Author Topic: What's the worst/dumbest thing a PO did to your bike? (Read 66553 times)

736cc · « **Reply #50 on:** November 27, 2009, 08:57:24 AM »

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He was short and a pretty clever sort. To lower the 1969 sandcast bike (note the left side horn), he cut an inch off the shocks and re-welded them back together. Somehow laced the rear 18" tire and rim to the front hub, and hacked the ultra-rare front fender to fit the tire. Put a Harley rear rim w/ a car tire on. Sliced the seat down. Used some wierd mufflers. And boat-trailer rear signals. Then it got caught in a garage fire. Everything plastic including wires was melted. After a month of fiddling and much parts replacing, started right up. This happened 10 years ago.

OldSchool_IsCool · « **Reply #51 on:** November 27, 2009, 10:31:51 AM »

Gave it way... to ME!

Actually, he gave it to me in exchange for help loading up his moving van. He was headed out of state. There wouldn't have been room on the van for the bike anyway, plus it wasn't running due to electrical issues. Prolly worked out for the best for BOTH of us!

I don't know if he did these things, but some PO did:
- hacked electrics
- master link on chain had only the circlip holding the outside on, the outside gusset plate was mounted on the INSIDE!
- lawn mower throttle cable in place of the choke cable
- more hacked electrics
- looked like it was painted with house paint and a roller
- lost the original side covers *sigh*
- WELDED slip-on mufflers to the original header pipes
- a fair job of recovering the seat, but the replacement vinyl is a bit slippery
- mounted the front tire in the wrong rotational direction

leekellerking · « **Reply #52 on:** November 28, 2009, 07:24:34 AM »

Gosh, I'm feeling so much better about the previous owners of Bikey, after reading you guys.

The worst I can think of (out side of dropping it and scraping the fins on the left side) is that one of the previous owners replaced the left front blinker and just twisted the wires together in the support tube. No solder, no connectors, NO TAPE!

And I was thinking I had some sort of short in the headlight bucket.

I ended up taking the blinkers off to get the bike inspected last year (In Texas, you don't have to have blinkers on an old bike, but if you do, they have to work). Easy fix, but just makes you go "huh???"

Lee

ColinMc · « **Reply #53 on:** November 28, 2009, 07:43:32 AM »

Mine had a paper shop towel crammed into the airbox instead of an air filter...it actually ran pretty darn good like that...well besides the oil pouring out of the leaky base gasket...

oh and the drilled out starter button had a TOGGLE switch. So you toggled it on and the starter would keep turning until you turned the toggle switch off lol.

Peterbylt · « **Reply #54 on:** November 28, 2009, 11:05:07 AM »

Instead of complaining about the stupid things the PO's did we should be applauding them because if they had maintained a perfect running bike in pristine condition we would not be able to buy these awesome bikes for almost nothing and have so much fun putting them back together.

Peter

OldSchool_IsCool · « **Reply #55 on:** November 28, 2009, 12:56:43 PM »

What Peter said

Hope · « **Reply #56 on:** November 28, 2009, 01:58:43 PM »

So many times I thank God that my dad was my PO and that my bike was not all hacked up when I started. I really resent my uncle who told my mother (after my dad passed away) that he would restore the bike and sell it for her.

He took the carbs, tank, and seat off the bike and let it set in the weather in pieces. #$%*.

My uncle was never a PO for the bike, and the deal between my mother and my uncle came to be.

I overheard my uncle say that he would have to put more into the bike than it was ever worth.

Talk about motivation to get something on the road. That was MY DAD'S bike. He would never know how much the bike was ever worth TO ME.

Ever saw a girl drag a 550 down an asphalt street while the chain is rusted and rear tire stuck and front caliper stuck? Boy, the fun times that me and that bike have had since that day!

Ryan 550k · « **Reply #57 on:** November 28, 2009, 03:47:00 PM »

Quote from: Hope on November 28, 2009, 01:58:43 PM

Ever saw a girl drag a 550 down an asphalt street while the chain is rusted and rear tire stuck and front caliper stuck? Boy, the fun times that me and that bike have had since that day!

Awesome

vanillagorilla · « **Reply #58 on:** November 28, 2009, 04:49:24 PM »

Quote from: Peterbylt on November 28, 2009, 11:05:07 AM

Instead of complaining about the stupid things the PO's did we should be applauding them because if they had maintained a perfect running bike in pristine condition we would not be able to buy these awesome bikes for almost nothing and have so much fun putting them back together.

Peter

+1 Got to love those POs!! He is the one who sold it to me for $100! I should be thanking him!

CycleRanger · « **Reply #59 on:** November 28, 2009, 05:12:56 PM »

Quote from: 736cc on November 27, 2009, 08:57:24 AM

He was short and a pretty clever sort.

I suppose you might call him a cunning runt.

Hope · « **Reply #60 on:** November 29, 2009, 07:18:09 AM »

Quote from: Hope on November 28, 2009, 01:58:43 PM

Ever saw a girl drag a 550 down an asphalt street while the chain is rusted and rear tire stuck and front caliper stuck? Boy, the fun times that me and that bike have had since that day!

Quote from: R550 on November 28, 2009, 03:47:00 PM

Awesome

+ both tires were flat.

Don R · « **Reply #61 on:** November 29, 2009, 06:29:29 PM »

I'm sure your dad would be proud. I am too.

