How dumb can you get?

[Andrew]

In order to make me feel better this is the part where you share all your dumb experiences on the bike. I'll kick this one off with my dumb experiences.

1) On the way to drop my fairing off to be fixed. I only attatched the fairing to the bike with two bolts. The fairing ripped off the bike while on the motorway on ramp. Luckily I was able to take get off the next exit and get on the previous on ramp. I found my fairing had blown off into the emergency lane and was therefore ok to be repaired.

2) Running out of fuel on the harbour bridge twice in the same week! Lucky for me I was on the downward leg of the harbour bridge when the fuel ran out. I could coast all the way to the off ramp!

3) Riding around town with a clutch cable that only had 2 strands attached. Lucky for me that it held up for the week until I got it repaired!!

4) Riding around town with a ruptured fork seal. This is going to replaced on Monday, with any luck the other fork seal will hold up till then.

5) Doing the Coromandel loop with a chain that was so loose it was almost dragging along the ground. Lucky for me I had help from KBer's to get my chain back on when it came off toward the end of the ride!

6) Riding around town for a week with a leaky front brake calliper. As luck would have it Mt Eden sold me a new calliper and Dave was able to fit it for free.

7) When replacing the reg/rec on my bike, I propped the tank across the terminals of my battery. The next thing I knew the battery shorted out, and set the petrol alight. There were flames coming from the tank and also on the garage floor where fuel had leaked out. Lucky for me my dad stamped out the flames in time before there was any damage.

8) Took my bike for a ride up the road, but forget to connect the reserve fuel line. Fuel was running out fast. Rather than just turn the fuel tap off, I panicked and blocked the hole in the tank up with my finger. Lost balance and dropped the bike! Lucky for me, my dad bought a new fuel line and fitted it for me!

9) Today when doing an oil change. Took the bike out for a ride, but forgot to tighten the oil cap properly. Got back home found the oil cap had fallen off. Lucky for me i found the oil cap 5 mins up the road at the lights on the motorway on ramp.

10) Rode in some sticky tar and low sided the bike. The luck in this one was that the mad yank was able to fix my bike mechanically for next to nothing.

11) Letting my mate have a blat round the the block on my bike, even though I'd never seen him ride before as well as knowing full well he didin't have a license. The bike came back with scratches all up the side fairing and mirror. Lucky for me he footed the bill for repair.

So there you have it, and it was probably a dumb thing that I even started
this thread cos no ones going to even list their dumb experiences - are they?!
Notice how many times the words lucky or luck or luckily get used. Funny that!

My excuse for ending up in these dumb situations? I just couldn't find the answers to these problems in my physics text book! :stupid: I think this physics boy is going to have to look for answers elsewhere.

So are you guys going to share your dumb experiences now, or is it going to be just plain ridicule? :eek:

[Deano]

Yes, you've left yourself open there physics boy.

How about this - how many kb's have forgotten to take the front wheel lock off the bike, then as you wheeled/rode it a few feet....CRUNCH, goes you front guard...doh ?

Pulling away from the curb etc with the footstand still down, then having the back wheel lift off when it bites into the first left hander ? (current bike won't engage first gear with footstand down, bloody marvelous)

Pulling the top end of your bike down for reconditioning, stuff two rags into carb throats to stop dust and crap getting in. Then replacing the engine with a jap import, but forgetting to take out the rags ??? Spent a few anxious moments thinking
I had bought a dud, as it started initially, then starved itself of fuel and wouldn't fire at all.

Missing a gear and getting a false neutral (big rev into no-where land) while screaming past the pit lane at Manfeild - not the best of looks.

This is the worst Ive ever seen - marshall at raceway running onto the track to a fallen biker's aid. As he was halfway across the track, a two smoker came flying round the bend and the marshall ended up as a hood (blade ?) ornament.

The first guy to fall only suffered a broken arm, and if the marshall had just ran along the side of the track in the direction of oncoming traffic, waving his flag, there probably would not have been any further casualties. But both the 250 rider and marshall were hospitalised. Now that was DUMB.

Hey, as long as we learn from our mistakes we will be better off and probably live longer too!!

And yeah, letting your mates take your baby round the block is often a bad move - they will only try to see what it can do, don't know the bikes (or their own) capabilities, and good old Murphy's Law often applies, even when they are experienced rider's.

[Andrew]

Yes, you've left yourself open there physics boy.

How about this - how many kb's have forgotten to take the front wheel lock off the bike, then as you wheeled/rode it a few feet....CRUNCH, goes you front guard...doh ?



Forgot to include this one aswell. Happened to me twice in the same day. So much for learning from our mistakes!!!

[PeteThePom]

Andrew, how come your still alive? The Darwinian theory should have weeded you ou long ago!:doh:

[DebK]

Pillion seat is clipped in with a lock but previous owner had also attached string to it and the bike frame. Didn't think why at the time. Buzzing (2-stroke) to work and a couple of tin-tops were waving/pointing at me and I thought "What friendly peeps" and waved politely back. Pulled into park, stepped off and grabbed the pillion handles to pull him up onto the stand and... ugly gapping hole to the oil tank where me pillion seat is normally.

Waving & pointing was to alert me of the flapping rear seat that obviously eventually flew off & probably into the Wgtn harbour. Could have caused a pile up behind me if it flew into a car. :doh: Spent a good 2 hours searching for it after Motorad advised me of extreme cost ($400!) to import the part. Managed to get it in from Aus at a fraction of the cost ($130) and is now quadriple tied in with thick fishingline. Bloody flimsy Italian design.

Yep, also almost buzzed off with security cable wrapped around front wheel. Would have been nasty if I hadn't realised in time... shudder. Don't bother with it now.

