RedneckGarage2013

 

Introduction/Definition/etc Body Conclusion Discussion Page History Page Statistics Page Views:  since creating on 20130508

 

Introduction/Definition/etc

 

Fuck the dealer, get the wrench Earl,

or Larry, and My Other Brother Larry,

we've got a bike to work on,

and I haven't seen anything they can't do,

many things they don't want to do,

the venerable garage, could build a bike

to compete with Orange County Choppers,

but how could you film in there,

it's much smaller, and it's local,

so stop on by for a show,

appearing on the front stand today,

comedian/ Red Neck #1,

with supporting cast in the corner,

Red Neck #2, and appearing occasionally,

the boss, a dad like figure,

knows a lot, but yells, where are my shooting

ear muffs?  A fashion statement to be sure,

and that's from a geeky dresser,

and baggy person, but it's all good,

we have fun here, until we don't...

 

 

Body

 

If you stop in to a small garage, and people spit chewing tobacco on the floor,

you might be a redneck....

 

Not that they don't do that at dealers, but it's probably into a cup there,

not on the floor...

 

Admittedly, they use kitty litter for the spills of oil, antifreeze, grease,

and other dirt, like metal shavings, so it's not your average Nazi

motorcycle shop, where the cleanliness of the floors defines them

as sick, demented, or obsessive compulsive...  Like with miltiary...

 

Paperwork, is not the strong point, they make up the handwritten bills

when they want to, and estimates, well, not easy to come by,

no posted Per Hour sign, (around $100),

there might be the Rights of the Customer,

probably required by law somewhere...

 

But when they work on your brakes, I was present for that,

because I want to learn more about the motorcycle,

though similar places exists, I am sure, for cars, trucks,

tanks, dump trucks, boats, aircraft, etc...

 

You see Jeff Foxworthy would be proud,

and they seemed to enjoy being called that...

 

I've told some welding students that if I ever have a garage,

I'm going to call it Redneck Garage, and a name search of businesses

it probably already exists, so it might not be a unique name,

but for a specific location, if combined with "of X,Y"

would probably work...

 

One nice thing about it, like many bike shops is they have

bikes of all varieties, it could be a museum,

except it's a moving display, where something is parked,

in the entrance way of the garage, or around the side may change,

but looking at different bikes, of different eras,

I do what I call "comparative anatomy" on the bikes,

how is the frame put together?  hard tail?

soft tail?  and with things partially assembled,

or just a few bare frames, it's interesting to see...

 

If there were an auction, of extra items to use the parking

space on the side, not for storage, but for customer use,

I've put parts on in their parking lot, and paid staff to look

over my shoulder and give advice, like a back yard mechanic,

with some shade of a tree, when I've felt welcome there,

rarely, and someone is not blowing smoke in my face, literally,

cigar smoke, and disrespecting me/ belitttling me to

other customers, you know, tnose with expensive

4 wheel sports cars, or gun carrying people,

open carry or not, all sorts show up, though their clientelle looks like

something that could appear on Orange County Choppers,

if I even had cable to see it, and the personalities match in some ways,

domineering / demanding and sometimes yelling,

though usually too soft spoken to even hear,

especially as walking around the shop doing other things,

head pointed to the side when speaking to you,

not that I'm usually looking at people's faces when I speak,

it's distracting to me, and others

(see lookmeintheeyemylifewithaspergersByJohnElderRobison

for one disabilitty take on that, other cultures, it would be considered respect)

probably don't care...  If you can hear and not lip read,

then it is probably good, but when loud and paternal like,

if you've grown up in a family where dad drinks and yells,

you might just leave the place, or as I've been told a few times,

to leave, told I smell, told the baggy look really doesn't

work, told I'm bothering other customers,

when I've checked with the other customers,

and they didn't mind, especially the ones I was entertaining

while waiting for their bikes, or learning more

about bikes or bike culture, or where to ride,

or any of the other small talk, I'm generally not good at,

you see, asking questions in the museum area,

the parking lot entrance, driveway, or other places,

and people can learn more about bikes and bike history,

or even racing history, as there is that too,

you see a generation where sales was teaching,

not dealing, and if you have a question,

they will generally help you,

say you work on your own bike (at home,

with your own tools, as they don't lend out tools...)

like the chain tightness, if you can pull it loose

while on the back sprocket, it might be worn,

the slack can be informally measured that way,

or with bicycles, the stretch as it where,

with a ruler, and percentage of the original distance,

like a Park Tool,or others, but I digress...

 

After years, you seem like family,

but it's the Munsters at times too,

I'm probably the red haired stepchild,

not the guy who takes over the place,

that's the funny and dangerous mechanic,

putting on shows for customers, you see mechanics

like to have fun too, not just talking,

but say spraying flammables

at a coworkers ass, and lighting it on fire,

very dramatic,

 

Or letting the gas out of the empty spark plug

hole, engine cranking but not sparking,

luckilly not while smoking,

but the garage fills up with spray,

and I notice a fan that could have been on,

in humorous times it's Safety Last,

one guy says, but some times you know,

they know what they are doing,

or the place would have burned to the ground a long time ago,

over the decades, I'm sure many people have worked there,

someimes it seems like they make mechanics,

you hang around, you learn something,

but just watching isn't enough,

with mechanics, you need muscle memory

not the torque wrench method,

how tight is a bolt, I don't think they generally

care about that, occasionally they will look at a book/

manual for something, mostly they know,

or huddle over a project, designing a new exhaust system,

I'm not comfortable fixing a rusted one, by the time you

grind out to get to good metal, you have destroyed it,

but I'd keep the old one around and consider,

after say pipe welding class, making different tubes,

or pipes, of the same shape or different,

and keeping the old one as a template,

especially for some of the historic bikes,

and for frames too, one of a kind frames,

not sure I'd trust my welding skills on it yet,

but it's a start, looking at old bikes,

you see how the industry has progressed,

from war time bikes, to modern swingarm

frames, to new truss shapes, say of Ducatis

and probably back to the old school ways

of doing things...

 

You won't really find people huddled over a computer,

though I see they have one, just not sure where all

it's parts are, and greasy hands, not sure how often

you could go back and forth, or just use for pricing

and ordering parts?  When it's quiet, say before they

open, or after people leave...

 

I'd actually like to rent a stand/lift and do a coop

type use of the shop, there are parts that are cob webbed,

on the side, but I have a lot to learn,

I would have volunteered there, before what happened,

the phrase "you haven't killed me yet"

usually said in jest, but sometimes I wonder,

if one side of the brakes are worked on,

and not the other, say filing the posts,

"The way it should be" would that cause the

handlebars to fly to one side, say with bigger/

stronger high performance brake pads

and cause a tumble/ accident?

 

And they want your bike,

not sure some come in for a repair,

can't pay, and lose the bike,

or similar...

 

You see, no lawyers work there,

and like with welding, lawyer jokes abound,

not like with lawyers though,

the culture probably would not allow it,

bikers hate after a while,

mistreated by law enforcement,

it becomes us and them,

4 wheel cages don't understand what 2 wheels do,

and maybe likewise, too...

 

 

 

Conclusion

 

Summary of experience or similar

 

Discussion

 

A place for feedback on the page presented

 

Page History

 

20130508 Jerry

• Jerry created this page to ...

 

Page Statistics

Page Views:  since creating on 20130508