Quick poll: stupidest maintenance mistake?

Anyone ever done something truly numpty-ish, like forgetting to
retighten the rear wheel nut after adjusting the chain?

<waves>

That was a totalled chain adjuster, that was.

However, in my case, I reckon it was leaving a rag under the seat, and
having it sucked into the air intake.

Over to you.

 

Not on a bike, but on my Dad's Toyota Hi-ace camper van.

Had a rear wheel puncture, and changed the wheel, finger tighted all the
nuts, and then lowered the van to the ground to tighten them properly.
Got distracted by my then GF, and forgot to do them up.

Drove it home, and then all round MK for the rest of that night. The
wheel never came off but what it did do is start to ossilate as the nuts
undid, this in turn then totalled the entire rear diff, and effectively
welded the hub, and the axle together.

We had to jack the thing up and remove the entire rear end from the
prop-shaft backwards, replaced with a spare off a Hi-ace pickup.


--
Gavin.

For the road: GSXR600K1
For the track: GSXR400GK76A <- Broken, and in bits.
For everything else: Citroën Berlingo

MSN:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/gavin_wilby

 

What's worse, leaving the scottoiler on prime or leaving the oil cap off
and firing up the engine?

Both were very messy.

 

You bored ?

 

Failing to securely re-attach caliper when hastily fitting new fork
seals for KH500 MOT, and nearly entering garage without opening door
after collecting "pass" certificate..

Forgetting to refit gudgeon pin circlips to recently rebored TS185.

Re-attaching HT leads 2, 4 and 6 in a 2-6-4 configuration, and
wondering why the Wing didn't run properly.
--
| ___ Salad Dodger
|/ \
_/_____\_ GL1500SEV/CB1300SA-9/CBX1000Z
|_\_____/_| ..99843../..00312.../..32117.
(>|_|_|<) TPPFATUICG#7 DIAABTCOD#9 WG*
|__|_|__| BOTAFOT #70 BOTAFOF #09 PM#5
\ |^| / IbW#0 & KotIbW# BotTOS#6 GP#4
\|^|/ ANORAK#17 IbB#4 YTC#4 two#11
'^' RBR Clues: 00 Pts:0000 Miles:0000

 

Oh. ;-(

And I bet it didn't go together as well the second time round?

T i m

 

Forgetting to replace the swinging arm spindle nut on a bike and
wondering why it handled in a challenged kind of way.

Riding a fully kitted TD3C Yamaha full throttle in a built up area
after it had been crashed at Snetterton and realising after I'd
stopped that the front brake torque arm was flapping in the breeze.
We're talking no lights ,no number plates ,no speedo, illegal tyres,
no tax, no mot, no insurance, no crash helmet and (most importantly)
no front brake.

We unloaded the bike at the park end of De Parys Avenue in Bedford and
decided to bump start it then I rode it down to what is effectively
the town centre and back up to the park at about 9pm on a Sunday
evening. No sign of plod and a distinct blue cloud thrown up behind
what was essentially a 350cc GP bike. I'm glad I've grown up...

 

Forgetting to replace the swinging arm spindle nut on a bike and
wondering why it handled in a challenged kind of way.

Riding a fully kitted TD3C Yamaha full throttle in a built up area
after it had been crashed at Snetterton and realising after I'd
stopped that the front brake torque arm was flapping in the breeze.
We're talking no lights ,no number plates ,no speedo, illegal tyres,
no tax, no mot, no insurance, no crash helmet and (most importantly)
no front brake.

We unloaded the bike at the park end of De Parys Avenue in Bedford and
decided to bump start it then I rode it down to what is effectively
the town centre and back up to the park at about 9pm on a Sunday
evening. No sign of plod and a distinct blue cloud thrown up behind
what was essentially a 350cc GP bike. I'm glad I've grown up...

 

No sign of plod and a distinct blue cloud thrown up behind

So good, you did it twice?

--
Gavin.

For the road: GSXR600K1
For the track: GSXR400GK76A <- Broken, and in bits.
For everything else: Citroën Berlingo

MSN:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/gavin_wilby

 

BBC fleet R80 bike. Didn't torque the sump plug. Certainly the most
embarrasing.

 

Hum. There's only one stupidest, I guess, but there's quite a long
list to choose from. For example, there's the time I did a lap of
Snetterton with no coolant in the LC. Got away with it though.