[DebK]

This is the worst Ive ever seen - marshall at raceway running onto the track to a fallen biker's aid. As he was halfway across the track, a two smoker came flying round the bend and the marshall ended up as a hood (blade ?) ornament.
Will the 'ole Pledge trick work on getting Marshalls off your visor? :shit:

[georgedubyabush]

Did the running out of fuel thing, and couldnt find reserve switch quick enough on an unfamiliar bike. Was going North over the Newmarket overpass in Heavy fast morning traffic, just made it to that tiny space at the end of the bridge on the left by cutting across 2 lanes. Then after starting her, trying to get back into the traffic.

Oil cap - only had it off while kickstarting z650 once.

I am a ceritified expert at having the sidestand sink into the ground. 3 times.

Twice gone to get new tyres and had no clip on my chain link.

Anyone had their girlfriend pose on the bike for a pic and have it fall over? no? just me?

Tried for ages one time to start my bike with the key slightly past the on position, that was confusing.

Spent ages one time looking for my key that had migrated somehow up under the open visor on my helmet.

[Andrew]

lol, another one comes to mind.

At the gas station in Kawhia filling up the bike. Trying to squease in as much fuel as possible and held the trigger too hard. The fuel sprayed from my tank into my eye. It stung for a good five mins before I was able to ride again!!!

[MikeL]

Andrew, you're a real worry. I can't make up my mind whether your catalogue of misfortunes makes you the unluckiest or in fact the luckiest KBer. As PetethePom says, how come you're still alive?
Someone up there must be keeping an eye on you.
Divine protection notwithstanding, it might be prudent to institute a rather more systematic and rigorous system of maintenance checks...
:D

[Yamahamaman]

This is for DebK

Watch out for the front Shock Absorber. The Dragster is a mean machine when that fails

[DebK]

Watch out for the front Shock Absorber. The Dragster is a mean machine when that fails
What are we talking here... does the complete front seperate from the rear?! 'Cause if that happens at 100kmh I'll be doing more than treading air, right?!

Tell me all you know Yamahamaman and I'll be a friend for life.

[Yamahamaman]

What are we talking here... does the complete front seperate from the rear?! 'Cause if that happens at 100kmh I'll be doing more than treading air, right?!

Tell me all you know Yamahamaman and I'll be a friend for life.
A friend of mine had to replace the front shock on his Dragster (totally cool Scoot by the way). Nope, front won't separate from the rear, in fact he said all is fine in a straight line. Just does not corner when the shock goes.

[DebK]

A friend of mine had to replace the front shock on his Dragster (totally cool Scoot by the way). Nope, front won't separate from the rear, in fact he said all is fine in a straight line. Just does not corner when the shock goes.
Whew. Sorted then. Tanks Y-maman. 'Tis really only a straightliner anyways... rear wobbles around (the scoot, not mine) if you're not absolutely on the right part of the apex or tyre pressures not correct (or is that wheels too small?!) or moon not in the correct quadrant, yadda yadda. Almost low-sided then immediately wanted to high-side under correction last week on a roundyroundy. Find riding the rear brake while throttling helps to keep him feeling stable in cornering.

I wonder what riding a real bike like a CBR600 is like? One day soon, one day soon.

[Yamahamaman]

I wonder what riding a real bike like a CBR600 is like? One day soon, one day soon.
Same friend called the CBR600 a real bike as well. Owns the Dragster instead now.
I have never had any doubts and have yet to own a CBR600 :whistle: They are made by Honda aren't they? :innocent:

[DebK]

Same friend called the CBR600 a real bike as well. Owns the Dragster instead now.
I have never had any doubts and have yet to own a CBR600 :whistle: They are made by Honda aren't they? :innocent:
Really? Feel like I have to down my wee scoot while in here. Actually extremely proud of it and am having so much fun on it. My husband is a very nervous man though as he is certain I'm going to drop it. Like your bike Y-maman, like the look of it alot.

Huge apologies for taking over your thread Andrew.

Back to it then. Anyone attempted to ride off without their helmet on? I'm guilty of this once in my exhuberance.

[dangerous]

Hows about (a long time ago) doing the big N/I trip stoping at Thames I think for a break. There were three of us and my mate with a 750gt couldent get it started.......1 & 1/2 hrs later when the bike was in a hundred pieces on the foot path, tank off scratching heads I leant over and turned the kill switch on arrrrrrrrrrrr :Oops:

[Zed]

In order to make me feel better this is the part where you share all your dumb experiences on the bike. I'll kick this one off with my dumb experiences.Hey, we all make mistakes, they are only dumb if you keep repeating them. :whistle:

Some of mine that come to mind:

- Turning my ignition lock on too far into park mode, which turned my park light on for 8 hours while I was at work, resulting in a flat battery!

- After incorrectly adjusting my clutch lever too much I released it at an intersection which caused the bike to stall, losing balance I dropped the bike going about 2kmph and basically walked off it at the same time, turning around looking at my machine on its side in the middle of the road was not a pretty sight, especially for a brand new Fireblade! I nearly wept.

- I had been given an opportunity to ride a brand new 1300cc Harley in 2000, which I glady accepted, and when I started off I managed to turn it around on a patch of grass losing my balance and nearly toppling over...thankfully I used all my strength to keep it upright and blasted off into the sunset. Those things weigh a tonne!


Zed

[dangerous]

Ohhh yeh bloody Harlys.....before coming back from Brissie I sold my 97 VFR but I still had a rally to do so I rented a 1450 twin cam super glide. I rocked up at the gate turned the key off, removed the helmet waited to pay my entry, did that then tryed to start the thing sat there for 5min the gate staff watching woundering what the hell I was doing on a brand new HD......Well stuff me bloody HD changed the switch blocks around on me for the last 5min I had been pushing the left hand indercater on and off, shit I felt like a dick :doh: (the right hand indercater is on the right side switch block)

[Wenier]

I havent really done anything major.

The best was spending about 5mins trying to start my bike b4 realising i had turned the kill switch off which i dont normally.

And the other would have been spending about 5mins trying to figure out why my bike kept stalling when trying to take off. Turns out i had the stand down and when in gear as soon as the clutch is released slighty it cuts the engine.

