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

[bcbillings]

My P.O. was tired of the blinkers not working so he went mad with a soldering gun... my harness in the front was pretty much a mass of wires RANDOMLY soldered... when i got it NONE of the wires were connected properly and i had to cut out the solder and re-attach the proper wires...

F.Y.I. the blinker problem was because the wires had fallen off the blinker relay behind the battery but the P.O. had no idea where it was and never checked it. It all works great now (just have to get the gas to stop dumping out of the carbs when trying to start lol)

[WhyNot2]

This is an excellent example of how NOT to run your wiring threw your handle bar!
  > ]

Godffery,
    Is this you're Honda ? I imagine you've had to do lot's of fixing on it.

This is a Nascar bike, left turns only,  with the bars slid to the left to give it greater turning radius.

[Xnavylfr]

I purchased a bike a couple of years ago that the PO had mounted the swingarm to the rear footpeg mounts so he could have a extended frame. WHAT A DS MOVE!! There is NO way those peg brackets( 1/2" pipe dropped from the frame WITHOUT gussets) are strong enough !

Xnavylfr(CHUCK)

[grcamna2]

I purchased a bike a couple of years ago that the PO had mounted the swingarm to the rear footpeg mounts so he could have a extended frame. WHAT A DS MOVE!! There is NO way those peg brackets( 1/2" pipe dropped from the frame WITHOUT gussets) are strong enough !

Xnavylfr(CHUCK)

OH NO !

[trueblue]

I think this picture says enough.

[nayto550]

He "fixed" the voltage leak in the wiring harness, so the battery wouldn't die anymore.

[CycleRanger]

He "fixed" the voltage leak in the wiring harness, so the battery wouldn't die anymore.

"Booby trapped... touch those tanks and BOOM!"

[WarwickE36]

I wonder how many P.O.s say "holy #$%*, I cannot believe that guy paid me U.S.D. for that piece of crap"  as you drive/ride away all excited about your new toy.  Im going with 60 percent of the time, they say it every time.

[messeduptriple]

I wonder how many P.O.s say "holy #$%*, I cannot believe that guy paid me U.S.D. for that piece of crap"  as you drive/ride away all excited about your new toy.  Im going with 60 percent of the time, they say it every time.

agreed!

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

[messeduptriple]

He "fixed" the voltage leak in the wiring harness, so the battery wouldn't die anymore.

"Booby trapped... touch those tanks and BOOM!"

lol

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

[Terry in Australia]

I'll see your wiring pic and raise mine. This is on a CB750 that I'm doing some work on, the whole bike has been totally rewired. While I can respect anyone with the skills to rewire a whole bike, I have to ask, (considering that you can still buy new harnesses) um, why? Obviously the wiring was done with little thought for removing the engine, as I had to cut several wires to get it out. Cheers, Terry.

[thrutheframe]

I think this picture says enough.

Am I seeing this correctly?  They actually spliced the chain together with two outer links in a row?  Did someone forget to loosen the cam chain tensioner before they "re-installed" the cam chain?  Im thinking this might be the winner of the dumb a## fashion show!

[trueblue]

I think this picture says enough.

Am I seeing this correctly?  They actually spliced the chain together with two outer links in a row?  Did someone forget to loosen the cam chain tensioner before they "re-installed" the cam chain?  Im thinking this might be the winner of the dumb a## fashion show!

Yep you're seeing it correctly but they actually used two inner links, and yeah they didn't loosen the tensioner.  I kept the old chain for a souvenir.

[thrutheframe]

I think this picture says enough.

Am I seeing this correctly?  They actually spliced the chain together with two outer links in a row?  Did someone forget to loosen the cam chain tensioner before they "re-installed" the cam chain?  Im thinking this might be the winner of the dumb a## fashion show!

Yep you're seeing it correctly but they actually used two inner links, and yeah they didn't loosen the tensioner.  I kept the old chain for a souvenir.

Sweet!

[Milkman666]

What is going on here?

[Teatimetim]

On quest to get mine running, I found 3 different types of spark plugs in it, 2 where 5/8ths champion equivalant, two where 18 mil, one of an unknown type, and the other an orginal spark plug  NGK d8ea I think.

and a non metric Hex nut to plug one of the carb float bowls.

[steam-powered man]

milkman - i see some adjustable lowering blocks - is that what you mean?  anyhow,

worst thing a PO did to me was leave the cam chain sprocket bolts loose.  when attempting to start i heard a "plink" and then the noise of the cam chain dropping into the cases.  at americade. 

we should start a "whats the worse thing you've done?" thread.  i think i'm the winner............   

[grachman]

My PO LOVED duct tape.  He put it everywhere...over the cracked headlight lens, holding the headlight rim on (guess he couldn't find a screw?), holding the front fender on, patching the seat tears, in place of the kick starter rubber, in place of the gas tank rear rubber, around the cracked manifold boots, and my personal favorite....THE ENTIRE WIRING HARNESS!!  Guess I shouldn't complain too much for $100, though I think he should've paid me instead.

[lucky]

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

Thats just NORMAL behavior isn't it?

[lucky]

Condition from the previous owner.
Click once on the photo to enlarge.

[Jerry E.]

PO took out the reduction gear, shaft, & washer from the left crankcase because the starter stuck on. He then put a small cork(really)into the blind hole the shaft was in, (in case it leaked? )He was afraid it might stick on again, randomly I guess. He left the starter in the bike. He also removed the solenoid, and disconnected the battery cable to solenoid. The last part was all he had to do. I just bought the bike and had to fiqure out why the starter didn't work.

[MCRider]

Never heard of belt and suspenders?   

[grcamna2]

PO took out the reduction gear, shaft, & washer from the left crankcase because the starter stuck on. He then put a small cork(really)into the blind hole the shaft was in, (in case it leaked? )He was afraid it might stick on again, randomly I guess. He left the starter in the bike. He also removed the solenoid, and disconnected the battery cable to solenoid. The last part was all he had to do. I just bought the bike and had to fiqure out why the starter didn't work.

I hope he didn't remove the kickstarter also and resort to "push only"  . 

[thrutheframe]

PO took out the reduction gear, shaft, & washer from the left crankcase because the starter stuck on. He then put a small cork(really)into the blind hole the shaft was in, (in case it leaked? )He was afraid it might stick on again, randomly I guess. He left the starter in the bike. He also removed the solenoid, and disconnected the battery cable to solenoid. The last part was all he had to do. I just bought the bike and had to fiqure out why the starter didn't work.

I hope he didn't remove the kickstarter also and resort to "push only"  . 

Push only, been there. 

[CycleRanger]

Found this inside the front hub on my CJ360T.
Looks like the PO used JB weld to glue the pad to the shoe.
Looks like he used some tie wraps to hold it until the glue set.