R T F I (read the f$#@^&g instructions) !!!!

Yesterday I received the CNW adapter plate to mount the CNW Brembo Master cylinder to the oEM Lucas switchgear. I was very happy to see it because I was beginning to wonder if it was actually going to show up here in Mexico. It got to Mexico City the 2nd day after Matt shipped it but it took 3 more weeks to travel the 170 miles from Mexico City to here (San Miguel de Allende)! I guess the donkeys were shunted from mail delivery to holiday festivities.

But, that's not the point...

I took the bracket out of its padded envelope along with the 1/3 page of instructions, tossed the instructions in the trash can and began work. I removed the OEM (sleeved) MC and fitted the new bracket to the Lucas switchgear...but there was an interference problem between the lucas switch and the boss on the bracket for the rear-view mirror. "Hmmm," I thought...

No problem, 5 minutes with a hack saw and file and the problem was solved. I figured that maybe the bracket was designed with some other type of Lucas switchgear in mind. So I finished the installation...vaguely noticing that the reach to the lever was a bit more than I thought it should be. Again, I just figured, "that's the way it is, I guess. I'll get used to it!"

I sent a message to Matt to inform him that the bracket had arrived safely and I also sent him some pics showing him the interference problem, thinking he might find it useful in future machining of the bracket.

I got a very rapid response...basically saying, "Mike, you installed it backwards, reverse it," accompanied by a couple of pics.

Sure enough, I had installed it backwards! Had I installed it correctly, there would have been no interference to cut/file away! I was very pleased with Matt's immediate response - which included the pics to clearly show how it was supposed to be mounted. I reversed the bracket and all was as it should be and the reach to the lever was perfect. The only down side was now, with the bracket correctly oriented, the area I cut/filed was now visible as shiny white as opposed to black. A shot of black paint took care of that.

I then saw the instructions laying on the floor, next to the trash can where I had tossed them (and missed). I'll be darned, had I followed them, I would have installed the bracket correctly in the first place. Who woulda' thought?

Matt offered to take the bracket back the next time I was in the US and clean up/re-anodize it so that the section I cut/filed would be anodized rather than painted but I don't think that will be necessary. With the black paint on the portion I cut, it is totally invisible. As usual, great support from Matt/CNW.

I wrote this because I suspect I am not the only person who has occasionally discarded instructions and then got to re-do something. So don't do the, "I don't need no stinkin' instructions!" thing. Regardless how simple something appears, RTFI!

Printed instructions are NOT hard and fast rules. They are merely someone's opinion on the subject at hand. Rather then beat yourself up you need to celebrate the fact that you are a free thinker and march to your own drummer. Conformity is a web of boring status quo standards that you proudly rejected. My opinion
My wife's take is something like " Life would sure be a lot easier for you if you men weren't all so damn stubborn and asked for directions or read the instruction sheets." Thoughts like hers sure as heck didn't put men on the moon that's for sure.
Keep pushing the envelope Mike and stand proud!

A humble man to proudly say “I effed up”

We all do sometimes.

invariable when we start the assembly without first reading the instructions, something does not go right, even worse when the instructions are pathetic weak chinese ( or any asian) translations to engrish....

i have also found that even with good instructions, the guys in the field have managed to screw it up badly... a recent oops cost us (the project) $100,000. and the job was only worth $0.5 mil. all because someone was in to much of a hurry to call and ask the question...

Mexico Mike
Been there done that, the only real mistake you made was telling us about it! Sadly this sort of thing will increase as the years go by..

Well, are'nt instructions not just someone else's opinon of how the job has to be done ?

Sounds like you did it right.

After all else fails -read the instructions.

[The problem today is the instructions are usually in Chinese]

Instructions ? What the hell are those?
Probably explains my “Rule of Two”. Break the first one, then install the second correctly. We all been there Mike, thanks for sharing!
Pete

I actually didn't realize that the bracket could be installed backwards. So I was a bit surprised when I saw the picture on how it was done.

That said, I will ship these out with a little tag attached to the bracket itself mentioning the orientation

So, a Thanks goes out to Mike for doing the intensive field testing required and reporting back to me with a possible problem......... (he also decided to test the Mexican postal system that has been proven to be less than reliable for the most part)

Matt

Hmmm.......I just don't understand it, I cut it twice and it's still too short....

Sometimes it is to our advantage to read the "Instructions" especially when it's for a custom piece or part. The designer/engineer didn't come by their "opinion" by accident.

Everyone knows that reading instructions is a sign of weakness...

I thought that I made a mistake once, but I was wrong.

I f-up something every day, but I'll be damned if I'm telling you guys how.

I'd just like to point out that Matt not only offered to re-anodize the part, but then decided to add a tag (adding complexity to his side) to these so no one else has the issue. I am throughly impressed with his support and wish this was the norm not the exception. Go CNW!

I once bought a 1971 Chevrolet pickup truck from a kid who had replaced the worn out three speed (manual) steering column shifter to a three speed floor shifter. The truck was pretty solid but the kid should've never been allowed to touch it with any tools. I had trouble figuring out how he had done it, but while he was laying under the truck with the "instruction sheet" for the shifter, looking up at the transmission, he'd actually installed all the shifter linkage upside down or backward or who knows what. To drive the truck was a real treat until I fixed it. The shift pattern was exactly backward from what it was supposed to be. Reverse position was third gear, third position was reverse gear, second position was first gear and first position was second gear. Maybe the kid was a dyslexic genius because I don't think I could've installed the shifter that way, and made it work, if I really wanted to. And we have trouble changing back and forth between right hand and left hand shift on our motorcycles? The truck was much more fun to drive before I fixed it. Like a one man dog.
Charlie

My best friend always told me that I shouldn't fret the mistakes I make because I'm the kind of person who tries to do most everything myself, and by virtue of my increased willingness to push my limits, I'm going to have failures occasionally. I'm also not always going to save money when I get in over my head. I've learned that occasional failure comes with that territory.

But honestly the thing that bothers me most is that I used to be able to launch the printed directions into the trash can from across the room every time, and now I drop it in from directly above the can and it bounces out... It drives me crazy...

You could have claimed the bike was now a customized special edition!
Following Instructions is cheating.

The only people that don't make mistakes are those who don't do anything.

XTINCT said:

View attachment 7978
The only people that don't make mistakes are those who don't do anything.

Click to expand...

That's an old Cumbrian saying " Them'uns who do nowt git nowt wrang and them'uns who git nowt wrang are well thowt of" And another from goodness knows where "A clever chap learns from his mistakes while an idiot doesn't"

All Education has a price.
What I have learned is if there is a way to 'F' it up, I will find it.
It comes easy, I'm a natural.................
But then I know what can go wrong and move on......

Yes, big time Kudos to Matt and his offer.