Topic: Dumbest Things We've Done To A Motorcycle

[RAFster122s]

You know piker is a derogatory term and these are pike nuts...

[ekpent]

Pouring oil into the crankcase of my KLR 650 BEFORE installing the drain plug........

Reminds me of what I did as a teen with the family boat:

Launched it into the lake WITHOUT the drain plug installed in the transom!  Did it once. The plug in our current boat never comes out...ha!

When I bought my first inboard it had a 140 Merc set up. First outing we are out riding around with the kids having a great time with the new toy and we stopped and I noticed life jackets floating under a teak removable deck panel. OH CRAP.  Started the engine and water was streaming from the side of the block -OH CRAP - Thought it was cracked. Wallowed to the landing and was barely able to load the heavy beast and drained a ton of warm water.
   Well upon closer examination I found that the owner had not closed the block drain when he winterized and I never even knew there was supposed to be one there. Nothing like filling your boat with hot water on its first outing !!    New working bilge pump went on the list also 

[Stev-o]

Pouring oil into the crankcase of my KLR 650 BEFORE installing the drain plug........

Reminds me of what I did as a teen with the family boat:

Launched it into the lake WITHOUT the drain plug installed in the transom!  Did it once. The plug in our current boat never comes out...ha!

When I bought my first inboard it had a 140 Merc set up. First outing we are out riding around with the kids having a great time with the new toy and we stopped and I noticed life jackets floating under a teak removable deck panel. OH CRAP.  Started the engine and water was streaming from the side of the block -OH CRAP - Thought it was cracked. Wallowed to the landing and was barely able to load the heavy beast and drained a ton of warm water.
   Well upon closer examination I found that the owner had not closed the block drain when he winterized and I never even knew there was supposed to be one there. Nothing like filling your boat with hot water on its first outing !!    New working bilge pump went on the list also 

That a good one, Eric!  What brand of boat was it?   I had two Checkmates [18' & 21'], would love to get a classic Glastron with a big outboard motor to tool around in! Those lightweight fiberglass boats would fly...

[Tracksnblades1]

Pouring oil into the crankcase of my KLR 650 BEFORE installing the drain plug........

Reminds me of what I did as a teen with the family boat:

Launched it into the lake WITHOUT the drain plug installed in the transom!  Did it once. The plug in our current boat never comes out...ha!

When I bought my first inboard it had a 140 Merc set up. First outing we are out riding around with the kids having a great time with the new toy and we stopped and I noticed life jackets floating under a teak removable deck panel. OH CRAP.  Started the engine and water was streaming from the side of the block -OH CRAP - Thought it was cracked. Wallowed to the landing and was barely able to load the heavy beast and drained a ton of warm water.
   Well upon closer examination I found that the owner had not closed the block drain when he winterized and I never even knew there was supposed to be one there. Nothing like filling your boat with hot water on its first outing !!    New working bilge pump went on the list also 

Deja Vu…. Sounds familiar only with the larger plug.
Only in a 330 TRS Meircuizer and a working bilge pump..
Lucky enough she would still get up on plane and suck it all out…😁

[ekpent]

Pouring oil into the crankcase of my KLR 650 BEFORE installing the drain plug........

Reminds me of what I did as a teen with the family boat:

Launched it into the lake WITHOUT the drain plug installed in the transom!  Did it once. The plug in our current boat never comes out...ha!

When I bought my first inboard it had a 140 Merc set up. First outing we are out riding around with the kids having a great time with the new toy and we stopped and I noticed life jackets floating under a teak removable deck panel. OH CRAP.  Started the engine and water was streaming from the side of the block -OH CRAP - Thought it was cracked. Wallowed to the landing and was barely able to load the heavy beast and drained a ton of warm water.
   Well upon closer examination I found that the owner had not closed the block drain when he winterized and I never even knew there was supposed to be one there. Nothing like filling your boat with hot water on its first outing !!    New working bilge pump went on the list also 

That a good one, Eric!  What brand of boat was it?   I had two Checkmates [18' & 21'], would love to get a classic Glastron with a big outboard motor to tool around in! Those lightweight fiberglass boats would fly...

