It’s always great to hear from readers about the various things that I’ve written through the years, for example a little over three years ago I wrote a post underscoring the importance of always using a new cotter pin every time you need one. Just a few weeks ago I received an email from a reader who had a near tragic ending and these next few words will be his.

Comment: I just wanted to share a story about why you should always check those cotter pins.

I had just rebuilt a 200cc bike, and after riding 50 miles, the back wheel came off. I broke my clavicle, went to the ER in an ambulance, destroyed my helmet, broke my crankcase, and scraped up fairings and the frame. The towing & impound were expensive too. In the end, this cost me thousands, and I was out for 6 weeks w/ a hurt shoulder.

All this because I rode the bike without a cotter pin.

I’d torqued up the rear nut to spec, and it only took 50 miles for the nut to back out. I never thought it would happen…but it did.

Now you’ve heard from a man who really knows and yes he still rides motorcycles. He asked me to keep his identity completely private so I will, and thank you very much kind sir for sharing this with us. If the rest of you don’t already have one stop right now & get yourself a cotter pin assortment.

Another post that has generated a lot of comments & feedback was the one entitled Vintage Piston Valve Keihin Carburetor Overhaul. If you look at this post without reading the commentary you’re only getting half of the story. Check out the whole page, I learned as much from my readers as they learned from my meager do it yourself post. Of course this leads into my other series of posts Dirt Bike Carburetor 101.

Those of you with CV carbs don’t fret, I have several dozen detailed close up pictures of 2 different style of CV carburetors that I have worked on recently & will be getting a couple of detailed posts going for you about those.

Some of you may be wondering about the Project wAmmo bobber that I had started on. It’s probably the main reason that I have not posted as steadily this month as I should have because the darn thing needs to be finished. But it’s up on it’s wheels and actually went to it’s first show despite needing a few more details to finish it up. I hope to have it all wrapped up in the next 2 weeks for final pictures in the meantime give a listen to this video.

That’s about it for this post if you haven’t already signed up for email notifications please do so using the box below. There’s a lot of great stuff coming up & you don’t want to miss a thing.

Most of all thanks for the reader feedback on this blog.