It seemed like such a great idea at the time

eskasteve · Jan 22, 2018

I'm sure that we have all done things that seemed like an incredibly great idea at the time. Most of mine seemed to always involve my wife. Maybe you can learn from my mistakes.
1) Do not under any circumstance use your wife's Tupperware for any reason. Parts washer, tiny parts storage, tool organizer, ABSOLUTLEY nothing!
2) The oven is not to be used to warm up leather riding gear so that the Sno-Seal will go on better. Also not to be used to reheat said gear to allow the snow grease to penetrate.
3) Once you agree to never put leather in the oven again you should also check to see if that edict applies to your old waxed Belstaff cotton gear. Don't assume. Trust me, bad things will happen.
4) More on the oven. Somehow that device has attained sacred status. Never ever use the oven to cure multiple coats of Kal-Guard piston coat. 3 hours per coat at 275 degrees does emit a toxic cloud. I'm not sure if it's always fatal but best to open the doors and windows. Also get the kids out and over to the neighbors or better yet, Grandma's
5) Good gawd, more oven restrictions. It seems that my wife likes to cook food in our oven so using it to cure freshly painted cylinder barrels is no longer an acceptable practice. Same rule applies to any and all parts.
6) The dishwasher is NOT a parts washer even though it works great. Aluminum parts should not be washed with automatic dishwasher soap as it's too corrosive. One healthy squirt of Dawn liquid does a stand up job on aluminum. I found out that two squirts is one too many. My wife came home from doing girl stuff and opened the dishwasher after the two squirt experiment. She sure doesn't have a good sense of humor on some things. The inside of the washer looked like it contained the worlds largest meringue. I assured her that the rinse cycle would take care of it. She assured me that if I put one more motorcycle part in her dishwasher that she would stuff me in there just because.
7) Never use up the distilled water and lemon juice to boil out your Amals. I shouldn't have used one of her Teflon pots either. Those scratches in the finish mean that you will be buying a whole new cookware set. We sure as heck can't just replace the trashed pot with a non matching unit from Walmart. Heaven forbid.
8) More on distilled water. It wasn't purchased for topping off batteries or for rinsing off Norton fuel tanks. I found out the hard way that it was only to be used to fill the clothes iron. Heck, I didn't even know that we owned an iron since I had never ever seen it in use. I probably shouldn't have mentioned that last part to my wife as she offered to introduce me face to face with the iron. Gulp!
Now it's time for this group to share some of your hard earned knowledge.

cash · Jan 22, 2018

Big mistake! don't use an oven to heat up leather or waxed jackets the tumble dryer is far superior. Just pop them in a pillow case and switch on. It will gently heat up your gear and any re-wax or leather treatment will soak in beautifully.
Just don't get caught.

Dave

eskasteve · Jan 22, 2018

cash said:
Big mistake! don't use an oven to heat up leather or waxed jackets the tumble dryer is far superior. Just pop them in a pillow case and switch on. It will gently heat up your gear and any re-wax or leather treatment will soak in beautifully.
Just don't get caught.

Dave
Since my wife retired I'm always under wardenlike scrutiny. My wife did point out that since we now live in Arizona I can just put my stuff out in the driveway and allow the sun to heat it up. I never tried the dryer as it was natural gas. I'm not sure how explosive the off gassing would be and never wanted to hear 'THAT LECTURE". Somewhat off of the motorcycle theme I was informed that giving the dog a haircut after four extra large gin and tonics was not a good idea. No sense of humor about that little episode.

Mark · Jan 22, 2018

Very Funny !

Nater_Potater · Jan 22, 2018

eskasteve said:
I'm sure that we have all done things that seemed like an incredibly great idea at the time. Most of mine seemed to always involve my wife. Maybe you can learn from my mistakes.
1) Do not under any circumstance use your wife's Tupperware for any reason. Parts washer, tiny parts storage, tool organizer, ABSOLUTLEY nothing!
2) The oven is not to be used to warm up leather riding gear so that the Sno-Seal will go on better. Also not to be used to reheat said gear to allow the snow grease to penetrate.
3) Once you agree to never put leather in the oven again you should also check to see if that edict applies to your old waxed Belstaff cotton gear. Don't assume. Trust me, bad things will happen.
4) More on the oven. Somehow that device has attained sacred status. Never ever use the oven to cure multiple coats of Kal-Guard piston coat. 3 hours per coat at 275 degrees does emit a toxic cloud. I'm not sure if it's always fatal but best to open the doors and windows. Also get the kids out and over to the neighbors or better yet, Grandma's
5) Good gawd, more oven restrictions. It seems that my wife likes to cook food in our oven so using it to cure freshly painted cylinder barrels is no longer an acceptable practice. Same rule applies to any and all parts.
6) The dishwasher is NOT a parts washer even though it works great. Aluminum parts should not be washed with automatic dishwasher soap as it's too corrosive. One healthy squirt of Dawn liquid does a stand up job on aluminum. I found out that two squirts is one too many. My wife came home from doing girl stuff and opened the dishwasher after the two squirt experiment. She sure doesn't have a good sense of humor on some things. The inside of the washer looked like it contained the worlds largest meringue. I assured her that the rinse cycle would take care of it. She assured me that if I put one more motorcycle part in her dishwasher that she would stuff me in there just because.
7) Never use up the distilled water and lemon juice to boil out your Amals. I shouldn't have used one of her Teflon pots either. Those scratches in the finish mean that you will be buying a whole new cookware set. We sure as heck can't just replace the trashed pot with a non matching unit from Walmart. Heaven forbid.
8) More on distilled water. It wasn't purchased for topping off batteries or for rinsing off Norton fuel tanks. I found out the hard way that it was only to be used to fill the clothes iron. Heck, I didn't even know that we owned an iron since I had never ever seen it in use. I probably shouldn't have mentioned that last part to my wife as she offered to introduce me face to face with the iron. Gulp!
Now it's time for this group to share some of your hard earned knowledge.