I felt like a right dick when i figured out wut i did in both cases. :)

[Kwaka-Kid]

ive done the oil cap thing, with no oil cap just down my road then i rememberd, looked down to see the light spray of oil all over my jean legs :(

ridin with blown forkseal, like, full on. for nearly 2 years too!.

hmm, oh prolly jsut the sual of riding around on special KY tyres (slippery, due to age) will spend today at work trying to think of things.

[erik]

Riding my bike, when it was (still is) having engine problems. The engine stopped going around an uphill corner, but there were parking spaces on the side of the road just after the corner. So I stopped, and tried to restart it, but it'd cough a bit but not want to run. I was getting worried that there was something major wrong with it (there still could be I guess...), but after maybe 10 minutes of sitting there trying to start it (not continuously, I'd turn the ignition off in between attempts to not flatten the battery) I discovered that it was just low on fuel. So I put it on reserve and rode to the gas station.

[Slim]

A variation on Erik's story:

I warmed up the bike for a ride one day, hopped on it & roared off down the road only to find that it was missing & farting around. Since I'm not far from town, I decided to head into the Honda shop for them to check it out, but it died completely while I was waiting for the lights to change. So I call a friend who asks me to check several things (which I already had & all were aok) and then he hops in the work van & heads over to help me out.

While he was on his way, I checked the fuel tap, found it on main, turned it to reserve, gave it some poke & lo, it started. So I waited for my friend to arrive, who looked a bit sheepish himself for not thinking of the fuel tap either. :)

[moko]

O.k.,once pulled up outside the pub where my mates were all looking on as I flipped out the sidestand and leaned it between the gaps in the drain cover at the side of the road,being good mates it was forgotten within 5 years or so.Fuel tap?,yep,loads of times.Without fail you`ll find that when showing off to bystanders your bike will jump out of gear or you`ll do something really stupid.Once had my RD400 nearly vertical being a smartarse and playing to the crowds in a busy town centre,if I hadn`t been totally out of control and shitting myself it would have been impressive.Overtook a line of cars once on a blind bend and nearly collided with a Police Bike coming the other way,then tried to lose his Norton 850 Commando on my CB200,lets just say he wasnt exactly happy when he caught me.
In N.Z. got pulled by a Cop on the way to Taurangi,no probs but not for the first time couldn`t get the bastard big BMW off the stand as it was so bloody top-heavy and my mate on the V-Max with almost slick tyres had to come and give me a shove when all he really wanted to do was keep out of the way,Cop was pissing himself laughing,to be fair it was funny,frigging lardy pile of kraut crap,nah,brilliant bike as it goes.

[Timber020]

I took a rather sorted (well it was fast) KDX200 for a run after doing some carb work that basically had no clutch, rear brake or kill switch (had head butted it in an accident and broken it. Got it on the firebreak and let loose, was doing over 120kmph when the thing found more speed from somewhere, and wouldnt stop. Full noise along firebreak making the cars on SH1 look slow. Managed to turn the gas off somehow and pulled off some jumps from hell, all the while getting closer and closer to where a river crossed and there was no way I could make the xmas traffic.
I have never been so thankful for the sound of a bike engine coughing and finally dying.
Turned out that I hadnt screwed the cap of the carb right down, whole top came out including the slider so it was sucking air down in new found powerband amounts.

OH I did take a GSXR750 for a ride that had no front brakes......boy they just dont slow down fast enough.

[Coldkiwi]

Well there you go... conclusive living/riding proof that Natural selection is bollocks! :p Andrew, everyone makes mistakes... but I think you're significantly ahead of the going rate!

did the lock on thing the other day and took a chunk out of my mudguard (ARSE!!!) but I'm now learning and have a special bungee cord I put over my dash so I will never do it again!

[Kwaka-Kid]

hgahaha omg @ theese disc lock things, bet id do it too tho. rode my mates gsxr250 breifly with no front brakes, that sucks, rode hte gs1000 with fork oil on both front discs for about 6months or so, was good, man u hauled in the brakes as hard as you could and i swaer it was no better then the rear.

[wkid_one]

From my previous post




Originally Posted by wkid_one

IF you use a disklock - put it hard up against the calliper in the direction you intend to move....this way the bike won't move and you won't ride off with it on and damage callipers or fenders.

[Andrew]

Andrew, everyone makes mistakes... but I think you're significantly ahead of the going rate!

So just what are you trying to say by that?!

[Kwaka-Kid]

That your a special young lad! If only i was so special :( Anyways you could also find a place to park ur bike like up against a wall so u have to wheel it backwards before taking off etc, enough so that if u do wheel first you will just tap ur fender/brakes, or is this what you did? (dont know, with cruddy bikes like mine you only use the steering lock)

[curious george]

Bwahahahahaha! It thought this was a tribute thread to KK!!!!
I think Andrew may have beaten you though KK!
As for me, I think I've done the drive off with the fuel tap turned off once or twice..... :yes:

I forgot to tighten the front wheel of my BMX as a kid, and then tried a new jump.....that hurt a lot.

[riffer]

Okay, I'll try one...

When I was 17 (1984) I had a 1978 IT400 I'd bought off a mate for bugger all. Within the first week the throttle cable had snapped off where it went into the handgrip and being 17 I couldn't afford to fix the bugger.

So I learned to ride it (until my parents paid to fix it) by looping the cable at the handbar end and holding that with my finger and pulling the cable back to accelerate.

Looking back I have no idea how I managed to control it, the thing was almost unrideable! :no: :no: :no:

[matthewt]

Two days after buying the MV I had put it up on the race stand in the garage to surprise my dad (ex brit bike rider). I decided to turn it around a bit so tugged the stand a bit to the right. Had a major "Oh F**K" moment when I realised I was pulling the stand OUT of the rear wheel by doing that. The bike started to lean over and I just caught it in time. Sat in the garge without moving for a few minutes after that !!

