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I don't think it's totally politicians, majority are not interested in anything they can't make money from. When I was teaching at MMI there was hell of a resistance to learning metric measuring, even from former military who had used kilometers and meters
 
I don't get it.
They are just numbers, I go back and forth between metric and inch all day long.
 
Officially, the US is metric. The US government required all agencies to transition to metric in the 80s. All but the Dept of Education as done so. Most of the resistance has come from labor unions, private businesses and states. There's a reluctance to take of the expense of conversion. With the strength of the US economy, the world hasn't been able to force our hand, though I think that will change if the EU gets it way.
 
That's interesting, didn't know about 1980 act. EU is evil entity, unelected 'gnome's' set the tone of legislation for the elected officials to carry out
 
It's not that hard. Really. And I started in a country using old measurement which changed to Metric and it took a while to adjust until you get used to 19mm tube being 3/4" and 22mm is 7/8 and so on. With wood, you don't actually buy the "standard size, so it really makes no difference.

No I speak both in the same sentence. eg I reach for a 2" long 8mm bolt. or I work out whether a 120 tire is too wide for a 2.15" rim. It ain't as hard as it looks. Come on in the water is warm.
 
teazer said:
It's not that hard. Really. And I started in a country using old measurement which changed to Metric and it took a while to adjust until you get used to 19mm tube being 3/4" and 22mm is 7/8 and so on. With wood, you don't actually buy the "standard size, so it really makes no difference.

No I speak both in the same sentence. eg I reach for a 2" long 8mm bolt. or I work out whether a 120 tire is too wide for a 2.15" rim. It ain't as hard as it looks. Come on in the water is warm.

Can't disagree w/ you, but it makes me think about when I was living in Germany. I never got hugely proficient speaking German, but I was better when I got to the point where my brain was thinking in German rather than trying to translate from English to German before speaking. I'd have to work up to thinking in metric before I'd be able to be proficient with it.
 
teazer said:
It's not that hard. Really. And I started in a country using old measurement which changed to Metric and it took a while to adjust until you get used to 19mm tube being 3/4" and 22mm is 7/8 and so on. With wood, you don't actually buy the "standard size, so it really makes no difference.

No I speak both in the same sentence. eg I reach for a 2" long 8mm bolt. or I work out whether a 120 tire is too wide for a 2.15" rim. It ain't as hard as it looks. Come on in the water is warm.

Didn't you mean a 50mm long 5/16 bolt?
 
Pete12 said:
Expensive, really? These are braided S/S brake lines, S/S fittings and banjo bolts, ADR approved and guaranteed for life. I checked the Spieglar site in the US and they are $82 for the front and $73 for the rear. $150 Australian is around $110 American so it sounds even better now. :D :D
Approved and guaranteed for life for $110 US is a good deal. I'm still living on 1980 bike parts prices ;D
killerx said:
Didn't you mean a 50mm long 5/16 bolt?
Nope, 5/16 bolt can be various pitch and thread form (Whitworth, BSF, UNF, UNC, etc), 8mm standard pitch is always 1.25mm. I know it was a joke but I like to be accurate as I too grew up using Imperial measurements but working on Japanese bikes learned metric very quickly. 7~8yrs ago I would swap between inch and metric without a pause, nowadays I have to think a little as I'm not using either system on regular basis
 
Not as bad as the old Whitworth versus BSF series where the spanner (none of that 'Murican lingo please) was the same sixe to fit two different size bolts.

With Metric you just have to remember that the head size is the wrench size - even though an 8mm bolt could have a 10mm, 12, 13 or even14mm head.

See. it's simple.
 
and if you want to get truly ridiculous there was even BPT, which was birmingham pipe thread used only by plumbers from birmingham....don't think that one gets around much any more
 
Today it was 25 deg celcius when I put my 5' 10", 200 lb body into my vehicle to drive 10 km to pick up some 2"x4"'s and 4'x8' sheets of plywood and then I bought 50 litres of gas. In Canada we are metric but most of us are bi-measuremental. :)
 
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I finally got back home from overseas this morning so this afternoon I bled both brakes. I used a mityvac brake bleeder that I bought a few years ago when I was working in Ohio. What a blessing those things are, it only took about ten minutes to do the whole lot. There is no spillage or mess to clean up, just empty the contents back into the brake fluid container and you're good to go.
 

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Got my powder coater out yesterday and gave the chain guard a shot of mirror black but unfortunately the hi frequency switch kept failing (which I didn't realise until the end) and I ended up putting on a lot more powder than I had originally planned, which gave it an orange peel effect. I will wait until the bike is on the ground to see how it looks but I think I will end up redoing it. I got a new switch from Jaycar that cost all of $3, so I'll fit that up so I can do the battery box and inner rear guard.
 

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I may have mentioned it previously, use plumbers Teflon sealing paste on the brake bleeders. It stops them seizing up plus (more important) stops fluid or air leaking around the threads. I also use it when fitting stainless steel screws on covers as stainless has an affinity for various aluminium alloys (or maybe the other way around?) Teflon is pretty impervious to most chemicals and the low heat on majority of motorcycle parts so prevents issues in 20~30 yrs time ;) Oh, +1 on Mityvac, uses way less fluid than a vaculator (professional air powered brake bleeder) The cheap Harbor Freight one works almost as well. (I have both) I can't find the damn Mityvac though, I know it's 'safe ' and nicer to use than the cheapie
 
Good idea on the Teflon paste pj, I just use brake grease on the bleeders and neversieze on the s/s cover screws.
 
I mounted up the rear brake hose clamps, which I got from a YZ250, and then got out the powdercoater again and did the battery box and inner rear guard. It works a lot better now with the new switch in place, although it didn't cover the chinese wheel marks on the tyre side of the guard haha. I also did the gear lever and kick start lever which both came out quite good too. Finally, I made up the exhaust baffle, but I don't think it will baffle too much. The next thing is to fit the alternator cover and countershaft cover after I have shortened the clutch cable.
 

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I fitted up the exhaust pipe today, complete with "baffle" which is bolted in from underneath as well as the holding screws at the back. That way, if the screws come out, we don't lose the whole thing on the road, waiting to get run over by a truck. I used pot belly black, which takes a little heating of the exhaust to cure properly, but comes out quite nicely when it does.
 

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