82 MOTORCYCLE TRADER
temp gauge on the radiator and it was 20
degrees ahead of the gauge. But most of the
time the sensors don’t fail.
“ Yo u get the diagnostic tool out so you can
tell what the ECU thinks is happening. But
you need to understand what it’s telling you.”
Sometimes the problem can be painfully
simple. “I had a guy spend three hours to
trailer in a Monster one day that wouldn’t
start. It was in neutral but there was no
neutral light. I played with it and got the
neutral light, pulled in the clutch and
it started. He just looked at me – ‘Why
wouldn’t it work, I had it in neutral!” Yes,
but the neutral light is an input to the ECU,
and if it’s not on the computer says ‘no’.
“I keep second-hand computers on the
shelf, so I can flash in the map I need and
test for failed ECUs. There’s another likely
cause of bad running checked off.
“A s a business, I can’t just wander
around replacing various sensors. I can’t
function like that. It’s a matter of using your
experience and testing everything, so you
have hard information.
“There are a lot of diagnostic tools online
for free these days. For Ducatis with Marelli
ECUs, you can get a cable and an online tool.
But you need to know what you’re looking at
- air temp, throttle sensors and so on. Some
alerts are just attention-seeking and need to
be turned off.
“The diagnostic tools won’t give you a
diagnosis as such, but they will give you
information that allows a diagnosis. In the
end, you can service a bike without them.”
JOIN THE FAR QUEUE
There are aspects to Brad’s world that other
people in the motorcycle industry might
envy. In particular, the fact he seems to have
a pretty steady flow of work, despite the
current slow-down in retail.
“I’m booked three months ahead at the
moment, but usually it’s more like two
months. People walk in and say, ‘Oh, you’re
quiet’ because I don’t have shit everywhere.
I’m not quiet, I’m organised!
“People ring up and I say here’s the date. I
can’t stand having a bike hanging around for
weeks waiting to be worked on. And people,
when they say ‘I don’t care how long it takes’
they call in two weeks, three weeks they get
upset, four weeks they get aggressive and
by five weeks they go nuts. I know I’m not
going to touch it for eight weeks, so that’s
when we book it in.
“Sometimes people laugh and sometimes
they get upset, but that’s just how it is. People
know for next time.
“It does have the benefit that I don’t get the
alpha males. They ring up and say ‘I need the
bike serviced, when can you do it?’ I say two-
and-a-half months and their response is ‘I’m
not going to wait that long!’ So the bonus is I
miss the aggressive customers. Most of the
people I get in here,I like.”
Ye p, that works...Contact
BRAD THE BIKE BOY
2 King St, Oakleigh, VIC
0408 095 595
Bikeboy.org“People
walk in
and say,
‘Oh, you’re
quiet’
because
I don’t
have shit
everywhere.
I’m not
quiet, I’m
organised!”SHED MASTERS
Brad^ the^ Bike^ Boy