[moko]

........then there was the time i swung my leg over my XT600 in a crowded bike park and booted the nice shiny tank of the Aprilia next to me but hard,got out of there pretty quick.
All this talk of "the disc lock issue" here,dont you guys have "reminders",everyone uses them here,basically a plastic spring with a metal ring at one end that attatches to your lock and a loop at the other end that slips over your throttle,usually the`re yellow or some pukey flourescent colour.simple idea but effective,easy enough to forget your lock as you dont see it but if you dont notice a yellow plastic thing on your throttle you deserve to fall off.Before I got mine free with a mag I improvised with a keyring I bought for the equivalent of $1.50 in a market.

[Wonko]

While I was still on my learners, went for a ride up to the shops, 500 meters away, hopped of the GL 145 and thought it was very loud for some reason. Grabbed some milk and then headded out of theshop and wondered where I' put my helmet.


Spent about 15 mins trying to kick start GL 145 while running late for work, then realised that I forgotten to even put the key in.


Weekend after getting GPZ 600 R, heading up a twisty hill I'd ridden up almost daily on the GL 145. On the GL it was hard out 1st, 2nd, 3rd, first big courner. Just like on the GL, hard out on the GPZ 1st, 2nd *SHIT* courner. Up the curb, down the bank and a foot drop onto the driveway there. I lost it over the drop doing about 20, small scratches on the fairings and exhast. More damage to my pride than anything, and a cheap way to learn to respect the extra power.

[MikeL]

Celtic's post about his throttle repair reminded me of how when as a very impoverished student on my first bike, when the key somehow fell out of the ignition on the ride back from varsity, I couldn't afford the cost of a replacement and rode for weeks without a key by removing the master fuse to turn off.
Eventually sifting through my Dad's jam-jar full of old keys (why would anyone collect old keys??) I found one that fitted.. .

[PeteThePom]

Two experiences of a friend of mine back in the UK.

He bought his FJ1200 into the bike shop I worked in for a service and new front discs. I did the service and the reason for the warped front discs was due to both calipers being quite bady seized(Yam's seem to be notorious for this) he didn't have the dosh to get the front calipers overhauled, I told him that he risked warping his brand new discs if he didn't get them seen to...so off he rode anyway(doh no:1) couple weeks later bought his bike in for MOT(WOF) and I had to fail it cos both his new discs were badly warped(doh no:2)so got them replaced and the calipers overhauled this time! Off he rode again, one week later he came back in for.....? Yup a new front disc on the right as he'd managed to drive away with his disc lock on and so enthusiastic was his departure he actually bent the disc(as well as dropping the bike!) Double doh!! So in the space of a month he spent around £700 on front discs alone!!

Same guy also owned a Virago 1100, went out one winters day to collect a new set of crash bars from an accesory shop about 20 miles out of town, payed for them, strapped em onto the back of his bike and off he rode, on the way home he lost the bike on some ice going round a corner and slid down the road didnt hurt himself but the only real damage was to the brand new crash bars strapped onto his seat, the irony of the situation had me in fits for days!!

As for my list of cock ups, been riding for so long I reckon could write a book!

One of my stupidest was (very early on) fitting a new piston to my TS100 and it wouldn't start, lots of slapping noise coming from engine, had a look at old piston and compared to new piston, then noticed the +0.5 stamped on the head of the original one.....doh!

Oh and on the same bike, I spent 10mins trying to bump start it, police pulled up and asked what was wrong, told him and he looked at bike and said, you wanna try turning your fuel tap on mate' Then told me off for riding bike sans helmet and asked if I had a full license as all this happended in front of my girlfriend at the time who was holding two helmets, I said I had one and I think he chose to believe me!!!

[Zed]

Two experiences of a friend of mine back in the UK.
A friend of yours eh! :msn-wink:

[Coldkiwi]

its a good idea Wkid but doesn't work if your mudguard is so close to the disc that any lock hits that before the caliper (like a certain yellow GSXR I know). thats how I busted it rolling backwards. but the bungee reminder works well and is now going to be a tradition for me :)

[moko]

years back when Mad Max came out I was riding with a gang of fellow hoodlums,actually it was a bit after the real mad,bad days.Anyhow we`d seen Mad Max the night before and were about to leave a hillclimb meeting.My mate Martin decided to show everyone how to do a donut,just like in the film,on his immaculate Z650.What he hadn`t thought of was that the guy in the film,nor anyone with an I.Q. of over double figures,wouldn`t have tried it in a field of damp grass,bloody hard work riding across it let alone arseing about.Anyway he dropped the clutch,followed by the bike and luckily got thrown from it as somehow the throttle jammed wide open as it embedded itself deep in the mud.He sat there with a wet arse nearly in tears screaming "stop it,stop it",well none of us were stupid enough to go near the thing as it pirouetted around the bar-end,that and we could hardly stand for laughing.It only lasted for probably the longest minute of that bloke`s life but was absolutely shit high,Mart was on the verge of a nervous breakdown while his good mates jumped to his aid,well about 15 minutes later when the hysterics had finally died down,we`d all stop,one would start up then back to group hilarity.luckily no damage was done to the machine apart from needing a jet-wash but boy was that man quiet for a long time after.

[Big Dog]

My stupidest moment vehicle wise was about a month after my Drivers door started locking by itself jumping out at he gas station slamming the door, coming back with ciggies and seeing my door solidly locked all the windows up............... and the engine running. Doh.

But then a freind was trying to get their license, and I was trying to talk him out of a virago. So he asked me to demo it for him as he had no license. 1/2 hour test later its been through its paces and I know what I'm going to tell him about it, so I go back. Tell him what they would need to fix before he should pay 1k less than asking. I hop off and leave him to the salesman. Well about this time Gus decides that he should be sitting on it as he talks terms. As I sit patiently in the car I see him put the kick stand up. I think this odd but well he is buying it he should at least know what it feels like. Salesman comes back with some paperwork and Gus steps off without thinking, scrabbles desperately to catch rapidly descending Virago and watches it domino about 15 bikes. Never, ever, heard him mention riding ever again.

