Topic: What's the worst/dumbest thing a PO did to your bike?

[Inigo Montoya]

my #$%*head PO crashed the bike cause he was drunk.

[GammaFlat]

my #$%*head PO crashed the bike cause he was drunk.

Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya, you crashed my bike, prepare to die.  

[Honda?]

Used a bent nail instead of a cotter pin for the rear axle nut.

Used a wood screw on one side of the air box to mount it to the frame.

To warm up the bike he would hold it at 5 or 6 thousand RPM from startup.

The owner before him rebuilt the engine......but instead of buying gaskets he just used liquid gasket from a can...AND LOTS OF IT! It ended up falling off in globs inside the engine and clogging oil jets. The top end of the engine was garbage.

[Don R]

All the above and a few more. Oh, he threw away the original K0 engine. 1014xx.
 Not my P.O. but my favorite bike wrench said back in 70 they put on so many 4 into 1 headers they hung the new original exhausts on the wall until the wall was covered and after a while they threw tham all away.  
Oh yeah he (PO) bobbed a perfect, original double cut, K0 front fender.

[RRRToolSolutions]

Ok, I've had some of those stupid fixes come with bikes I've restored. Here are some of the worst -

Gordon

1976 KZ900 - if the sidestand hits/rubs the frame, add a handlebar clamp to make you feel better -
 

1976 KZ900 - if you just happen to have a battery around and you want to use it, but it's too tall? Well just take a hacksaw and cut the top of the battery tray and add you some pipe straps, remove the breather snorkel that goes under the seat.




Same 1976 KZ900 - if you just happen to have a few 1973~1975 air filters and you don't want to spend the $12 to get new factory 1976 models, just spend a few hours measuring, cutting, and finishing wood fixtures that will raise the wrong filter enough and hold it in-place to allow the fit of a '73~75 filter into the 1976 box. - Serioulsy this was done with great precision - why I still haven't figured.
 

1967 CB450 Black Bomber  - if you do happen to need a bolt or screw, just go to the area hardware and buy all the American SAE stove bolts and screws - those threads will yield without a problem. Also, if you just happen to break a spring guide on your clutch basket, grab a sheet metal screw and attach it from the back (notice the 4 o'clock perch).

[Terry in Australia]

I bought two bikes this year, my brother's 2007 Triumph Rocket III with only 20 miles on the odo, and a mint 1973 Laverda 750 SF1 from a guy on the internet, for less than half of what it is worth.

I bought the Triumph because my brother is in the throes of getting divorced and needed the money, and the Laverda was also the result of the seller getting divorced and needing the money.

While both "deals" were great for me, the "dumbest" thing that the PO's did was, er, getting married?  

[Retro Rocket]

the "dumbest" thing that the PO's did was, er, getting married? Grin 

 

Mick

[CycleRanger]

- Seriously this was done with great precision - why I still haven't figured.
 

Yeah, they used a ruler and everything! 

wow, some great replies here.  I see my troubles could have been sooo much worse. 

[Blueridgerunner]

Let the bike sit in the garage for 8 years without ever starting it/draining fuel tank etc.

[ekpent]

Let the bike sit in the garage for 8 years without ever starting it/draining fuel tank etc.

   HHHMMMM Varnish. Did the throttle even turn,slides were probably "glued". Look on the bright side,that is how we get them cheap and with a little effort and a lot of elbow grease bring them back.

[Ryan 550k]

My bikes PO cut the muffler in half to make it louder.  Fair enough but when he did that he didn't secure the baffle on the inside.  3 months after I bought it, while accelerating to join freeway traffic from an on-ramp, the baffle came loose and shot out the back of the bike.  Probably hitting some poor souls grill behind me.  You wanna talk about a loud pipe!

[magnus72]

1. K6 engine in a K8 frame
2. Varnish everywhere
3. Bondoed side covers fused to the bike. PO was not losing another side cover!
4. Hacked electrics- my guess is the PO wanted to use the bike as a backup generator if the power went out.
5. Bondoed tank which had to be trashed.

