Things you wish you'd never done...

[vmx1963]

How's this for stupidity (mine)

Last race on Sunday: Fork seal goes on my Hare Scrambler.  Me thinks "No probs, I'll whack in a new set after work one day".

Today: Home early from work, kids doing homework, off to the shed I goes.  Wrench wrench, forks off...fork cap off...spring out...turn over...Allen Key goes in damper rod head.. stupid stupid stupid - using bevelled end of Allen key in bolt - stupid  

With just the tiniest littlest grunt off snaps the end of the Allen key inside the damper rod bolt [:0][:0]
Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!! No no no!!!!!

More swearing than the neighbourhood has heard in years is accompanied by flying spanners and cats and dogs running for their lives. No no no no... stupid stupid fool

Tomorrow: Off to the local cycle shop to sheepishly see what tools they have that might extract the end of an Allen key from the head of the damper rod.

Now THAT'S something I wish I'd never done!

VMX1963
Western Australia
<a target="_blank" href="http://members.iinet.net.au/~allantud/"> VMX KTM</a>

[DKWRACER]

Post a political comment on this Forum.....[V]

Hey, at least I admitted it....

[wildman]

How about: I'll just tap the pin out holding the float on, in a four cyl. carb assy. SNAP, goes one of the two posts. I had to build a aluminum part, drill the carb body and pin the new piece to the carb and carefully drill a new hole to mount the float. Still working after years but what a feeling!
 BTW, if its a balldriver allen that broke off, try tapping on the broken end, sometimes they will turn and loosen and fall right out.I've broke them too!

1975 250 Cross Country, 1974 175 Jackpiner, 1975 125

[Larry Perkins]

Most anything I did on a motorcycle that came right after I told someone, "Watch this".

[dirtbike]

Me and my brother had an incident some three years ago that was and is so unlikely that we still can't belive it happened.

We had restored his Honda CR 250 -86. Mounted the engine, airbox, tank and all that stuff. We had a spark plug in the head. For some reason that I even can't remember we took out the plug just for a short while.
We where near finish mounting the grips on the handlebar, wires and stuff when I dropped a small bolt. We looked down to see where on the floor it landed. It never did! So we started to look on the bike to see where it had gone stuck! It was nowhere to be found. At the time two neighbours where there wihtnessing the entire spectacle. Finally I had to bring the idea up, that it might had fallen down, travel alongside the gas wire in under the tank. Fallen off and somehow dropped into the spark plug hole.

This might sound reasonable but I can assure you that standing there alongside the bike and imagining the path it have had to take it looked and sounded just plain stupid. Nevertheless, finally we had to dismantle the entire bike, cylinder, piston and the bolt was there, under the crank.

One just had to see it to belive it and I swear that it couldn't happen in a million years if I tried to repeat it!

[tlanders]

Leaving the rag in the carb that I put in when I put back the air cleaner back on after cleaning and oiling it. It wouldn't start for some reason or other!!! I had people pulling me with a pickup to get it started just before a race last year. Embarrassing!!!!

Teddy

[tomale]

Larry your post made me think of the time I was breaking in a new guy for the painting company I worked for. I was running one of the crews and I was showing the new guy just how fast I wanted him to move. I ran up this step ladder with paint roller in hand and painted the trim and climbed down and put my left foot in a half full bucket of paint. ( 5 gallon bucket of Paint) My foot and ankle and part of my calf was covered with white paint and no where to put it once I got it out of paint. What was I going to do now, I did not have a spare pair of shoes or socks. I wiped off as much as I could and went back to work. He laughed so hard that I thought he was going to wet his pants.  Maybe he did, I never asked. I could not even look at him with out him laughing for weeks. [:I]
Great Idea for a topic!

Thom Green,I own and ride a 76 250 MC5 MX which I bought new.

[TGTech]

There are wayyyyy to many to remember. But I guess if I learned from them, they were all valuable experiences.

Dane

[Rain Man]

This actually happened to a fellow worker of mine, subsequently it has nothing to do with bikes, but everything to do with maintenance.
  Instructed to wire up a brand new wire feed welder (5 grand) this fellow technician of mine inadvertantly wired 480 3phase to a 240 3 phase electrical jack supplied on the shiny new welder.
   I was on the other side of the plant when the welder fired off his brand new acquisition, and pow... I saw a mushroom cloud[:0] man, it was beutiful!!  Im still laughing at that one!!!