Hey guys,

I know this is probably a more general automotive maintenance comment, rather than a k100 specific one but I thought I would let you guys know a system I have been using to avoid the Bermuda triangle effect, where the tiniest pieces seem to want to fall off the work bench and never be seen again or get kicked while they are on the floor and disappear. I bought a whiteboard and dry erase markers and make little boxes with the parts' names or descriptions and then they stay nicely labeled and stationary in one spot. As you remove a piece to label it then as you put the bike back together you erase the label. Works like a charm! I know it seems like its not that much different from setting them out on a counter top or something but it makes for a very brainless and hassle free process and might I add extremely fast! Where the big parts you remove go is usually pretty obvious, but it is all the washers, bolts, clips, connecters, and bushings that really mess you up. I've been trying to post an article with a tip of some sort for each one I post requesting help so I don't feel like I'm mooching.

Maybe I should have posted this in special tools and jigs?

I've just thrown out a whiteboard, couldn't think of a use for it. I'm off to the skip to retrieve it and give this a try. Good tip freebasser.
88KE

Yeah, I can just imagine how this tip would work out if my 3 year old "Daddy's little helper" came out to the garage to "help" Daddy! The parts would be over the floor and white board markings over the whole place.

I've read in another place (maybe here) about using an egg carton for an organizer because of the segmented cups. The egg carton is primarily very good for organizing small parts. One particular good aspect of egg cartons is that you can organize small parts in the order they are removed from the assembly, for example gears and bushings from a shaft. That way, you can reassemble the part by reversing the order in which they were removed.

robmack wrote:Yeah, I can just imagine how this tip would work out if my 3 year old "Daddy's little helper" came out to the garage to "help" Daddy! The parts would be over the floor and white board markings over the whole place.

I have a pet Sulphur crested cockatoo who just loves helping me by playing in the box of bits.
I have a theory about having bits left over after a rebuild and that is, if you do it very often then there are heaps of bits left over and so there is nothing left to work loose and fall off so you get hassle free riding.

Hahaha, barring cockatoos and giddy toddlers this works admirably. Some other benefits are that nothing contrasts like a white board, and rather than labeling a container or part with tape or marker or string and label like I used to, you can just erase the board with some simple green when you're done and if you have magnetic bowls or container they stick right to it