[Sporkfly]

Sat in a barn for an unknown number of years with an empty tank (rust like mad), had a 750 tach (it's a 550) and was pretty much neglected. Both side covers were destroyed. Tank, not only rusted, but had massive dents poorly filled with a nice lilac (ewww) paint job. Seat was gone, air box destroyed.... But boy oh boy the carbs were clean as a whistle.

[Whaleman]

Took the screen off the oil pump so, I presume, it could "get more oil". Dan

[SD750F]

The PO on my 78 750F did two stupid things. First he threw out the original seat and placed a stupid 70's king/queen seat in it's place. And second he stored the bike outside without a cover. It has taken me the better part of two years to strip the bike down to remove all the damage.

Scott

[lwitchey]

I went to look at a 76 CB750F at A junk yard. The bike was not running and had no title, but it was not bad and he only wanted $200.00. I told him that I would be back the next day with a truck. I came back and one of his employees wanted it moved so he picked it up with a front loader and dropped it on a pile of scrap. I still bought it, but the price came down.

[Nikkisixx]

I bought a 750 K3 as a parts bike for $75.  As such I didn't look it over too closely.  When I got it home and pulled the tank, I found the dreaded "cut these superfluous pieces of frame at the spine to remove the engine easier" modification.   This was one of many molestations on that poor girl...

I've seen it talked about in this thread, so I will admit to using JB weld (and a piece of soda can) to "repair" the case after the drive chain grenades on me.  In my defense: I was 17, there was no eBay way back when, nor source of spares in my one traffic light home town, and it was my only transportation.  That ugly fix lasted 25K + miles until I sold the bike 1989.  My apologies to the next guy 

[Peterbylt]

Carbs # 1,2,3 had the floats off by 5mm. Carb # 4 had the float upside down and at least 1/2 of all the float bowl screws were stripped and glued in.

Peter

[grumburg]

1975 550k1. My current daily rider .   1) When he installed the ape hangers  , spliced in any old wire he could find and wrapped it all with masking tape.  2)When the starter button broke, wired in a 110V, 3 amp doorbell switch and left it hanging under the headlight bucket (never checked to see what happened when the current ran through  About 44 gauge wire).    And the #1 biggest BOO-BOO.  USED COAT HANGER WIRE TO MAKE A MASTER LINK FOR THE CHAIN.   

[Swede]

The PO of my 76 550k decided that the best way to fix the overflowing carbs was to bend the floats.  I guess he was also having trouble adjusting the brakes. So he figured the best way to do it was to cut a piece of metal and make a shim that fit between the fork and the axle on the rotor side.  I'm just glad the wheel never came off.

[fastbroshi]

 USED COAT HANGER WIRE TO MAKE A MASTER LINK FOR THE CHAIN.   

Now that's just stupid

[mystic_1]

 USED COAT HANGER WIRE TO MAKE A MASTER LINK FOR THE CHAIN.   

Now that's just stupid

No it's not.



That goes WAY past stupid!

mystic_1

[grumburg]

 USED COAT HANGER WIRE TO MAKE A MASTER LINK FOR THE CHAIN.   

Now that's just stupid

No it's not.



That goes WAY past stupid!

mystic_1

I am assuming he did it just to sell. I took a picture before I removed it. I'll see if I can find it.

[phifer]

Sat in a barn for an unknown number of years with an empty tank (rust like mad).... But boy oh boy the carbs were clean as a whistle.

My current project has this situation exactly. 20+ years in the barn. It was stored properly, just not maintained in storage.

...threw out the original seat and placed a stupid 70's king/queen seat in it's place.

This too. although, to be fair, he had a Windjammer IV and Bates bags and trunk on there (and everything painted to match).  Other than that I'm not deep enough to find anything else. Hopefully I won't.

[Toxic]

He failed to demonstrate that the bike would turn over because he was a goof.  Thus resulting in me paying him $300 less than the asking price.

The bike turned over fine once he delivered it on a flatbead to my house.