[kasper]

The worst and most embarasing moment I ever had was when I pulled up to the Crown and Badger pub. :apint:
I had jsut cleaned up the GL145 nicely and when I pulled up I went in to get a pint. on turning around I see that my bike is still standing up right. somethings wrong I think. <_<

Then I realise 'I never put the kick stand down.' just this minute it decides to keel over right on to the harley next to it. and the harley on to the bmw. :eek5:

Oh crap. 4 pints later I ride away after not even having my own drink.

[Slim]

Then I realise 'I never put the kick stand down.' just this minute it decides to keel over right on to the harley next to it. and the harley on to the bmw. :eek5:
That BMW wasn't owned by a bloke called Rick was it???

[kasper]

I am not sure but he rode a black bike with full hard lugage set most likely touring

[wari]

Scene .... bike at the bottom of mates driveway, which is about 20 mtrs long at what seems like a 45 degree gradient, a fence on one side and a drop on the other.

I'm about to leave on my xs400 knowing full well it has to start first time as the battery is a bit dodgey eh.

wrrrrrr wrrrrrr wrrr wr w .... no go ... kill switch was on fckt ... flicked it to run.

Took a run at the driveway and got almost to the top ... gingerly turned the bike around , down we go ... good speed ... bib bib bib bib bib bib bibbbb ... keys not on :mad:

Key on ... up I go again, didnt get quite so far this time ...
bib bib bib bib bib bib bibbbb ... key on petrol on ... normally starts easy.

Went up and down that driveway another 3 or 4 times getting up a little less each time ... I did work out tho that zig zagging up meant I didn't need as much speed and I only had to stop coz of the pain in the legs and shortness of breath ... was getting mighty hot too just quietly. :sweatdrop

Thought I'd take a rest ... and notice the kill switch was BACK ON !!! ... I must've bumped in im my exertions up the d/way :mad:

Started next time ...

[wari]

Was a school caretaker for a while at a primary school. One of the pleasures of the job was unblocking the S traps under the classroom sinks.

Had one to do that had paint brushes and pensils broken up down past the plug, needed to be pulled apart . I carefully undid the S trap trying not to spill the water in it.

Looking around ... I didn't have a bucket to tip the water into ... I know I'll pour in down the sink ! ... :doh: :eyepoke:

[Milky]

I havent had too many on motorcycles, apart from forgetting to turn the petrol on, pushing bike off main stand with chain aroud rear wheel - at least i didnt try to ride off... the ubiquitous stalling when i was on my learners infront of friends

The worst thing i have done is on a pushbike going to school.... I was riding down a straight, about 400m long i guess. It was a real cold morning so i was tucking myself up small to avoid all the cold air, but one unfortunate side effect was that i wasnt paying as much attention to the road as i should have been.... there was a parked car near the end of the straight with it's boot up and i went straight into it :s must of been doing bout 30-35kmh at the time, cos the helmet was a writeoff and my front forks bent back past the frame.

[Big Dog]

Showing off to the girl of the day on a push bike.... at the end of a 30m catwalk into a stall on the back wheel. Gave it a bit a bit of a tug (on thre handlebars you dirty mongrels), for balance. Handle bars smack me in the mouth & slice leg open on my newly F*^%ed forks. Funnily enough since then it has been difficult to keep it up (my front wheel YDM).

[wkid_one]

Showing off to the girl of the day on a push bike.... at the end of a 30m catwalk into a stall on the back wheel. Gave it a bit a bit of a tug (on thre handlebars you dirty mongrels), for balance. Handle bars smack me in the mouth & slice leg open on my newly F*^%ed forks. Funnily enough since then it has been difficult to keep it up (my front wheel YDM).
You destroyed all the fun that could have been had with that post.....:eek5:

[aff-man]

Hmmm well i havn't done to many stupid things but here are a few
- getting worried why the bike kept stalling when trying to put it in the garage and then realising it dies if you let the clutch out with the stand down. Good waste of 30 mins.
- leaving bike running due to flat battery and going to speak to my mates dad about the bike. My mate thinking he could ride goes ,and when i was out of sight, crashes into his neighbours car.
- slipped on some wet pine needles and had to watch my baby go sliding up the driveway while i was sliding down.
- crashing twice in the first two weeks of riding.
- riding around with high beams on for a few days pissing off cage drivers because my headlight had blown.
and that's about it

[riffer]

... there was a parked car near the end of the straight with it's boot up and i went straight into it :s must of been doing bout 30-35kmh at the time, cos the helmet was a writeoff and my front forks bent back past the frame.
LOL - I've done exactly the same thing myself!

[Kwaka-Kid]

nearly did that umpteen times on my cb250! far out, who knows what i was concentrating on.. but i looked up and SHIT major change in line on road. craped myself everytime.

[Jackrat]

Me mate Dean buys a 75 CB750 Honda rolling frame complete less engine.
He also buys an engine from another CB 750 that has a 850 Yoshi kit in is.
So da'boys gather round Deans place on a Saturday an we put the 850 into the frame an hook every thing up.At one stage Dean is heard to say something along the lines of "thats a bit loose" Dean had just hooked up the oil line to the engine an seeing as how Da'boys had only just met Dean we didn't think nothing of it.Anyway it's looking good an after idling in the shed for a few minites Dean decides to take it for a spin.Half an hour later Da'boys are sitting having a beer or ten an Dean comes walking up the road,,NO BIKE.
He's looking very much the worse for wear an after a few questions we find out the oil lines come off dumping ALL the oil over the rear wheel half way round a corner.It seems the oil line fitting on the yoshi motor was smaller than the original Honda one but Dean being Dean hadn't thought it mattered
at the time.Anyway it went down hard on the left side and totaled the cases.
Last time I saw that bike it was still gathering dust in Deans shed. :no:

[James Deuce]

Buy my 1st bike (Kawasaki CSR250 - like a GN250 only with 50% more HP and drum front brake) and wife decides she wants a ride on the back (still on provisional license). Go to stop at lights and lever comes back to bar. Veer left into handy sidestreet. Get stopped by cop round corner for running red light. Sweet talk way out of ticket. Knock bike off stand when I go to get back on.