This one was an older Mark Twain tri-hull. Caught a lot of fish out of it and would scoot out on Lake Michigan a little in good calmer weather. Currently I am boat less unless I want to take out my row boat with a 4hp Mariner -  oooh baby !!

[C317414]

Since we are talking boats...

I've been fortunate to never forget the plug in my smaller boats, but I did something stupid on the large boat: 

Before leaving the marina, I went down into the engine compartment to check the oil, coolant, and general condition.  I also checked that the fuel valves were all in the normal position: port engine fuel feed and return to the port fuel tank, and vice versa.

As we left the marina, the starboard engine quit.  It was touch and go for a bit, but I managed to make my way out on one engine.  When I went back into the engine compartment, I discovered the starboard engine feed valve in the off position.  I switched the valve back on, primed, and started the engine, but I could not figure out how I missed this.  A few months later I figured out when I was climbing out of the engine compartment:  my jacket snagged the starboard fuel valve handle, and rotated it to the off position.   Since then, I made it a habit to look at the fuel valve panel one last time, after climbing out of the compartment.

[Don R]

 I decided to mock up the side covers and tank on my old turbo drag bike frame. I dug them out, cleaned them up a bit and hung them. I then decided to put a cap on the old oil tank since it's been open to the air. It won't tighten down. I took off the side cover and yes it fits, but with the side cover on it doesn't. I got a different side cover and no dice.
 I went under the bed and drug out a different old oil tank and it's nearly a half inch taller at the cap. Why would someone cut off the oil filler neck and weld it back on to shorten it a half inch?
 The age old question, why'd dey do dat? 

 My theory is the oil was always that much low so someone dropped the dipstick enough to make it right.

[robvangulik]

My theory is the oil was always that much low so someone dropped the dipstick enough to make it right.

Or someone wanted to use a later model sidecover (without oilcap hole), and wanted to fit the cap inside....

[zabzob]

Had the cam tensioner off and rotated the engine backwards every so slightly. Heard a little thunk. Couldn't have been the cam chain skipping a tooth, could it? Well, the sound on starting the engine confirmed that yes, in fact, the cam chain had skipped a tooth.

That was the year I rebuilt the head.

[newday777]

Had the cam tensioner off and rotated the engine backwards every so slightly. Heard a little thunk. Couldn't have been the cam chain skipping a tooth, could it? Well, the sound on starting the engine confirmed that yes, in fact, the cam chain had skipped a tooth.

That was the year I rebuilt the head.

Ouch

[ZTatZAU]

This happened to the guy who rode Enduro races out of my shop in 1973... he came into the turn on the rear wheel... (yep, he could turn on one wheel, he was that good a rider!)... when his front fork caps let go with the wheel... he rode back up the other side before stopping and dropping the front, almost at a dead stop at the top.

Great story, HondaMan! And with a much better outcome than this one!



Ouch!  ZT

[ZTatZAU]

I've done a lot of dumb things both ON and TO a variety of motorcycles over the years.  But the dumbest things I ever did TO my 1971 CB750, were...

1)  Repainting its perfectly good original candy red paint, in gold, just so it didn't look like all the other candy red CB750s.

2)  Swapping out the original HM exhaust system for a set of unmuffled 4 into 2 collectors... and not keeping track of the OEM exhaust system.

ZT   

[bryanj]

How about just getting on!

[Remcod]

I guess we all let the wife push us a few miles to find that the kill switch accidently was in the off position? Keeps em in good shape!

Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-A536B met Tapatalk

[Rosinante]

  I almost dumped the bike from the huge electric shock that I received.  That was my introduction to high voltage.   

Okay, I laughed out loud at this one.  20K-60K volts will teach you, in a single lesson, not to touch the ignition system of any running engine.

[C317414]

When I was a teen, one of my riding buddies smoked cigarettes.  One day he stopped at the top of a hill in our dirt riding area to have a smoke, astride of the bike.  Without thinking, he decided to check how much fuel he had left.  He opened the gas cap, leaned down to look, and shook the bike a bit from side to side.  As he did this the cigarette ignited the fuel vapors.  He pushed off in a panic, and the bike rolled down the hill, with flames streaming behind.  It landed on it's side, and the fire consumed much of the paint, seat, and wiring before we could put it out. 

