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[guest7]

This is suggested by a recent thread, but has no relation to it (so I'm not sniping at anyone's mechanical prowess).

Have you ever tinkered with a bike and regretted it?

My low point came when I decided to change the o-rings on an oil line whilst I was doing an oil change. It all went back together well enough and I rode off happy. I did this service in a motorcycle dealer's workshop and, as it happened, I bought a new lid whilst I was there.

For a day or two after this I kept thinking "this helmet is noisy, my bike sounds completely different". What was actually happening was the engine complaining because the oil line had an air lock and it was running out of lubrication.

Upon negotiating a favourite mini-roundabout (hoicking a wheelie off a bump as I exited), the engine went "clatter, clatter, clatter"

Since that day I always start the bike after an oil change and then ease open the banjo bolt on the head feed, just to check that oil is being pumped.

GC

[guest7]

Oh, nearly forgot, I have lost count of the times I have fitted clip-ons to bikes only to then trap my thumbs against the tank when turning at slow speed.

GC

[Steve Lake]

my first bike, a rigid bantam, was the subject of most of my bodged attempts at servicing....the most memorable and disasterous occurred when i decided to split the cases to find out why it rattled so much, on reassembly i was left with a funny spring thingy....din't have a service manual (too expensive) didn't want to feel a prat and go to the bike shop and say 'can you tell me where this goes?' so left it out....bike started ok.....so took it up the road.....fine, flying in fact....into top gear...lovely....wow, what an ace mechanic i am, i thought......changed down for corner....bang everything locked up, for an instant, then the rear of the engine disappeared down the road in a shower of bits of aluminium and gears, i managed a graceful 'lowside' me and bike ending up against a park bench......never did find out exactly what that spring did.....something to do with keeping gears apart in the box when changing down i suspect.......its scary that GC started this topic......as i was clearing out my junk box only yesterday, looking for something and came across this spring...which set me off on a memory lane train of thought....completely forgot what i was in the garage for..... pip pip

[guest18]

Daft young laddie... had to take the cylinder head off my Z200 (I can't remember why!?!) and clearly being broke and daft... couldn't afford new gaskets and didn't have the brains/skills to make them. So I used red hermetite on the cylinder base, plenty "so it would seal" 
For those of you who don't know them, the oilway going up to a Z200 cylinder head narrows part way up, an ideal place for a blob of hermetite to stick and seal off the oilway, I did wonder why the head was quite so hot..... and then the clattering from the knackered cam lobes/bearing faces/followers etc gave it away 

[Bruce]

I first had a BSA C15 it cost me £7-00 but I had to get hold of a crank as the big egg was shot got it running and Mot ed then passed my test on it.When my Dad changed the oil on his car I used to use the old oil to top up the tank.

[xbruby]

Ah yes, the days when I enthusiastically stripped engines down without a clue as to what I was doing (so what's new I hear you cry!).

I once stripped a 250 Superdream engine down and when I rebuilt it I had a 'bit left over'.
'Oh b******s' I thought and proceeded to re-strip said engine until I found a suitable place for the square spacer washer that was 'left over'.

After rebuilding the engine the second time I noticed the freezer leaning to the left. On closer inspection the adjustable foot thingy, complete with square spacer washer was missing.

Gulp! Break out into a cold sweat, by now having shoe horned motor back into frame, worse still the bike belonged to my best mate.

Only one thing for it I thought, yes you've guessed I started it up to see how it went 

Well it ran just fine so I put a bit of timber under the freezer and didn't mention 'the bit left over ' to my mate. To this day I have no idea where I managed to fit the 'spare bit' but it still makes me laugh out loud. That and pulling the brake lever in whilst said best mate had face over bleed nipple gaining an eye full of brake fluid and assisting me in removing the engine whilst not fully drained. Said oil poured out of the missing crank case drain hole, through the hole in the knee of his jeans and filled his slipper - health and safety first 

Oh what japes! 

[guest7]

After rebuilding the engine the second time I noticed the freezer leaning to the left. On closer inspection the adjustable foot thingy, complete with square spacer washer was missing.

Bloody superb, a moment of 'Shobba'esque horror and humour.

Which reminds me, I miss Shobba, the best bike cartoonist by far, imho

GC

[robG]

More years than I now care to remeber,I was helping a chum to reduce an Xt 500 to component parts to get the frame stoved . The motor was in fine fettle , so apart from cosmetics , the motor was staying as was . As I removed what I recall was an oil line { breather ?} from behind the barrel , I unscrewed the last of the allen bolts holding it in .I pulled the pipe to one side and somehow dropped said allen screw down the hole .Quick as a flash , I grabbed a screw driver with a magnetic end and tried to lift the allen bolt out of the hole . As I did so , I knelt on the other allen screw from the pipe which I had left on the floor as as to be able to find it . A shooting pain in my left knee resulted in a involountary twitch causing me to prod said errant allen screw , which then disappeared around the u bend of the hole into the depths of the motor .Bugger !

Another chum apeared on the scene and after much debate disappeared , only to return with a magnetic claw thingy and after much stuff and nonsense,  the errant allen screw was retrieved . Phew!

Rob .