Buy RG250. Love RG250 to bits. Paint gets scrappy (too much grinding of fairing on ground - mental note: must lose weight). Send off to painters for respray and new decals. Tempt gods to punish me for vanity. Gods punish me for vanity by running me over with a truck two weeks after getting bike back.

Buy RG400 while still on restricted. Take wife on back on a bike club poker run. Fall off on diesel and give wife bi-malleolar fracture of left ankle. Ban wife from ever going on the back again.

Sell RG400. Buy GSXR250 new. Tempt gods to punish me for thinking I am a smarty pants for owning a new bike. Love GSXR250 to bits. Go to mate's sister's place for tea, he on his KR-1, me on my GSXR. Sidestand sinks into damp lawn whilst scoffing lovely dinner. Gods punish me by breaking left mirror off.

Sell GSXR250(edit - extra 0 was to be removed but that would spoil Big Dog's post)0 - full license at last - Yay! Buy VFR400R. Love VFR to bits. Go to Castlepoint for holidays. Clean bike after 1 week of incessant fanging around deserted roads. Lift bike up off stand while crouching down to clean underside of fairing. Side stand folds up bike falls on me. Mother-in-law lifts bike of me with one hand and cuffs me round the ear with the other. Perhaps the Mother-in-law is one of these "gods".

Trade VFR in. Wife manages to trade VFR for $1k more than I paid for it on an RC30 and talk RC30 down $2k from shop floor price. Love RC30 to bits. Get swelled head about owning road legal superbike. Do lots of track days. Start thinking I'm quick. Tempt gods to punish me for lacking humility. Enter F1 race. Fall off on 2nd lap because right footpeg digs into tarmac, levers back wheel off the ground, then snaps off. Low side at 160km/hr exiting Coke at Manfield. Gods punish me by letting me think it is safe to stand up whilst sliding at 60km/hr. Also have learning experience that I can't run that fast. Batter self senseless in resulting stop, drop, and roll. Do $2K of damage to bike. Wife says no more racing because I wasted her negotiating skills tempting the gods.

[Big Dog]

Sell GSXR2500 -.
:Pokey: The rest had me laughing like scoobie after a doobie. :doobey:

[Jackrat]

Brought me a TR6R Triumph Tiger,She had Bonnie head and bonnie cams an went like shit off a stick when I could keep her in tune,which was a bit of a mission as none of the timing marks ment a thing.Anyway the battery goes flat on me at work,So I call out the jump start truck that is kept on sight just for these type of things.We hook her up an I give her a kick,choise fires up first try,BUT there is a crackling noise an the next thing I know me lovely Tiger is burning to the ground in front of me.And all the flapping around like a fish out of water helps not at all,The guy from the jump start truck has done a runner an I burn the shit out of my hands trying to disconnect the jumper cables.Still got a few faint scars from that but never mind,all part of the learning curve huh!.So after repairing the Tiger I buy a standard Bonnieville,
More reliable ya' see :doh:

[Kwaka-Kid]

Jim2 matey that write up is just crazy! im cracking up here, sorry to say, but man its funny!

[Zed]

:doh: Last night I was coming off the motorway at Upper Harbour Drive, Auckland, and as I cruised down the hill to the intersection I took my hands off the grips to stretch (as I do), when I applied my rear brake to begin slowing down I got the speed wobbles and quickly grabbed the grips again...well at this point the engine just stopped and wouldn't even jump start as I continued down towards the intersection, so thinking quick I pulled up on to the pathway to let traffic behind me pass! Scratching my head for a few seconds I noticed that I had flicked the stop button to the off position by accident when I grabbed hold of the grips during my speed wobble...lol, I was on my way again laughing!

Zed

[Skyryder]

:Oi: Seems to me Andrew you are spinning a yarn here. If you are for real I'd stop riding. One day your luck is going to run out.

Skyryder

[Zed]

...If you are for real I'd stop riding. One day your luck is going to run out.Skyryder
Nah, noone likes a quitter! :wacko:

We all make our fair share of mistakes and should learn from them, Andrew is just having a bad run that's all...learning the hard way!


Zed

[Andrew]

:Oi: Seems to me Andrew you are spinning a yarn here. If you are for real I'd stop riding. One day your luck is going to run out.

Skyryder

No just being too honest for my own good. And no I'm not going to give up bikes. I take the chances and if I die, well at least I died happy. Thats not an invitation for you to come and wipe me off the road though.

[Skyryder]

Andrew, remind me to ride the other way when I see you coming at me. With your luck I'm the one that would die should we ever meet.

Skyryder

[Andrew]

Andrew, remind me to ride the other way when I see you coming at me. With your luck I'm the one that would die should we ever meet.

Skyryder

Lets hope it never comes to that then.

[Kwaka-Kid]

mehehe. ahh this thread... well i just came back from kerikeri and took SH16 from wellsford then onto peeks road, what an awesome ride! with putman on his 250, he just put new sport demons on and now im getting a little worried about him tearing right passed me thru the tight stuff :o ! hey i had some good luck, almost went straight ahead onto gravell on sh16, was crazy as, you could go straight or turn right and im doing like 120 or something and was just relaxing and UH OH! sammed the brakes hard as and only just managed to walk the bike thru the corner (with putman nearly planting into me!) thatll teach me to not concentrate enough!

[Zed]

...:o ! hey i had some good luck, almost went straight ahead onto gravell on sh16, was crazy as, you could go straight or turn right and im doing like 120 or something and was just relaxing and UH OH! sammed the brakes hard as and only just managed to walk the bike thru the corner (with putman nearly planting into me!) thatll teach me to not concentrate enough!
Yeah, a couple of us went up & down SH16 yesterday and were slowed down by road works in about 3 places dodging the gravel...rather annoying really as it tends to slow down the tempo, but if it improves the road so be it!