It was an Indian similar to this one:
https://ultimatemotorcycling.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/1974-indian-se-74-story-for-prospecitve-dealers-1.jpg

[CycleRanger]

  I almost dumped the bike from the huge electric shock that I received.  That was my introduction to high voltage.   

Okay, I laughed out loud at this one.  20K-60K volts will teach you, in a single lesson, not to touch the ignition system of any running engine.

I learned this in the best way. 
When I was a kid my grandfather had an ancient cobbled together 2-stroke lawnmower.
When I was maybe 10 years old he showed me how to run it.
To kill it you had to pull the plug wire off the plug.
I didn't pay much attention to just how he did that apparently.

I finished mowing the lawn and reached down and grabbed the plug wire to yank it off. BAM! The shock knocked me down on my ass. I've been shocked with 110 that didn't hurt that bad.
I found a stick and pried the plug wire off and never, ever, touched that lead again.

[RAFster122s]

Another confession of a dumb thing I did when first getting back into riding after an extremely long hiatus…
Bought a 78 Honda CX500 (std version only version 1st year) commonly referred to in the UK as a Plastic Maggot for its headlight fairing many did not like… looks better with the small windscreen that came later…
Anyway, forgot they drained tank for transport and friend followed me to gas station as they dropped bike off at my work. He was going to follow me home and bring me back for my car. 1/2 mile from work carb bowls ran dry and it died. I coasted bike to side of busy street and forgot to give myself a bit of extra room between bike and curb. Put foot down and turned in saddle to yell to Jim I ran out of gas… top heavy bike and in turning I didn’t detect the lean on the bike and when I turned back to the front the bike was beginning a lean to the right. My foot between the curb and bike and after it reached a tipping point it accelerates the fall. I couldn’t get my right foot up in time up above the curb and over I went. How embarrassing it was…
Well, Jim came and helped get the bike off me and righted it. I explained my mistake and we had a good laugh.. He took me to the gas station and we came back with a couple gallons of gas. I put the gas in and fired it up and proceeded to ride the couple miles home. Turns out I also cracked a spark plug cap and it broke on the way home and fell against my leg. That got my attention really quickly… the twisted transverse mounted motor has one cylinder further back than the other side and being 6’4” my knees are beside the cylinders.oddly enough I was able to grab the wire and hold it close to the broken top of the plug cap and it made spark to run a little rough but enough to ride smoothly…problem was it was the right side cylinder spark plug cap, no way to hold the throttle and hold the wire. Finished the last 1/4 to 3/8 mile running on one cylinder. The plugs are buried deep in the center of the cylinder and the plug caps were no longer available from Honda at the time and WeMoto in UK has aftermarket but no one in US carried them. Had to buy some old used caps from a CX Forum member to get it running again…
The resistors go bad but there is a mod to replace the resistor element, removable, with a section of copper rod and run resistor plugs. They originally were 10k plug caps with long reach L shape with a debris and water resist boot that sealed against the top of the tappet rocker arm cover on each cylinder in the center of the cylinder. Not an NGK replacement spark plug cap design…
So having the plug wire light you up at the knee the spark shot up your leg towards your groin…don’t recommend it.

[Ellz10]

