though maybe I'd give you a shot"... that sorta stuff.

I enjoy some of the work... like this trail 110. As long as I've messed with Honda clones, I've never got to mess with a real Honda engine. This one is the CDI version with the ignition running off of the cam, so it's a bit different. I like the Honda clones better, easier to work on if you have to do anything to the top end IMO, but it's always nice to learn first hand about what else is out there.

I know 2strokd and JMstar have mentioned putting up ads on craigslist. They both seem to be pleased with the results and it's free. I haven't done it yet because I'm debating whether I want more calls that go nowhere or not. It doesn't help that I use my cell and I have a prepaid plan on it so most calls cost me money. I pretty much only have a cell for emergencies or talking to friends on the same provider for free if they're long distance from my home phone. I get weird voicemails too, like people saying they don't want to leave a message. Who does that?

[2strokd]

"i dont wanna leave a message so heres a message so ya know that"
lmao fn idiots . I have to say that 80% or more of my calls are bs "lead me on" calls. Kinda sucks for the people that do come through since they gotta wait on parts i probably would have ordered ahead of time. I quit getting parts ahead, got tired of being stood up . I do want a stock of parts but it too much to invest in right now.
I almost got into a fist fight over a person i know pretty well not coming over for repairs time after time. He would complain about how bad it was getting in front of everyone, so i would set a date with him. Then he would go out and party, get shitfaced and blow me off the next day. It wouldnt be so bad if i hadnt put my plans aside. I started feeling like he was mistaken kindness for weakness. Then i just decided that was enough of that. I told my wife that was the last time, if he brings that truck up again im telling him how it is.
He did, so i did, then he took the truck to somebody else. I think he understood because the next day he said he was sorry for putting me off when i was the one helping him. We are still friends .

The c-list ad seems to help the most when its fresh and on top.
No kidding, the past three times i have posted a new one i get a call within 30mins. Hmm, maybe i will go repost my ad lol
I also have cards but i am forgetful (not devoted enough) when it comes to passing them out. I need to set a day just for that and go around putting them (like Reg said) in the laundry mat, and any other free ad places i see.