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Post by colinjay on Jan 31, 2008 22:21:56 GMT -5
In another post, Stew mentioned a friend who lost a wooden stick into his engine while checking for TDC.
Here my confession:
Back in 1980, while working in Menindee NSW, I used to ride my SR500 the 12 mile from home to work and back. As I was in the process of doing my first cafe' job on it I had removed the std airbox. When I parked the bike in the yard outside the workshop, I used to use a rubber band to hold a 6" square of rag over the carbie mouth, to stop the dust from the surrounding yard settling in my carbie.
One afternoon I departed from work, (after a few beers) rode to the local service station fueled up then headed for home. As I rode past the speed deristriction sign, I opened up the throttle and the bike died. Now I knew that I couldn't be out of fuel as I had just fueled up. Then the "light came on", I had forgotten to remove my rag/dust cover from the carbie. Out with the tools, and off with the carbie, no rag! Out with the spark plug, and using a piece of fencing wire, cut from the fence beside the road, I was able to fish a rather mashed and burnt rag from out of the cylinder. I put the plug back in and refitted the carbie, a quick prayer, a kick, and the engine started.
The next weekend while in Broken Hill, I bought the K&N filter that I had always been meaning to fit, but never got around too.
CJ
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Post by milkman on Feb 1, 2008 0:14:51 GMT -5
I hope you didn't cut that fencing wire from the middle of strained line of fence CJ!
Tourists did it to me one day, wanted some barb wire to take home with them because it looked rustic........
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Post by colinjay on Feb 1, 2008 1:09:42 GMT -5
Milkman,
No, I cut it from a loose flyend on a strainer post. Being a country boy, I know how much time,effort and money is in fencing.
CJ
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Post by milkman on Feb 1, 2008 1:20:30 GMT -5
I thought you would have CJ, living out there......just my rant for the day folkes.
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Post by davedunsboro on Feb 1, 2008 6:13:59 GMT -5
I once stripped a XT550 looking for a big end type noise (pulled the crank apart & replaced the BE bearing) only to find it was a sheared off counter balance key when I was putting it back together! Oh it was over 20 years ago & I think cones were had (I don't mean icecream type either)but hey everybody's got a past cheers Dave.
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Post by chew652 on Feb 1, 2008 16:03:09 GMT -5
I knew a guy back in the day who put a new clutch in his Triumph because he had forgotten to reinstall his chain. I also saw a guy take his carb apart because his tank was dry. I myself have left the paper towel in the carb throat after cleaning an air filter. Way back when I also had to buy 10 quarts of oil to do the change on my Dodge pickup. The first 5 went straight into the drain pan.
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Post by fenz on Feb 1, 2008 21:18:34 GMT -5
Ahh yes dazed and confused is no state of mind to be working on motorcycles.You tend to look around the shed and think ummm what was i doing.....................
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Post by milkman on Feb 4, 2008 5:12:33 GMT -5
I'm guilty of the old drain the oil and refill before putting the sump plug back in
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Post by colinjay on Feb 4, 2008 16:29:29 GMT -5
I have seen the opposite to the filling the oil with the plug out. Back during my apprenticship with a mining company in Broken Hill, it was common practice to do the oil change in your car at work, using the companyies oil. One time one of the office girls descided to have a go her self. After drain the oil, she put the sump plug back in the started to refill the oil. One of the mechanics in the workshop where she was getting the oil out of the 44 gallon drum notice that she had made quite a few trips in with the 2 pint oil bottles she was using. When he whent and check out how she was going, she had just finished toppingthe engine up with oil to the top of the rocker cover, having put somesthing like 4 gallons of oil into the engine. It seem that no one told her how to check the oil level, so she just filled the entire engine up.
CJ
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Post by davedunsboro on Feb 5, 2008 6:04:59 GMT -5
At least it was discovered before she started it! A mechanically deficient mate of mine did that & drove down the road . Boy oh boy what a mess & it was never the same again. Col we had the same practice at the mining co we worked for , One of the guys was trying to be inconspicuous one Saturday morning but he got called away & left the oil tap on on his 10 litre drum he came back to answer the boss as to why there was oil running into the office ! Of course we weren't stealing the oil we were only borrowing it for 5000ks & returning it to the recycle drum .Cheers all Dave.
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Post by wotavidone on Feb 5, 2008 17:52:27 GMT -5
We had a manager who got the water truck to take demineralised water from our water plant out to his house to fill his new pool. Probably cost a dollar a gallon to fill his pool.
