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Dumbest thing you have done.
- Thread starter Wingboy
- Start date
One of many expensive big mistakes:
Decided to ride to North Carolina with a clutch that felt like it was worn out. Had parts already ordered, but they got delayed. I went anyways and my clutch failed on the Friday before a long weekend not too far from the Back of the Dragon. I had to be home in 2 days for work, so I rented a Uhaul, strapped my bike in and drove it home.This cost me around $2k.
Cheapest big mistake:
Was doing an oil change, sprockets change and tire swap before my long trip last summer.
Buttoned it all back up and started the bike to get the oil moving. Oil filler cap wasn't on. Could have been messy, but luck was on my side!
Decided to ride to North Carolina with a clutch that felt like it was worn out. Had parts already ordered, but they got delayed. I went anyways and my clutch failed on the Friday before a long weekend not too far from the Back of the Dragon. I had to be home in 2 days for work, so I rented a Uhaul, strapped my bike in and drove it home.This cost me around $2k.
Cheapest big mistake:
Was doing an oil change, sprockets change and tire swap before my long trip last summer.
Buttoned it all back up and started the bike to get the oil moving. Oil filler cap wasn't on. Could have been messy, but luck was on my side!
bigpoppa
Well-known member
Get married.
Motorcycle related?
I couldnt find torque specs for tightening the head bearing nut anywhere(there's also a special tool for doing it which I didnt have), not in the manual, online, haynes etc, so I tightened it, rode around on it for a while, traded it in, the mechanic while inspecting it said they were lose, they would fix it and try and sell it, but I got lucky and I didnt pay for it one way or another
Motorcycle related?
I couldnt find torque specs for tightening the head bearing nut anywhere(there's also a special tool for doing it which I didnt have), not in the manual, online, haynes etc, so I tightened it, rode around on it for a while, traded it in, the mechanic while inspecting it said they were lose, they would fix it and try and sell it, but I got lucky and I didnt pay for it one way or another
Trials
Well-known member
Maybe try using a vacuum cleaner with a long nozzle attachmentDropping a plastic straw in my bike's fuel tank
that should draw it out.I used to own taxis. I drove, my wife drove and we rented out a small fleet.
My wife's favourite car was a police pack K Car. Believe it or not it was actually a great car, we put 1.1 million KMs on it. It had a 5th Avenue leather interior, a BIG stereo and a whole bunch of Direct Connection (Mopar racing division) parts in it.
It needed differential bearings (they're in the transmission). I asked my Dodge people and consulted the book: the motor HAS to come out.
I spent a while looking at it, and because I'm smarter than the average bear, I figure I can do this "In Frame". Maybe because it had custom motor mounts, but I got the diff apart, and while I got it apart I'll do the clutch bands.
Put it back together, ran it on jack stands in the garage. YAY it worked. Slap the wheels on, let's go for a test drive.
Got about a mile down the road and it sounds like the front end is coming apart. I was closer to buddy's shop than home so I went there.
Got the thing up on the hoist... I DIDN"T TIGHTEN THE LUG NUTS ON THE FRONT WHEELS.
So everyone remembers me as the IDIOT that didn't do up the lug nuts, not the GENIUS that did a KCar tranny in frame.
My wife's favourite car was a police pack K Car. Believe it or not it was actually a great car, we put 1.1 million KMs on it. It had a 5th Avenue leather interior, a BIG stereo and a whole bunch of Direct Connection (Mopar racing division) parts in it.
It needed differential bearings (they're in the transmission). I asked my Dodge people and consulted the book: the motor HAS to come out.
I spent a while looking at it, and because I'm smarter than the average bear, I figure I can do this "In Frame". Maybe because it had custom motor mounts, but I got the diff apart, and while I got it apart I'll do the clutch bands.
Put it back together, ran it on jack stands in the garage. YAY it worked. Slap the wheels on, let's go for a test drive.
Got about a mile down the road and it sounds like the front end is coming apart. I was closer to buddy's shop than home so I went there.
Got the thing up on the hoist... I DIDN"T TIGHTEN THE LUG NUTS ON THE FRONT WHEELS.