Another confession of a dumb thing I did when first getting back into riding after an extremely long hiatus…
Bought a 78 Honda CX500 (std version only version 1st year) commonly referred to in the UK as a Plastic Maggot for its headlight fairing many did not like… looks better with the small windscreen that came later…
Anyway, forgot they drained tank for transport and friend followed me to gas station as they dropped bike off at my work. He was going to follow me home and bring me back for my car. 1/2 mile from work carb bowls ran dry and it died. I coasted bike to side of busy street and forgot to give myself a bit of extra room between bike and curb. Put foot down and turned in saddle to yell to Jim I ran out of gas… top heavy bike and in turning I didn’t detect the lean on the bike and when I turned back to the front the bike was beginning a lean to the right. My foot between the curb and bike and after it reached a tipping point it accelerates the fall. I couldn’t get my right foot up in time up above the curb and over I went. How embarrassing it was…
Well, Jim came and helped get the bike off me and righted it. I explained my mistake and we had a good laugh.. He took me to the gas station and we came back with a couple gallons of gas. I put the gas in and fired it up and proceeded to ride the couple miles home. Turns out I also cracked a spark plug cap and it broke on the way home and fell against my leg. That got my attention really quickly… the twisted transverse mounted motor has one cylinder further back than the other side and being 6’4” my knees are beside the cylinders.oddly enough I was able to grab the wire and hold it close to the broken top of the plug cap and it made spark to run a little rough but enough to ride smoothly…problem was it was the right side cylinder spark plug cap, no way to hold the throttle and hold the wire. Finished the last 1/4 to 3/8 mile running on one cylinder. The plugs are buried deep in the center of the cylinder and the plug caps were no longer available from Honda at the time and WeMoto in UK has aftermarket but no one in US carried them. Had to buy some old used caps from a CX Forum member to get it running again…
The resistors go bad but there is a mod to replace the resistor element, removable, with a section of copper rod and run resistor plugs. They originally were 10k plug caps with long reach L shape with a debris and water resist boot that sealed against the top of the tappet rocker arm cover on each cylinder in the center of the cylinder. Not an NGK replacement spark plug cap design…
So having the plug wire light you up at the knee the spark shot up your leg towards your groin…don’t recommend it.

OUCHHHHH!!!

[C317414]

During college I worked PT at my buddy's British bike shop.  I got to see first hand a lot of dumb things done to motorcycles.  Here are a few:

- A bike without oil in the forks, and no bolts holding the dampener rods to the sliders....  It had a length of piano wire attached to one slider with a hose clamp.  The wire extended a bit beyond the upper triple clamp, and was bent down in the shape of a U on top.  Upon full extension of the suspension the "U" of the wire would bear against the upper triple clamp, and would keep the sliders from extending further, and falling off.

- A Triumph wired with household solid core wire.... One wire going to the headlight broke from fatigue inside the insulator.  Whenever the handlebars were turned right, the conductor separated internally, and the engine would quit.  The bike owner thought we were trying to rip him off when we told him the bike needed to be rewired with stranded wire, or have a genuine wire harness installed.  He said that his buddy, who was an electrician had wired it for a case of beer.

- An oil in the frame Triumph chopper with a peanut tank... The tank was attached in back with a lag bolt threaded into a hole that was drilled into the oil-carrying backbone.

[HondaMan]

Reminds me of a story where al-kee-haul was involved. I kept a power boat at a friends house who lived right across the boat launch at a very popular lake. Well one hot afternoon we were out having cocktails etc. and having a good time. I decided to dive off the boat but forgot to take my dark prescription sunglasses off. Well I did not lose my glasses but of course one lens popped out. Can't see crap without my glasses and having only one dark lens was wreaking havoc on my brain. It had got dark outside and time to go so I wrapped the lost lens side of my glasses with black tape hopped on my 750 and headed home. Nothing like driving home from the country in the dark with only one eye looking through a sunglass lens while your kind of drunk !    Fun times !!

OK, this one reminds me...hope I didn't already post this somewhere else...
The 1st (and last) time I tried pot was in late summer 1970, when I found some that the previous night's party had left in my house (I was at work then). I thought, "If no one is around, I'll try this to see what everyone is talking about" (I smoked then, too, about half a pack a day).

The next thing I remember was: I was at the bottom of Bradley Park on my CL350, in a parking spot, wondering how I got there and what time it was. Then I remembered my previous last thought, and walked over to the creek and sat in it for a while, all to remind me never to do THAT again.

[Bankerdanny]

I set my freshly painted tank with 1/2 a tank of fuel on a low table outside my garage, where about 15 minutes later it fell off of.

[CycleRanger]

I set my freshly painted tank with 1/2 a tank of fuel on a low table outside my garage, where about 15 minutes later it fell off of.

Oh god, that hurts just to see. 

[Rosinante]

Yes it does.  I hesitated to reply.  Painful, surely.  Even worse than primary ignition current to a body part.

[newday777]

I set my freshly painted tank with 1/2 a tank of fuel on a low table outside my garage, where about 15 minutes later it fell off of.

Oh No!!
😢