Hush · « **Reply #62 on:** November 29, 2009, 06:42:02 PM »

My PO had 2 650Z Honda's and swapped bits from one to the other before I bought the bike, he left two of those small hollow dowels in the engine and two in the side casings.
It took me weeks of frustration and head scratching to figure out why the casings would not line up and seal right...duh duh duh!!!

leekellerking · « **Reply #63 on:** November 29, 2009, 07:00:24 PM »

Quote from: Hope on November 29, 2009, 07:18:09 AM

Quote from: Hope on November 28, 2009, 01:58:43 PM
Ever saw a girl drag a 550 down an asphalt street while the chain is rusted and rear tire stuck and front caliper stuck? Boy, the fun times that me and that bike have had since that day!

Quote from: R550 on November 28, 2009, 03:47:00 PM

Awesome

+ both tires were flat.

I love perseverance!

"Never give in. Never, never, never give in!" Winston Churchill

Hush · « **Reply #64 on:** November 29, 2009, 08:32:10 PM »

Hope's story reminds me of the time my sister-in-law and I recovered her older sisters bike from the beach where the dumbass boyfriend had left it after the tide came in while he was fishing and it got swamped.
Took us all day in full summer heat to push that 75 Honda CB350 K4 a few miles in loose shingle, siezed brakes front and back, was a beautiful bike before that.....duh!

mgbgt89 · « **Reply #65 on:** December 15, 2009, 12:05:47 PM »

I really need to take a picture of the custom hardtail cb200 parts bike i bought last night. The swingarm was welded to the passenger peg mounts. Since the frame is bent and tweaked in every possible direction, the swing arm was close enough to be welded directly to the peg mounts on one side, The other side has a 1/2 thick bolt layed on the swingarm and used as a spacer. Welded to the swingarm, and the peg mount.

At least it has a titled necktube, that's all i needed.

BeSeeingYou · « **Reply #66 on:** December 15, 2009, 09:29:05 PM »

Sold it to me for only $500

In reality I have no complaints about the PO as he meticulously maintained the bike while he was driving it and did a good job of storing it for 25 years till I got my hands on it. It did not require a huge amount of effort to get it back to excellent running condition. He lives just a few houses away and is quite pleased to see it back on the road and that I am enjoying so much.

Amphibious · « **Reply #67 on:** December 15, 2009, 10:47:54 PM »

the PO of my '78 left it outside in a coastal rain forest without sparkplugs.

still waiting for the surprise when I get the head off...

celebutante · « **Reply #68 on:** December 16, 2009, 01:23:39 AM »

Apparently my '74 750K4 used to have a sidecar (dents in frame from mounting hardware) and fairing. Because of this, the PO extended all the wires in the headlight bucket about a foot with white wires hacked in, poorly (many just twisted and taped... grrr). Fortunately, I'm handy with a soldering iron and shrink tube!

But the real kicker was that I couldn't get the signals to work, and had a bear of a time tracking down the short. Turns out the PO wedged one of the rear signal wires between the grab bar and the frame, flattening the wire and exposing just enough copper to short it to the frame. That took a while to find! And just for fun, the blinker was bad too (fortunately I had new one).

Simpson · « **Reply #69 on:** December 20, 2009, 03:40:35 PM »

The PO took the engine out and scraped up the year old powder coat yesterday. Wait that was me.

Zaipai · « **Reply #70 on:** December 20, 2009, 04:12:02 PM »

Quote from: Simpson on December 20, 2009, 03:40:35 PM

The PO took the engine out and scraped up the year old powder coat yesterday. Wait that was me.

Doh!

Zaipai · « **Reply #71 on:** December 20, 2009, 04:13:47 PM »

Quote from: Amphibious on December 15, 2009, 10:47:54 PM

the PO of my '78 left it outside in a coastal rain forest without sparkplugs.

still waiting for the surprise when I get the head off...

Oh and what a surprise it will be! You must share the pictures with us!

xenoscr · « **Reply #72 on:** January 15, 2010, 01:46:24 PM »

1. Stripped original foam and seat cover from seat pan and replaced them with a folded piece of army tent... loosing the seat pins in the process.
2. Poorly rattle can painted the tank... including the gas cap.
3. Lost the original side covers and emblems... my wallet hurts now, so much money for so little plastic.
4. Put a Hondarley (Honda hub and Harley rim) rear wheel on with a drive sprocket that was finger tight.
5. When the main fuse blew he replaced it with one that was way to small putting an the overpowerd one on the head lights... there's no way those lights where ever going to blow... to bad the main fuse did and I had to push it to safety on a busy road with no shoulder.
6. When that same fuse blew he removed the perfect no bondo gas tank on top of the bike somehow dropping it on the ground and putting a baseball sized dent into the top corner edge. I'm still not sure what the hell he was doing with the tank off to change a fuse...
7. Stripped the #3 spark plug out.
8. Tried to adjust and sync the carbs by feel... yikes.

Perhaps I was the dumb one for riding around with most of those issues before fully restoring the bike. It's still a work in progress. At this point I'm confident that I've addressed the life threatening issues... nothing makes your heart skip a few beats like finding out how close to death you could have been.

XenosCR

OldSchool_IsCool · « **Reply #73 on:** February 01, 2010, 06:44:04 PM »

When (s)he rebuilt the front hub...

Mounted the bearings with the balls facing OUT

Chewed up the oil seal but used it anyway

Buggered the bearing retension ring.

No wonder the front axle feels like it's loaded with gravel!

CycleRanger · « **Reply #74 on:** February 01, 2010, 07:25:24 PM »

Now that there's somethin' special....

News:

Author Topic: What's the worst/dumbest thing a PO did to your bike? (Read 66553 times)

Ryan 550k