I have been riding extensivly for about 7 years now, one of my bikes is a lightweight hardtail, I can keep up and sometimes pass poser roadies, they should thank me for inspiring them to train harderor quit. I am 49 years old sometimes keeping up with roadie guys half my ageI love cycling! Iimagine what I could do on a road bike.
First thing to remember is you're playing with fire. So protect yourself from getting burned. Wear a good pair of gloves and other PPE that's fire retardant. Take a quick visual of the area, make sure there is no combustible material or liquids, rags, newspaper's etc. Also keep a fire extinguisher handy and water hose. After you finish using your torch make sure the flame is completely extinguished and cool to the touch before storing. And last make sure the area that you worked in is smoke free, look in every corner and behind suspended ceilings and walls. Most fires are caused by DIY being careless.
Sounds like a bad convertorthe lock part is malfunctioningcould be caused by computer inputsbut if not if you are going to change it you may as well rebuild the tranny while its out as most of the labor is the samethere has to be at least one decent transmisson man around.ask the local parts stores who they reccomend
