Topic: why do PO's mess things up so bad???what's the worst you've had

[turninwheels]

So, I'm disassembeling the front hub cuz for some reason the PO thought it would be cool to put the disk and the speedo housing on the same side...not only will the caliper not fit but it messes with the whole ergonomics...

[05c50]

I found a nail in the fuse box instead of a 20 amp fuse. I guess the fuse kept blowing, so he "fixed" it with a nail. The nail didn't blow, but the fuse box and wiring harness suffered a meltdown.

..............Paul

[Alan F.]

I'm building mine with lots of torx head screws, I'll probably never sell it so I'll piss off anyone stupid enough to steal it.

[mgbgt89]

I'm building mine with lots of torx head screws, I'll probably never sell it so I'll piss off anyone stupid enough to steal it.

I would much rather have torx screws than phillips.

[Ayrity]

I'm building mine with lots of torx head screws, I'll probably never sell it so I'll piss off anyone stupid enough to steal it.

I would much rather have torx screws than phillips.

+1000

[Alan F.]

Thanks, besides I can grab a few from work whenever i need them...thankfully they're all metric. They all have a gold iridited finish that seems to resist rust too.
A

[spill]

Ran across these in another thread, from Godffery's Garage, you know.

http://www.vinmoto.org/gallery/v/VinMoto-Garage/album03/Godfferys-Garage-123/Things+NOT+to+do/Fuze+block.JPG.html

[fastbroshi]

I'm building mine with lots of torx head screws, I'll probably never sell it so I'll piss off anyone stupid enough to steal it.

that's funny

[333]

How about a Next Owner story.  Sold a cherry '80 CB125S (10 years old, 1000 miles).  I was working at a dealer at the time.  3 days after I sold it, It showed up with a "get running" order.  It seems that the carb had been disassembled and reassembled with parts in upside down.

[Lenny55]

I just pulled the rear wheel off the bike for the first time yesterday.  One of the POs had the brake rod running up over the swingarm, and the lever it connects to was pointing skyward.  The paint had rubbed off where it was touching of course.  In my quest to set things right on the bike I put everything back to the way it should be.  It was a pain to get the lever off, and a pain to get it back on.  The bolt that clamps the lever to the brake assembly was chewed to hell and wouldn't thread back in at all.  I ran a tap through the lever and replaced the hex head bolt and solved the problem.

Not to mention the "roundish" lock nuts on the chain tensioner bolts.  I mean, If you don't have the proper wrench, just leave the f*@&*ng thing alone!  Unless you're stuck on the side of the road of course.

There have been many other things as well, mostly fastener related.  I guess I'm lucky in some ways, stripped fasters are relatively easy to deal with for the most part, at least nothing on my bike has had saws, torches, welders, nails, etc applied to it.  At least not that I know of.........

Rant over, Lenny.

[Rlint]

I ordered an air filter for 74 550, got it, found out that the airbox has been entirely replaced with a later 550F airbox.  It's not really that they screwed it up at all, it's just a pain in the ass, but it's not that hard to rig up my air filter to fit into the airbox properly.

[fastbroshi]

  Those adjuster bolts are always rounded...

I ordered an air filter for 74 550, got it, found out that the airbox has been entirely replaced with a later 550F airbox.  It's not really that they screwed it up at all, it's just a pain in the ass, but it's not that hard to rig up my air filter to fit into the airbox properly.

Weird, I thought they were identical except for the lids.

[sangyo soichiro]

I've been lucky.  Of my two CBs, one was a barn find that probably had been sitting for years (no reason for the PO to mess with it if he thought it was junk), and the other had just over 10k miles (too "new" to really need much fiddling with).  The low-mile bike did have some work done to it though.  I don't know exactly what, but the phillips screws were replaced with SHCS (usually a sign of tinkering), and the fins on the jugs are bent and broke in a way that suggests they were taken off (with a hammer  ).  So I guess I just contradicted myself - the PO of the low mile bike chipped the fins.  But other than that it seems fairly well taken care of.

[Rlint]

 Those adjuster bolts are always rounded...

I ordered an air filter for 74 550, got it, found out that the airbox has been entirely replaced with a later 550F airbox.  It's not really that they screwed it up at all, it's just a pain in the ass, but it's not that hard to rig up my air filter to fit into the airbox properly.

Weird, I thought they were identical except for the lids.

From what I've read, they started routing the crankcase breather to the airbox in 1975, so before that, I guess the airbox was different.  The Clymer manual I have shows a difference, but I can't remember if it's between K and F specifically, or just between years.

[campbmic]

I found two screws and a cigarette in my 1998 FZR's gas tank

[Rlint]

I found two screws and a cigarette in my 1998 FZR's gas tank

you should try switching to a light cigarette, supposedly gives you a little bit more in the midrange...

[bender01]

My 78 750f PO soldered a rear turn signal bulb to get a connection. Im still figuring it out.

[MaaseyRacer]

The previous owner used an orbital sander in a piss poor attempt to resurface the head.

[Badger 5]

I had a dime in my master cylinder and a kitchen sponge for an air filter when i got my 550.

[gmonkey]

Lost the spring and washer that hold the oil filter in place and I think kept the bike at the bottom of a pool for the 3 months before I bought it, but otherwise not bad.

When I had my cbr600, when my battery died one fall, I parked the bike and took the engine out for the winter to check the valves and such.  Winter goes by, summer goes by, I move apartments and finally have to get around to putting the engine back in.  Throw it back together, ride the bike to the new apartment, park it again.  6 months go by, I move again.  Move the bike by truck but decide to sell it.  Get the bike running again, ride it around a bit.  Guy from work comes by to check it out.  Says the throttle feels weird.  Turns out I reversed the throttle cables so it was backwards.  Felt fine to me...

[Patrick]

The shifter on one of my 750s acted weird, so I pulled the left side cover. Apparently PO had lost or broken part of the shifter mechanism so he fashioned a replacement from one of those double hole locking tab washers that hold the sprocket nuts on. It worked. I can't decide is he was a fool or an evil genius.

I got a K0 with a reputedly fresh big bore top end rebuild. PO couldn't get it started so I got it cheap.  It would not fire and the compression was bad so I tore down the top end.  From the pistons it appeared that only two of the cylinders had ever fired, and those only very briefly. I discovered that PO had used a standard 61mm head gasket with an 810 big bore. I saved the head gasket as the fire rings were never compressed. I did not reuse it.

I've got eight vintage bikes. I could go on and on....

Patrick

[CycleRanger]

We already have this thread.   

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=61742.0

[mixstup]

I picked up an old stinker non runner 750 Supersport for parts...the cam tower bolts had been sheared off by some ham fisted ape and replaced with Robertson #10 self tapping screws? The motor was hand jammed (brush painted!) all over with silver hammerite...the shame!!

[MJL]

I found this on a Kawasaki.

[cameron]

I got mine from the original owner.. and what HE did was this:

Ordered every touring option possible, I think.
It is a '76 CB550.. it had a giant matching orange windjammer 3, highway bars, a his an hers seat, and a giant luggage rack, and a backrest..

Ugly as sin, never since have seen anything like it.
A little like this:
http://image62.webshots.com/462/4/49/33/2556449330038621900sKJaLl_ph.jpg
plus this: http://www.vintagecycleprints.com/images/e76ea11.JPG
only all crammed onto a 550.

I guess he really wanted a Goldwing.