Zed

[Holy Roller]

Back in my younger days when I thought I had to impress the girls... Forgot I was not riding my XR250 on grass infront of aforementioned girls but my new GSX250 popped the front wheel.... then everything turned to custard.... wiped out on the still damp grass bent my handle bars broke my collar bone.. picked the bike up as if nothing had happened rode it around the corner and collaped n pain, lesson to be learnt... girls are not impressed :weep: Unfortunatly it took a while ( a long while) to learn this lesson.

[Sycophant]

When I frist got my bike, I decided to take it for a little test ride around the block. I got up the drive, around the corner and then noticed it was a little sluggish, I turned to head home, and the engine died completely. So I push teh bike home, past the many people eating at the local cafe. I'm freaking out, thinking that I've bought a dud bike, before I remember the check the fuel selector. That fixed it right up.

I spent a little while, in front of a former-rider friend, cursing about my biek stalling when I try to take off. Evently notice I have the stand down and the ignition is killed everytime I put it in gear.

I have, on quite a few occasions, gone to take off from traffic lights without putting it back into gear after kicking it into neutral for a little stretch.

Took off in third only to have it stall when trying to impress my friends with my new bike.

Fallen short of second and found neutral a few times. That's always a little freaky.

And on Friday night I left the key in my bike, and the ignition on, when I parked it at work (I got distracted talking to someone in the carpark when I arrived). Only to find it completely dead when I went to leave. I went back to work and got it today, jumped it and rode it back over the bridge, but it still wouldn't start. Battery seems completely rooted. I'll be buying a new one tomorrow :)

(Forgot my all time best... below)
Trying to be cool, and doing some 'double' riding in a short video I was making, I locked up the front wheel instead of stopping and dropped my bike, skidding it directly into the VERY EXPENSIVE camera, and breaking my arm (a problem as I had to edit the film the next day, and we still have more than 12 hours of shooting to complete). -- And, of course the video of this 'incident' (http://fit.wibble.net/Crash-320x240.mov) for anyone who hasn't seen it.

[Zed]

And, of course the video of this 'incident' (http://fit.wibble.net/Crash-320x240.mov) for anyone who hasn't seen it.
:Oops: ...I see you didn't have any gloves on either- did you hurt your hands?

[Mokoro]

i was riding my RG150 at 100ks, down hill, when the motor ceazed. no 2 stroke oil. yes im a dumbarse. im NOT going into any more detail as to why the oil got low, and why i didnt top it up.. lets just say i was looking at the wrong place for the oil level :( pulled the clutch in pretty quickly after the rear wheel locked up. thought i was gonna come off for a second......

[Two Smoker]

i was riding my RG150 at 100ks, down hill, when the motor ceazed. no 2 stroke oil. yes im a dumbarse. im NOT going into any more detail as to why the oil got low, and why i didnt top it up.. lets just say i was looking at the wrong place for the oil level :( pulled the clutch in pretty quickly after the rear wheel locked up. thought i was gonna come off for a second......
My mate Adam did the exact same thing!!! Rode it for 3 months looking at the rear brake level instead of taking the seat off and looking at the oil LOL, seems like a common problem:doh:

[Sycophant]

:Oops: ...I see you didn't have any gloves on either- did you hurt your hands?

Yeah, I always wear gloves, but that was 'just a quick shot' so I didn't bother.

Yes I did hurt my hands, not badly though, just a couple of scrapes, nothing serious at all... Also the broken arm was really minor, so I still had use of it, it just ached and got worse over the next 14 hours until I went to the A&E. I was most annoyed about the damage to the bike, and the fact that I cracked the cover on my new cellphone.

[pete376403]

I took a rather sorted (well it was fast) KDX200 for a run after doing some carb work that basically had no clutch, rear brake or kill switch (had head butted it in an accident and broken it. Got it on the firebreak and let loose, was doing over 120kmph when the thing found more speed from somewhere, and wouldnt stop. Full noise along firebreak making the cars on SH1 look slow. Managed to turn the gas off somehow and pulled off some jumps from hell, all the while getting closer and closer to where a river crossed and there was no way I could make the xmas traffic.
I have never been so thankful for the sound of a bike engine coughing and finally dying.
Turned out that I hadnt screwed the cap of the carb right down, whole top came out including the slider so it was sucking air down in new found powerband amounts. .

I did something like that with my IT400 - out on an adventure ride, barrel base nuts came loose and the whole cylinder/head assembly was lifting up and down about 5 mm, sucking in air and shit, was it going well. Turned the gas off but it still took a long time to stop. At least your KDX had brakes - the IT has decorative, but otherwise non functional drums at each end. did the rest of the rail ride stopping every so often to tighten the nuts as best I could with a lttle crap-metal 12 mm spanner. Finally came to a gas station (Shannon I think) bought a cheap socket set, pulled the head off and tightened the barrel properly.

[Kickaha]

I did something like that with my IT400 - out on an adventure ride, barrel base nuts came loose and the whole cylinder/head assembly was lifting up and down about 5 mm, sucking in air and shit, was it going well.


Bloody hell I just had this happen to me on my IT200 about a month ago,revved its nuts off till I killed it,common happening on IT Yamaha's I am told

[Motu]

Yeah,me too on the TM400 - I'd put a new set of rings in,using Hylomar on the base gasket,then took it to the track.The increased crankcase compression sucked the base gasket in,then the barrel came loose,next that huge underslung chamber jumped out of the exhaust port,digging into the ground and polevaulting the bike into the air over it,ripping it off it's rear mount,then according to spectators nearly taking my head off! Next time I shellacked the base gasket on and let it sit for a few days.Never let down your guard when dealing with a 400cc 2 stroke single,they are vicious and will bite the hand that feeds them.