So everyone remembers me as the IDIOT that didn't do up the lug nuts, not the GENIUS that did a KCar tranny in frame.
Not the dumbest thing ever, but last riding season, during a group ride, I let the clutch out while the bike was still in first.
It made the loudest and most distinct stalling sound: Ka-chunk.
Everyone turns their head to look at me like I'm an absolute noob.
HOW LONG HAVE I BEEN RIDING AGAIN!?!?!
I feel my face heating up the inside of my helmet like a hundred degrees warmer...
It made the loudest and most distinct stalling sound: Ka-chunk.
Everyone turns their head to look at me like I'm an absolute noob.
HOW LONG HAVE I BEEN RIDING AGAIN!?!?!
I feel my face heating up the inside of my helmet like a hundred degrees warmer...
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Drilling a broken shock mount bolt out of a twin shock trials Suzuki back in 1978. Stupid thing was wobbling all over making the drill bit hard to center.
Ooops oooow. Drill slipped and went right thru my thumb.
Unplug the drill and get into the house mainfloor bathroom.
Rinse under cold water (doesn't hurt).
Hmmm, plug the drill in, select reverse, back it out......blackout.
Wife came home in time to hear a huge crash. Found me on floor, head covered in blood.
I passed out, fell backwards, head hit the toilet tank lid, broke it, split my scalp open.
Hospital wanted to know why i had a hole in my thumb.
Ooops oooow. Drill slipped and went right thru my thumb.
Unplug the drill and get into the house mainfloor bathroom.
Rinse under cold water (doesn't hurt).
Hmmm, plug the drill in, select reverse, back it out......blackout.
Wife came home in time to hear a huge crash. Found me on floor, head covered in blood.
I passed out, fell backwards, head hit the toilet tank lid, broke it, split my scalp open.
Hospital wanted to know why i had a hole in my thumb.
I was putting in a ceiling fan at the top of the stairs.
I had cut a hole in the ceiling and was trying to jam a cross bar in to bolt the fan to.
The wife thought she should vacuum the carpet on the stairs, right under me. I remember telling her that was a bad idea.
Of course I lost hold of the cross bar, the 2x4 flies and cracks her on the head, good for a couple of stitches.
The wifee decides she'll drive herself to the hospital, as we had a sleeping baby in the other room. Bless her.
Wife gets to the hospital ER, where she is met by an old family friend that happens to be the head ER nurse. Wife explains what happened to the friend BUT all the other nurse in the room hears is "... and that's when Bitzz cracked me in the head with a 2x4...." and calls the police.
I answer the the door to two cops that immediately wrestle me to the ground and into the back of a squad car. I had no idea what was happening.
The wife gets home and nearly split the stitches in head open laughing so hard. It took about 20 minutes to get out of the squad car cuz the wife couldn't stop laughing long enough to explain what happened.
I had cut a hole in the ceiling and was trying to jam a cross bar in to bolt the fan to.
The wife thought she should vacuum the carpet on the stairs, right under me. I remember telling her that was a bad idea.
Of course I lost hold of the cross bar, the 2x4 flies and cracks her on the head, good for a couple of stitches.
The wifee decides she'll drive herself to the hospital, as we had a sleeping baby in the other room. Bless her.
Wife gets to the hospital ER, where she is met by an old family friend that happens to be the head ER nurse. Wife explains what happened to the friend BUT all the other nurse in the room hears is "... and that's when Bitzz cracked me in the head with a 2x4...." and calls the police.
I answer the the door to two cops that immediately wrestle me to the ground and into the back of a squad car. I had no idea what was happening.
The wife gets home and nearly split the stitches in head open laughing so hard. It took about 20 minutes to get out of the squad car cuz the wife couldn't stop laughing long enough to explain what happened.
Probably buying a POS 97 T595 Daytona as my second bike (this will date me as younger than many of you). Technically it was my third, but my ultra POS Suzuki GS400/450 that I had for a month or two shouldn't count. This was just before HTA 172 existed, and while facility insurance was still within the realm of high, but not insanely high.