I think this could be summed up in one simple statement; Be careful who you marry!
I met my wife in the motorcycle shop where I was working back in the early 80's. Her dad used to race in desert races, while the rest of the family called it a "camping trip". We had our first date on the Norton. She wants to swap motorcycles with our son, because his has a more powerful engine than hers. She asked that I rebuild a carburetor on the kitchen table so she could get more involved and learn about them (Rochester QuadraJet). She can tell the difference between a small-block and big-block V-8 by the exhaust sound. She was so impressed the first time she saw a clean cylinder come out of the dishwasher that she now insists everything is cleaned in there.

As for using the oven for curing paint and the like, find yourself an old, used oven that can be plugged in outside with an extension cord. You have to eat food out of your kitchen unit. I'd hate for the two of you to grow a third eye down the road...

Do not use Tupperware for anything but food storage around my house, my sister's house, my daughter's house, or my mother's house. That's what Rubbermaid containers are for (or, so I'm told).

Nathan

eskasteve · Jan 22, 2018

I did luck out when I married her or we wouldn't still be together. We married in 1974 and took a two week motorcycle honeymoon. I was on my 1972 Combat Roadster and she was on her '74 RD350. When I bought a new off road desert bike she insisted that she deserved a new DT 125. I couldn't argue with that. In the late 90's she went to work for a large Harley dealer in charge of running the business end. For my 50th birthday she bought me a new Buell XB9R and a track day with an instructor. When I retired in 2005 I got a new race prepped KDX200. So while she definitely "gets" motorcycles she does lack understanding in how guys work. I think it probably has something to do with the fact that she can't stand when she pees. What else could it be?

ashman · Jan 22, 2018

You just got to train them better, I pay for all our stuff so I will use them when needed like drop bearing out of crank case using the wok burner or hardening the paint on the cylinders, but she won't let me use the dishwasher, she complains about that one as we don't have a dishwasher, my wife is the dishwasher, but you got to plan ahead when you know she is going out for the whole day and do things then, I have been caught out a few times but she knows if she complains it goes in one ear and out the other, she knew what she was getting herself into when she married me, I am ruff as nuts but she still loves me, silly girl, she knows the bikes come first, I told her that when I purposed to her.
PS if I had my way tupperware be banded from our house, I just hate going to that cuboard to get something, I am sure its all designed to attack males when you open the cuboard door the whole lot seems to attact at the same time and if you don't put it back in the right way all hell breaks out, just make sure the cast iron pan is not in her reach.

Ashley

gortnipper · Jan 22, 2018

Get a cheap used oven off of craigslist and put it in the garage. All good!

Craig · Jan 22, 2018

I’d say renovate kitchen take all appliances out to shop , make your Wife happy with new mod set and finish kitchen to match , a win-win for you both ....
Craig

Mark · Jan 22, 2018

One time about 25 years ago, I rebuilt a transmission in the kitchen.
The aroma of gear lube hung around in there for weeks.
Even today..... if she gets a whiff of that smell, I get reminded about never doing it again.
They don't forget.

Nater_Potater · Jan 22, 2018

Mark said:
One time about 25 years ago, I rebuilt a transmission in the kitchen.
The aroma of gear lube hung around in there for weeks.
Even today..... if she gets a whiff of that smell, I get reminded about never doing it again.
They don't forget.

No argument here! I got a face-full of it one time when pulling the center section out of a high-mileage Chrysler rear end. Three showers later, and my hair still wouldn't come clean. Nasty!

850commando · Jan 22, 2018

WIVES, can't live without'em. they seem to be particular about their kitchen appliances.... just go get your own...

eskasteve · Jan 22, 2018

Craig said:
I’d say renovate kitchen take all appliances out to shop , make your Wife happy with new mod set and finish kitchen to match , a win-win for you both ....
Craig

I'd rather receive a porcupine enema than go through another kitchen remodel project. Thank God this house that we moved into last June just had everything but the master bath upgraded. Sooooo.... guess what I've been working on today. The shower will be done by Wednesday then it's off to the cabinet maker to discuss vanities and other such poisonous BS. I'm thinking that remodels are women's revenge for Nortons.

Craig · Jan 22, 2018

You bet they are ! good luck keeping things limited to the BR ...
Craig

Danno · Jan 22, 2018

Don't combine bottles of identically-labeled shampoo to get rid of 50% of the crap you're tripping over each time you try to take a shower! They're all different, regardless of what the labels say.

gortnipper · Jan 22, 2018

Danno said:
Don't combine bottles of identically-labeled shampoo to get rid of 50% of the crap you're tripping over each time you try to take a shower! They're all different, regardless of what the labels say.

Yes, Sodium laureth sulfate... I am sure that on some forums the "which shampoo is better" threads are just like our oil threads...

Hobot · Jan 22, 2018

Well usually the cuter smarter gals are the most picky to please or sneak stuff past. Realize women never really forget anything and can hurt ya. I found out usually takes a season or so if ya ever feel man enough to quip back with - "It was easier to ask forgiveness than permission...

whewweedoggiedoo

Craig · Jan 22, 2018

Very true , you forgot to add in a lot of cases forgiveness can come with a costly price tag .... all good though,we all got to have our own individual pursuits, right ....
Craig

norton73 · Jan 22, 2018

Fortunately, my wife has her own Norton.

It seemed like such a great idea at the time

Craig · Jan 22, 2018

Looks like life with an Angel !!
Craig

It seemed like such a great idea at the time

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