Another guy got his boat trailer built in the workshops, although I reckon the story about getting the carpenters to build his yacht could be exaggeration.
Best one was my brother-in-law's clutch. He rings up , wanting me to tidy up my shed so he could use the inspection pit, which was full of quietly ageing home brewed coopers, to drop the toploader out of the GT so he could replace the clutch. His reasoning was that the clutch was buggered coz the whole car was shaking when he drove it. Then he popped a wheelie to demonstrate that the clutch was buggered, and one uni joint fell out of the tail shaft. In his stangely convoluted logic, this proved beyond any doubt there was something wrong with the clutch. Couldn't convince him to fit the uni then test drive the car. So we changed out a perfectly good $300 clutch, a $40 thrust bearing and a $30 spigot bearing. Then we fixed the knackered uni joint. The car was perfectly smooth after that, which confirmed he was right, apparently.
Then there was the time he pulled the engine from his ski boat to do some polishing and painting. Three year later, he's putting it back in and it won't fire up. After cleaning the carb, he gets it to where it sort of backfires and spits and farts. Rewires the igniotion - no help. So he figures he must have buggered lifters causing valves to stay open, and this is the source of the foot long flames out of the exhausts. So he spends money he ain't got putting a new set of lifters in it.
One night desparation gets the better of him and he swallows his pride and rings me up.
I go round for a look, and he demonstrates the problems. After a minutes thought, I borrow a big ratchet and socket, pull the plug on number one, stick my thumb over the hole, and turn the crank till she's on TDC on compression on number one. I flip the cap on the dissy, and sure enough, the rotor button ain't pointing at number one plug lead.
I swapped leads around, static timed the points with a multimeter, hit the starter and she fired and ran sweet as.
Turns out, for reasons unknown to anyone but himslef, he'd pulled the dissy, and put it back in 180 degrees out.
Then there's the time he hears that rust removal can be done with hydrochloric acid followed by phosphoric acid. I says well yeah, you can use the hydrochloric acid to get the worst of the iron oxide off, then give it a wash with phosphoric acid "rust convertor, then prime it and apint it. So he does it. And it works fine on his back to bare metal body shell.
So then he decides if it'll work on that, it'll do a great job of cleaning up his rare as rocking horse shit, mint condition chrome plated XR GT front bumper............................
I could go on, but perhaps I'll leave it there
Mick
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Post by mattb on Feb 5, 2008 17:58:39 GMT -5
I know that a mate of Damodamodamo's (from this forum) filled his bike to the brim with oil. As he was riding along, he noticed it was leaking out, so he got something from a servo and blocked up the breather. You can guess the rest. My worst moment is a month ago, trying to clean my coil and its connections while trying to get spark. It was a beating hot day, I have to work out in the sun on the busy footpath, and in reaching for the wax and grease remover I accidently grabbed the black automative paint and gave the coil a squirt  |
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Post by fenz on Feb 6, 2008 1:36:17 GMT -5
A guy that worked with us had bought a new fibre glass fishing boat and on its maiden voyage he whips into the servo to fill here up. After several minutes of filling the tank he smells a rather strong petrol odour. Turns out he had stuck the filling gun into a rod holder and proceded to put about 20 odd litres of fuel into the bottom of his brand new boat? ? Not the sharpest tool in the shed that one and he is a electrician which most probably explains it......(sorry Dave)..... |
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Post by davedunsboro on Feb 6, 2008 6:09:43 GMT -5
No offense taken Aaron(I'm working on a mine shut at the moment & there's knuckle draggers everywhere) I also know quite a few real thick electricians too! Which brings me to my next story. A mate of mine (electrician) paid huge dollars to get a GQ Patrol converted to 6.5 chev diesel only to right it off (after many drinks) . He got the insuranse & purchased a later patrol put in a 6.5 chev in , he had done 2000ks & he filled it up with unleaded & drove it to destruction . Now its got another 6.5 in & I wonder how long this 1 goes for(he's lucky that we can make good coin at present).Me I'm happy to have a 4.2 diesel tojo & heaps of bikes & surfboards but only the 1 lovely woman cheers Dave.PS Aaron you better say sorry to Col too! & he's a fellow Crow eater too.
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Post by fenz on Feb 6, 2008 16:31:47 GMT -5
I have worked in the pulp&paper industry for 20 years (maintainance)and every now and then you come across a good electrician (usually into bikes) but the rest of them down this way are a breed of there own.
Love to stir the guys i work with cause they take the bait every time...............
Hey its only colours and numbers HAHAHAHAHAH..........
No offence taken i hope guys
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