There were a lot of dumb moments on it:
-Taking it out for a spin after washing it, and spying my brother on his way home, I decided to follow him. Not paying super close attention to where I was and forgetting he drove like a maniac, he came up on a left hand turn to a side street and slammed on his brakes. Wet tires didn't stop so well (they were also **** when they were dry) so while I managed to not slam into the back of his car, I did not mange to keep the bike upright
-Learning early on that perception of speed can differ greatly from bike to bike. Once near my home a policeman alleged that I was going much faster than I thought I was (112 in a 60 - this was before HTA 172 so I was merely looking at a large speeding ticket)
-A footpeg nearly vibrated off on one group ride
-On another group ride, I decided the "slow" group was riding too slow for me and that I would pass them and join up with the "medium" group. Just that executing the pass took a little longer than I expected and hey, that oncoming dump truck that I am accelerating towards is going to be here in a second. I did "successfully" pass the group, but I can still see that dump truck and still think about how I nearly died for something so stupid. It did permanently recalibrate my judgement, so at least I learned something
-Ordered some factory part through McBride's *just* before they closed their doors. Never did get it... can't remember what it was
-Eventually bike decided it had enough and spun a bearing. That was *not* my fault
Ended on a high note though. I sold it with the spun bearing, with full disclosure, for a couple thou - that was a MIRACLE that I'm not sure how I achieved. Today I feel like I would have to part it out to get anything at all
This was probably supposed to be related to wrenching but I haven't done anything unrecoverable with a tool in my hand... yet
There were a lot of dumb moments on it:
-Taking it out for a spin after washing it, and spying my brother on his way home, I decided to follow him. Not paying super close attention to where I was and forgetting he drove like a maniac, he came up on a left hand turn to a side street and slammed on his brakes. Wet tires didn't stop so well (they were also **** when they were dry) so while I managed to not slam into the back of his car, I did not mange to keep the bike upright
-Learning early on that perception of speed can differ greatly from bike to bike. Once near my home a policeman alleged that I was going much faster than I thought I was (112 in a 60 - this was before HTA 172 so I was merely looking at a large speeding ticket)
-A footpeg nearly vibrated off on one group ride
-On another group ride, I decided the "slow" group was riding too slow for me and that I would pass them and join up with the "medium" group. Just that executing the pass took a little longer than I expected and hey, that oncoming dump truck that I am accelerating towards is going to be here in a second. I did "successfully" pass the group, but I can still see that dump truck and still think about how I nearly died for something so stupid. It did permanently recalibrate my judgement, so at least I learned something
-Ordered some factory part through McBride's *just* before they closed their doors. Never did get it... can't remember what it was
-Eventually bike decided it had enough and spun a bearing. That was *not* my fault
Ended on a high note though. I sold it with the spun bearing, with full disclosure, for a couple thou - that was a MIRACLE that I'm not sure how I achieved. Today I feel like I would have to part it out to get anything at all
This was probably supposed to be related to wrenching but I haven't done anything unrecoverable with a tool in my hand... yet
Non motorcycle related...but when I got my first good paying job in my industry (and still lived at home for the first year or two, at that)....not saving more of the money.
But hell yeah I sure lived the high life and had a lot of toys.
In related news, anyone want a DVD Player I paid $1600 for in 1997?
Or a $1200 Laserdisc player I bought around 1995?
A DVD recorder that I'm pretty sure I paid around $1200 for in 1999 or so?
No? Ok then, I'll let them collect some more dust in the basement then...fine.
There was many other very stupid and frivilous purchases and trips and toys, but not a lot to show for any of it.
But hell yeah I sure lived the high life and had a lot of toys.
In related news, anyone want a DVD Player I paid $1600 for in 1997?
Or a $1200 Laserdisc player I bought around 1995?
A DVD recorder that I'm pretty sure I paid around $1200 for in 1999 or so?
No? Ok then, I'll let them collect some more dust in the basement then...fine.
There was many other very stupid and frivilous purchases and trips and toys, but not a lot to show for any of it.
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