I know other guys, either in Thailand, or here in Cambodia, who own similar motorcycles. So, I figured I would just have him change the oil while he was here, on the Phantom.
Tha was coming by today anyway, as he was sorting some maintenance issues on her motorcycle. So, I just enlisted Tha and Chan to help me get this sorted. But, anything that remotely resembles a "real" motorcycle is just beyond their capacity, right? Yep, that is ko-rect.
The common reply, after asking ANY shop owner if they could perform an oil change for me on this particular motorcycle, was, "I don't know how to do an oil change on that motorcycle." So, they know how to change the oil on 3.6 million shitty little scooters here. Well, friends and neighbors, this is the part of living in Southeast Asia that causes you to pull your hair out. Secondly, I attempted, multiple times, to locate a (READ: any) Cambodian motorbike shop that could do an oil change on this motorcycle.
I did that: Honda Shadow / Phantom TA200 Owner's Manual - PDF (Hosted on my Dropbox account.) (He typically has engine rebuilds and such, waiting for him at the shop.)įirstly, I had to locate an Owners Service Manual for the motorcycle, online. However, to be honest, I just didn't want to bother him over such trivial thing. We have a local foreigner here (Battambang) who has a long history with motorcycles, and provides quality mechanic service.
Had I known, I would have cracked the top on a fresh bottle of whisky - something most foreigners should do from time to time, if living in Southeast Asia. I knew it was time to get the oil changed, but didn't realize it would be a major issue to sort, when I first began this. Actual production of any product (or operation of any system) involves some inherent variation of input and output.A few months back, I purchased a Honda Shadow / Phantom TA200 (in other countries, called a Shadow?) from John Bohn, another member of this forum and long time friend (going on two decades). Experimental investigation is very useful to investigate the effects of tolerances:, formal engineering evaluations, etc.Ī good set of engineering tolerances in a, by itself, does not imply that compliance with those tolerances will be achieved. This can be by the use of scientific principles, engineering knowledge, and professional experience.