[Jackrat]

Try this,I resently broke the brake lever on the drum of my XS so I took the lever off my XR and used it to replace the busted XS one.
Well I went to the beach with the XR today,The front disk has never worked all that well anyway and guess what I forgot about.As soon as I left the surf club I blasted it down the beach and into the dunes a Km or so down,Just before I got to the track I like to go up I went to throw her sideways by stomping on the rear brake an sliding her around.Hmmmm,yeah I didn't quite make it an went up the dune,Got some air an came down on the front end big time.Didn't lose no blood but I got some mean bruises coming up on top of my legs where I smacked the bars,Also took ten minites to learn how to breath again.Having a face full of sand didn't help much.Of course I couldn't get the XR to run so had a nice walk back up the beach to get the wagon.
Tomorrow I'm going fishing,At lest the landing will be softer.

[Yamahamaman]

Tomorrow I'm going fishing,At lest the landing will be softer.

May I order a pan-sized snapper please.

[pete376403]

Yeah,me too on the TM400 - I'd put a new set of rings in,using Hylomar on the base gasket,then took it to the track.The increased crankcase compression sucked the base gasket in,then the barrel came loose,next that huge underslung chamber jumped out of the exhaust port,digging into the ground and polevaulting the bike into the air over it,ripping it off it's rear mount,then according to spectators nearly taking my head off! Next time I shellacked the base gasket on and let it sit for a few days.Never let down your guard when dealing with a 400cc 2 stroke single,they are vicious and will bite the hand that feeds them.

Awww, the IT is a big pussy until I need it to stop quickly. Its remarkably torquey down low, many is the time I've been in the wrong gear going uphill, where downshifting would cause it to wheelspin or loop, so just opening it up and letting that big piston go thud thud thud and it plonks up the hill. However, I've never had it wrung right out in really open country - would love to try the Desert Storm ride - I could imagine getting in way over my head in those circustances.
Something about that bike that I love it for is getting to the end of a really snotty ride and seeing some of the much newer, better specced bikes coming back on the recovery truck. If it gets you there, and gets you back, you can't ask much more than that

[Andrew]

Bump. After starting this thread over 8 years ago, I can say I'm still alive and on two wheels. Peace Out!

[mikemike104]

Bump. After starting this thread over 8 years ago, I can say I'm still alive and on two wheels. Peace Out!

Congrats man, good effort. After just upgrading from a 250 5 days ago, I'm currently a very cautious.. My dumbest trick yet must have been causing my own wild tankslapper in the pissing rain trying to keep up with a boyracer soon after I got the 250 :facepalm:

[ducatilover]

Jeebus lowes jew bro!!!!!!!
Got any more neat stories

[SMOKEU]

Congrats man, good effort. After just upgrading from a 250 5 days ago, I'm currently a very cautious.. My dumbest trick yet must have been causing my own wild tankslapper in the pissing rain trying to keep up with a boyracer soon after I got the 250 :facepalm:

How do you get a 250 to do a tankslapper? Was it a 2 stroke?

[5150]

How do you get a 250 to do a tankslapper? Was it a 2 stroke?

Plenty of willing slappers in Hamilton bro.....:shutup::innocent:

[sootie]

Hows about (a long time ago) doing the big N/I trip stoping at Thames I think for a break. There were three of us and my mate with a 750gt couldent get it started.......1 & 1/2 hrs later when the bike was in a hundred pieces on the foot path, tank off scratching heads I leant over and turned the kill switch on arrrrrrrrrrrr :Oops:

Hey don't feel badly about that. My friend did the same. His bike cut out while he was riding. We pushed the bike a km to a garage & asked for help. Mechanic spotted the problem in 100 milliseconds, but we didn't! Very embarassing. I bet it has happened a few times.

[G4L4XY]

Ran out of fuel on the motorway, the ol hyo didn't have a reserve :( waited nearly an hour for the AA guy to deliver me some fuel, by that time I could've pushed her the 2kms to the next offramp where there was a fuel station :(

Sidestand switch was disabled as well, took off from a fuel station with it down but quickly figured out what the scraping noise was!

Let the clutch out too quickly at a set of lights and stalled it, lost balance and dropped her :( By the time anyone come to help me lift the fat bitch up I'd already got her to the footpath, all the cars behind were just watching and waiting for me :(

My gf's aunty has been a pillon all her life, she's had a few drinks and decides to get onto the hyo, her momentum carries her off over the other side and she drops it onto grass. She fixed the fairing and mirror as well as paid for a service :)

^^ I nearly did the same thing in my garage but I managed to keep it up!

Tankslapped my way down the passing side of a passing lane past a car, and that was on a straight! Wondered wtf was going on, just the road wasn't all flat, had lots of ruts in it, felt so stupid :(

Back when I was doing trade work the builder shouted all the guys some beers one friday afternoon. I rode there, had a yarn and some beers, went to jump on the bike and she wouldn't start, checked the kill switch and everything, turns out it was in first and the stand was down :(

Rode all the way down to hams had a really good ride! As soon as I pulled up to the missus's house the clutch cable broke :(

Several times whilst riding I've hit the kill switch and wondered what was going on, didn't take me long to figure out what i've done and have been rather concious of said switch

Several times have found the false nuetral but been rather quick on putting it properly into gear, one time when riding with my mate I wasn't aware it was in the false nuetral and went hard on the gas, big rev for a few seconds before I realise whats going on :(

[Macontour]

Just spent a couple of minutes trying to start thge lawnmower after setting it to "start". It wouldn't and I checked the fuel....plenty and just figured that it was a little slow because it hasn't been used for a while. Rechecked the throttle/lever/thingy. I had set it to "stop". Started 2nd pull after that.

[5150]

Just spent a couple of minutes trying to start thge lawnmower after setting it to "start". It wouldn't and I checked the fuel....plenty and just figured that it was a little slow because it hasn't been used for a while. Rechecked the throttle/lever/thingy. I had set it to "stop". Started 2nd pull after that.

How many pulls does it normaly take? :shifty:

[G4L4XY]

How many pulls does it normaly take? :shifty:

:tugger: :clap: :killingme