Emergency Harley Fix

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I went back down south for the long weekend, back to my parents house. I was outside getting my Quad ready to go riding when my Mom called and said that there was a guy who needed some welding done who had stopped at their gas station. So I got him to meet me half way to my parents house and got him to follow me home. He came from Ontario went down to North Dakota and up to BC with his wife on his Harley but he had loaded up the rear cargo truck way too heavy and Snapped the brace into 5 pieces . I still dont have a digital camera or else this would have been a good one to show. so anyway Ive only got an old buzz box and my SA 200 at home no wirefeed... so i went to work, found some angle iron, braced the tubing, stitched it with some 3/32 Arc Tec 223 and put a long piece from the receiver hitch to the trunk and then it was all done. he asked me what he owed me and i said "on the house" and he said i cant do that, then i said "just tell everyone you know about the nice people at the gas station here" he said "i will, how much do i owe you?" so them he pulled out 60 bucks and gave me some wise words ill never forget, he said "Doug, most people who will come to you will be in a pinch, i know its not easy to except money from them but if you are goin to make a living in this business, youve got to give them the bill" and so we shook hands and he sped off with his wife to head on across the country on my micky mouse emergency Harley repair
Reply:Nice story...I was/am/transition the same as you...didn´t like to ask cash for stuff...I managed them as "favors" you owe me 1 stuff like dat...kinda need to change cause without cash, we won´t make a living...My Babies: HF Drill pressHF Pipe Bender3   4.5" Black and Decker angle grindersLincoln Electric PROMIG 175that´s it!
Reply:Yea i wish i could be more like my parents neighbor who moved into my Grandparents house. Nice big shop, all sorts of tools, 6 or 7 welders, 2 nice band saws, CNC plasma table, and no problem charging hundreds of dollars for peanuts. lol
Reply:Its a hard side of business to learn for some of us. But the fact is you need to set a standard for yourself or their will always be people trying to take advantage of you. I used to do a lot of repairs like that and always tried to me the good guy and always ended up regretting. before I knew it some of the cheap locals were in looking for free work. Generally most people try to be fare but their are always those who are greedy and are looking for more. The best part is that you were able to help out someone in need. Its a great feeling and a true testament of your character.Miller DVI2Lincoln Precision Tig 225Thermodynamics Cutmaster 38Everything else needed.
Reply:Originally Posted by elvergonNice story...I was/am/transition the same as you...didn´t like to ask cash for stuff...I managed them as "favors" you owe me 1 stuff like dat...kinda need to change cause without cash, we won´t make a living...
Reply:I did some volunteer welding for an old neighbor once.  His wife works at a volunteer hospital, and they wanted to convert their gourney from a stationary one into one that rolls.  They supplied me with the new casters and the previous mounts.  I simply cut off the square tubing which held the feet onto the angle iron (which mounted onto the gourney) and welded the casters onto them in place of the tubing.  All four I guess fit perfectly when they were bolted back on, and were able to spin in every direction, the bearing's worked perfectly.  I made sure to ground through the angle, and not the caster!  (whew!)I got some free movie passes out of it afterwards.  It was for a good cause, so I didn't expect anything, but it was a nice gesture!  (okay, so that last bit was a bad pun, but overall, the project gave me a happy/gooshy feeling!  )I think the best harley story I ever heard was from a previous co-worker.  He stopped at the side of the road because he noticed that a biker was having problems  (I guess a clutch pedal or something had broke on the guy or something to that effect) with his bike, and the guy I worked with gave him a pair of vice grips to work in place of the clutch, and the biker asked for his home address so he could return the grips.  Long story short, a few weeks later he had the Hells Angels in his front yard bearing countless cases of beer... and of course, his vice grips!  Last edited by mb_welder; 07-04-2007 at 06:11 AM.
Reply:Man, do I relate to this. I worked for someone else for twenty five years, having to ask maybe for a raise once a year and now I have a welding business and I'm supposed to come up with prices and it's totally foriegn and unnatural to me. There was anouther thread where we talked about this and the general cosensus around the country was that fifty bucks an hour plus materials was the average going rate. Ask for it up front before you get started and ask for every hour in advance in cash if it's a total stranger or you'll end up getting some worthless starter check and screwed for a days work. I learned that lesson the hard way too. I spent a whole night in January welding a snow plow on some horses behind's truck only to find the check was bogus and he skipped town.
Reply:Originally Posted by jamlitIts a hard side of business to learn for some of us. But the fact is you need to set a standard for yourself or their will always be people trying to take advantage of you. I used to do a lot of repairs like that and always tried to me the good guy and always ended up regretting. before I knew it some of the cheap locals were in looking for free work. Generally most people try to be fare but their are always those who are greedy and are looking for more. The best part is that you were able to help out someone in need. Its a great feeling and a true testament of your character.