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

[750K]

^^^Wow, thats something I would love to see.

[madScientist]

Getting ready to start my CL build thread but this seemed worthy for this thread.

My guess is that the wrong / too long of a spark plug was used and the piston and plug tried to occupy the same space. I bet it was REALLY loud for a few seconds...

[hank3841]

The PO of my CB550 hard wired a cell phone charger into the headlight bucket and hid the broken bleeder valve on the front caliper under a coat of rubberized black paint. Stuck a piece of foam in the air cleaner box as a filter.....

[faux fiddy]

I haven't been here since page four. Had acquired  several PO's since.

my favorites are welded on shifters and kickstarters.
Instead of tighting the bolts, they wait till they are totally stripped and then "fix" it!

Or instead of welding the old shifter on, they just apply a set of vise grips and call it good.
Although the bike I bought like that came with a nice pair of vise grips

I looked at a bike that had a nice set of vice grips, which is better than welding because you can take it apart without busting the welds.

Mine evidently had the end of the shaft broken off, and they fused it really well so it will be a saws all or something like it to get the covers off or  cases apart. I  didn't notice all that but it was a $100 parts bike so I didn't look real close, just loaded it up. 

[wardenerd]

ripped out the fuse box and rewired main panel.

[faux fiddy]

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.

I thought of doing that but found some new ones.  Did it work other than being a sloppy job?  I still want to have spares perhaps. 

 If he had cleaned it up  a bit before it set and touch it up with a  file  later seems you'd never know.

Edit: Answer on page 10.

[Terry in Australia]

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.

I thought of doing that but found some new ones.  Did it work other than being a sloppy job?  I still want to have spares perhaps. 

 If he had cleaned it up  a bit before it set and touch it up with a  file  later seems you'd never know.

Edit: Answer on page 10.

I suppose you could recess a couple of rivets to hold the pad to the shoe? Or just buy new ones?

[Ace]

He changed the fluid out of the reservoir and didn't flush the lines, just topped up so it looked new. Used the cheapest engine oil he could find. Said the oil and air filter were changed and gave me a spare set and said it had been serviced with only a few miles done since then.  I later took this as the bike had been sitting around for a few years with hardly any riding, hence the low miles since service.  Air filter hadn't been changed, then I dropped the burnt crappy oil that had done 200 miles and replaced it with good stuff and the clutch rattle went away. Don't trust the previous owner! The list goes on but you get the idea.

[krusty]

I remembered something today about a bike I rebuilt. It wasn't something the PO did but the OO - Original Owner, Mr Honda.
I was tearing down the engine of a low mileage C92 Honda 125. There was no evidence that this engine had ever been pulled apart before. I pulled the cylinder off to inspect and found two neat grooves down each side of both bores. I thought that was a bit odd. A look at the both pistons revealed that this engine had been assembled with all 4 pin cilips missing allowing the pins to float back and forth, gradually grinding their ends into the bores!

[Stev-o]

Stupid PO put chrome lowers on my K4.  Plan to pull em off this week

[Terry in Australia]

Stupid PO put chrome lowers on my K4.  Plan to pull him off this week

There you go Steve, I fixed it for ya...........

[jonda500]

PO had stripped both of the cam sprocket bolts - so he had somehow glued them in the stripped holes!- they were easy to turn but bloody hard to get out!

[faux fiddy]

PO's of my brigestone  cut  cardboard  beer coasters to replace the  head gaskets.

[jonda500]

too many to list on my 2nd cb500 when I picked it up for $200!- top two dumbest: - a po had put the front brake disc on the wrong side of the hub and the wheel on backwards and then removed the caliper and discarded/lost it, the brake disc had then ground down a large flat area onto the fork it was rubbing it so hard! #2 (bike had no kickstarter, starter clutch is worn out) the air filter and battery cage had been removed and the frame modified by bashing it with a hammer repeatedly till a small car battery could be wedged in on a tragicly sloping angle...
edit  Have to add the #3- PO bypassed the fuse which resulted in all the wiring relating to the ignition circuit melting/burning out!

[MoMo]

too many to list on my 2nd cb500 when I picked it up for $200!- top two dumbest: - a po had put the front brake disc on the wrong side of the hub and the wheel on backwards and then removed the caliper and discarded/lost it, the brake disc had then ground down a large flat area onto the fork it was rubbing it so hard! #2 (bike had no kickstarter, starter clutch is worn out) the air filter and battery cage had been removed and the frame modified by bashing it with a hammer repeatedly till a small car battery could be wedged in on a tragicly sloping angle...
edit  Have to add the #3- PO bypassed the fuse which resulted in all the wiring relating to the ignition circuit melting/burning out!

WOW, that is the piece de resistance of PO stupidity...Larry

[brewsky]

Insisted that the bike (550K) I went to buy from him was a 750!

[flatlander]

with my 550f i got off really easy: it had a nasty pseudo-psychadelic paintjob. other than this eyesore i haven't come across anything weird yet.

several years ago i bought an ss50 (ok it's a moped but a honda). someone thought it was a good idea to bolt on a nasty cheap chinese carb that was far too big, and a throw in a camshaft that only wanted to produce power after the valves would start floating... it was otherwise in really good original state.
the guy i bought it from admitted that he was really good with cleaning it but not so much with the mechanical stuff.
of course, it hardly wanted to start and on the rare occasion it did, it couldn't stay idling. i looked at the guy: "sorry man, i'm really taking a risk here with a non-running engine but am happy to take it off you if you drop the price"
after changing it back to a reasonable setup the little thing has been running like a champ ever since

[grcamna2]

with my 550f i got off really easy: it had a nasty pseudo-psychadelic paintjob. other than this eyesore i haven't come across anything weird yet.

several years ago i bought an ss50 (ok it's a moped but a honda). someone thought it was a good idea to bolt on a nasty cheap chinese carb that was far too big, and a throw in a camshaft that only wanted to produce power after the valves would start floating... it was otherwise in really good original state.
the guy i bought it from admitted that he was really good with cleaning it but not so much with the mechanical stuff.
of course, it hardly wanted to start and on the rare occasion it did, it couldn't stay idling. i looked at the guy: "sorry man, i'm really taking a risk here with a non-running engine but am happy to take it off you if you drop the price"
after changing it back to a reasonable setup the little thing has been running like a champ ever since

It seems like the PO was trying to force a pitcher of fuel down the little(50's)baby's throat 

[eastyork1977]

Wow, I don't know if I can top any of that but here goes.

Blue Shop towel.
In the tank of a '78 750F.
Used as a fuel filter.

Wish I had pics but was so mad at time I could barely speak. Just stood there and shook my head.

[Don R]

Put the 1124cc stroker motor together with a lost O ring stuck under the copper head gasket. There was at least one more inside the engine.

On the good side he sprayed the metal surfaces with wd40, the engine and chrome appeared to be horribly pitted so no one else would bid a lot at the sale. I took a chance and it cleaned up beautifully with a little polish.

[Don R]

  While he was alive he didn't mention to his family/friends his red 750 was a sandcast. I think I was the only one that knew and was surprised to find it at an auction with a $300 minimum. I didn't get it that cheap but I got it, I always wondered if he left it for me to find.

[LesterPiglet]

My 550F with a K frame (stolen I think) 500 forks, CX500 seat, bashed headers plus numerous other maladies I've since blanked out.

[fire113]

 

[grcamna2]

I wonder what that modification would accomplish fire113 ?

[fire113]

I wonder what that modification would accomplish fire113 ?

Hi grcamna,

...to be sure You have to ask the PO
I am thinking he was trying to build one of the early upper trees.