Forgetting to tighten the Guzzi's LH spark plug probably counts as the
most expensive, though the damage was partly caused by me thrashing
the bike home even though something was obviously wrong. One seized
Nikasil cylinder resulted. This was when I learned that Guzzi has
reduced support for Quota spare parts: I had to fit a piston/barrel
kit for a California, which has a lower compression piston. That meant
that I had to take the RH piston off to even up the compression ratios
- and in another moment of fuckwittedness damaged the RH small end
bush, so I had to fit and ream one of those, too. I think I was on a
bit of a roll that month. What really rankled was the I was set to
service the bike that very weekend (it happened o a Friday IIRC) and I
would probably have refitted the spark plugs anyway.

Actually, that little saga has to be the worst. The engine seems to
have survived and has done almost 7K miles since then.

 

Mine was similar:

Changed the zorst on the Zephyr to a 4 into 1.
Bike wouldn't start.
Puzzled over it for some time.
Thought that there might be a lack of back pressure (no idea why) so
tied a rag over the end of the can.
Still no luck.
Posted the problem on UKRM.
Had a brew.
Went back to bike and noticed the flap of the Kawasaki tool kit was
where I had delicately placed it.
Right over the air intake.

Oh how I laughed.

--
Dan L

Too much time to think, too little to do.


http://thebikeshed.spaces.live.com/

2002 Triumph Sprint RS 955i (It's big, and it's black)
1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr (Gone, but not forgotten)

BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005/6/7/8)
X-FOT#000
DIAABTCOD #26
BOMB#18 (slow)
OMF#11

 

*Ding*

I was sitting in a rather dull technical seminar.

 

Quality

 

Deciding to check the ignition timing on the Harley just before going to
work.

I subsequently discovered that they sell clear timing-plug-hole-inserts
so you can inspect the timing with your little light without getting oil
splatters all over your suit, shirt, tie, tools, other bikes, garage
wall, face...

 

Ahh, and then there was *that* incident involving the TS50 zorst,
caustic soda and my eye, but we don't talk about that.

--
Dan L

Too much time to think, too little to do.


http://thebikeshed.spaces.live.com/

2002 Triumph Sprint RS 955i (It's big, and it's black)
1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr (Gone, but not forgotten)

BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005/6/7/8)
X-FOT#000
DIAABTCOD #26
BOMB#18 (slow)
OMF#11

 

Accepted the offer of help from a trainee mechanic mate when changing the
gearbox in a Ford Capri and then promptly splitting his head open with a
ratchet.

On the downside I had to do the gearbox by myself, but, on the plus side, I
got to ride his de-restricted TZR125 (then the fastest bike I'd ever ridden)
home for him, on the grounds that his crash hat wouldn't fit over the
bandages.

Other than that just boring stuff, really - sump plugs not refitted, trying
to start a (different) Capri after having neglected to re-fit the rotor arm,
etc. etc.

--
AndrewR, D.Bot (Celeritas)
Aprilia RSV-1000R, Honda VFR750F-L
BOTAFOT#2,ITJWTFO#6,UKRMRM#1/13a,MCT#1,DFV#2,SKoGA#0 (and KotL)
BotToS#5,SBS#25,IbW#34, DS#5, COSOC# Suspended, KotTFSTR#
The speccy Geordie twat.

 

<waves>

Replace flap for newspaper . . . .

 

Well the consequences of having a nut sucked into the carburettor
bellmouth was probably a lot more catastophic. What saved my arse was
the tinkling sound giving me enough time to declutch before the engine
locked solid. However, the consequences of haring up an A road for 10
miles after topping up the oil, but forgetting to put the filler plug back
in were far more spectaclar. The biker that had the courage to overtake
and flag down the cloud of fine oil droplets deserves a medal. I was
amazed at the way that the oil spray had crept around the front of the
bike and had covered the left hand side of the tank - crazy aerodynamics!
My right boot, trouser leg and the rear of the bike looked like they'd
just been pulled out of a tar pit. Looking back the way I'd come, you
could see a black cloud along the road. After a top up, and a few more
oil changes, the Duc' has done another 40,000 miles and my Daytona
boots still don't leak

The nut that fell into the bellmouth was from the front of the saddle
on my Velocette. That needed a new exhaust valve, valve guide and piston.

Next?

 

I'll be lucky if I remember 10% of them...

- getting engine cases of 750 turbo back from being bead-blasting and
repaint, and not flushing them out. Exit crank, turbo, etc from all
the beads...
- Counting, recounting and re-recounting the links in a new chain, and
then still removing one to many (on LNs ZXR400)
- topping up with oil, then discovering 10 miles down the road that
your right boot is all oily. Look down to see filler cap resting
between clutch and points cover.
- etc