Qotd 11-14-07

[Tailspnr]

Okay so with a little coaxing from Big D I decided I start a QOTD. Hopefully we have a few good stories out there and this thread might be a little humorous.

So heres the question...........Whats some of the stupid things that you personally have done in the process of working on your bike. And if you don't have any good bike stories then feel free to share dumb things you've done working on the car, lawnmower, wifes treadmill and so on.


Now heres mine....and I know some of my buddies have already heard this one but it's worth sharing.

I had a small leak where my rear tappet block fits against the crankcase on my 92 Softy. And the constant oil leak was starting to drive me mad! So I decided that I was going to have to correct it and I sat down with a 12 pack of beer in the fridge and began tearing into the bike. I had taken off the upper rocker box covers and was contemplating on whether or not I wanted to remove the lower rocker box to allow the push rods to come out or to just push out the rocker pins and take off the rockers them selves.

So I decided I'd just take out the pins and not mess with the whole lower rocker box as it seemed like it save me a few minutes.......yeah right. So I removed the rear rocker pin and removed the exhaust rocker and pushrod. Then when I went to remove the intake pushrod and I noticed that the valve was under slight pressure from the cam. No biggies right? I'll just turn the key and bump the starter to get the cam rotated no it's not lifting the valve.

Well heres the good part. What I had previously failed to mention is that I had already removed the 4 screws from the tappet block. This becomes a key piece of information when deciding to rotate a motor that still has a pushrod pushing on a rocker and valve.

Now I'll interrupt the story briefly to mention that I just walked back into the house to grab a beer and make a small adjustment to my head. The head adjustment should have waited until I was done with the wrenches!!!!

So anyway, now I'm back at the bike and I need to rotate the cam to relieve the pressure off the valve so I can push the rocker pin out. Well I hit the starter and the motor rotates about 20 degrees and stops hard! I think WTF........then I look down and see the tappet block sitting......no sitting is not the right word. Screaming in agony might be a better choice as the little tappet block, without the 4 screws to hold it place, and with only one pushod on the front side to hold it down, had raised it's back side to a point where it was now jammed into the case.

Well thats not all. Since the cam, with the help of the massive 1.2 KW starter rotating the engine, proceeds to continue to push the tappet up with a LOT of force. And being that the tapped block is now wedged in sideways the little tappet has now where to go out the side of the block.

So up to this time I hadn't noticed the crooked tappet block, screaming in mercy, wedged in sideways, unable to give way to the tappet that being pushed sideways. And when I finally stop to look to see if I can find out why the motor stopped turning I look down and see it.....HOLY SHIT....what a dumb ass I think.

When I finally manage to tap the poor little tapped block back into a position where I can remove it I notice this....yup you guessed it. I had cracked the intake tappet cylinder really good. Anybody ever priced a set of tappet blocks know they aint cheap.

Needless to say this $1.50 and 2 hour repair job was now gonna cost me a bit more. And once again I reaffirmed what my mom had always told me..........."Son , you always have to learn things the hard way dont you?"

I also learned another lesson......no head adjustments when you still have wrenches in your hand!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Big D]

This didn't cost me anything but time... I was doing a service to the Superglide. Mine is an older Twinkie with the inspection window to adjust the primary chain. I'd just made a spiffy device to reach in and measure the lash. I needed to take up the idler shoe a knotch, and as I was retracting my socket wrench out of the hole, it (socket) came off the extension and dropped it into the bottom of the primary.

No harm done, but I had to break the loctite on the two thousand little cover screws... then another trip to the auto parts store for thread locker.

All's well that ends well, tho. I got the primary up on a bench and gave it a good polish.

[pquirk]

It was in Feb and I hadn't ridden in awhile because of ice and snow but there was a nice break in the weather so I rolled the bike out. It was in the low 40s and the bike had been sitting a couple weeks so I expected it to be hard to start. Went through the standard routine and it wouldn't fire up. Tried a few little tricks and nothing worked; battery sounded good, checked the voltage and it was good. Checked for spark; not the problem. Okay, must not be getting fuel. Roll into the garage pull off the AC so I can see into the carb and twist the wick, no fuel. Ahh, there's the problem, just as I was about to start into the carb looking for the issue I remembered I had turned the fuel off at the petcock since I knew it'd be sitting for awhile. Hmmm. Yep, with the damn fuel on she fired right up. Way to waste Saturday ride time Dumass .

These vacuum petcocks make you forget about turning the damn things on and off.

[thatbikerguy]

In a rush, I hooked up the leads of the jumper pack backwards... Fried the alternator on the caddy and the jumper pack!

[BiggyD]

I once painted a frame that I hadn't stamped vin #'s in yet.

[phreak]

Completely un-motorcycle related.....

Stoopidest thing I've ever done?

Stole a 60' motor home.


16 Years old, drunk on Jack Daniels & Papst Blue Ribbon, my step brother and I decided to go on a walkabout at 2AM.

We got to a horse property in Phoenix, and tried to go phor a ride on a horse. The horse wasn't havin' it. phound a dirt bike, but drunk off our asses at 2AM we couldn't get it up the berm or started. Kept looking phor something to go joy riding in/on. We phound a motor home, unlocked, with the keys in it. I got it started, but being blind drunk at 2AM, I couldn't get it in gear. I called my step brother over, and he managed to get it in gear. He backed it out, got it on the road, and drove it around the neighborhood a bit.

Eventually I convinced him to let me drive..... blind drunk at 2AM. A 60' motor home.

The phirst corner I came to, I made the curve but neglected to come out of it and crashed right into someone's garage door.

OH SHIT! WE WRECKED!!

We took off out of the motor home running at that point. The phirst step I take out of the motor home, I step out of my shoe, and take off running through the neighborhood, minus one shoe.

We're dipping and dodging, running phrom the cruisers, and the helicopter, and doing a pretty good job of it phor being blind drunk at 2AM. We come around a corner, and there's a cruiser.

Apparently he notices I'm walking along wearing only one shoe, so he stops us.

"Excuse me son, but where's your other shoe?"

BUSTED!!!