Bonehead Mistakes | GTAMotorcycle.com

Bonehead Mistakes

Mad Mike

Mad Mike

Well-known member
Made a classic bonehead mistake this morning. I'm installing a big bore kit on my little Suzuki SP, after sliding the wrist pin into the piston, I dropped the c-clip into the case! Only performed this action a hundred times before without fail - now I'm going on a magnetic fishing expedition.

What's your worst repair fail?
 
Mad Mike said:
Made a classic bonehead mistake this morning. I'm installing a big bore kit on my little Suzuki SP, after sliding the wrist pin into the piston, I dropped the c-clip into the case! Only performed this action a hundred times before without fail - now I'm going on a magnetic fishing expedition.

What's your worst repair fail?
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Lucky! Got it first cast. 890B5894-86FF-4323-8D72-D35DB75D5CB4.jpeg
 
Put a new piston in the Ossa. Arrow goes forward like always. Barrel goes on....... Wait a minute. Turn it over by hand. Those rings are going to snag.
Oh yeah, the exhaust port is at the back.
No harm done.
 
Few years ago I had a new-to-me track bike that I had painstakingly repaired and repainted all the fairings over the winter....spent weeks on it.
First track day of the season, at Grand Bend, and ******* dropped it on the trailer while unloading it.
Hadn’t even ridden it yet.
 
Did a top end rebuild on one of our Jetskis years ago after an oil injection line fell off and scored the heck out of a cylinder one day. Had to get it machined oversize, new overbore pistons, all that good stuff.

Had a heck of a time finding the replacement gasket kit as it seemed everyone must have needed them that summer. Finally found one. Promptly wrecked the base gasket a few days later when I was putting the cylinders back on and trying to juggle 3 ring compressors while feeding the pistons back into the jugs, all while the engine was still in the ski as removing it on that particular ski was an epic PITA.

Long period of frustration occurred until I was able to get a replacement base gasket, which of course, was only available with duplicates of many other gaskets I didn't need. They're all still sitting in my garage 6-8 years later.
 
Not me (thankfully) but I was involved in the aftermath of a destroyed torque converter. No big deal normally, but the bill for this one was well into six figures. The best explanation they could come up with is the mechanic mounted the new torque converter and tried to drive the vehicle without putting any fluid in it resulting in it tearing itself to pieces. Then they realized their screw up, added the oil, drained out the sparkles and made a warranty claim.
 
GreyGhost said:
Not me (thankfully) but I was involved in the aftermath of a destroyed torque converter. No big deal normally, but the bill for this one was well into six figures. The best explanation they could come up with is the mechanic mounted the new torque converter and tried to drive the vehicle without putting any fluid in it resulting in it tearing itself to pieces. Then they realized their screw up, added the oil, drained out the sparkles and made a warranty claim.
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what was that on?
 
Got the little SP motor together using a Chinese big bore kit. Arrrgh. Had to pull the head and cylinder off after getting it all together. The new piston was .2mm taller, so after assembly the piston hit the head. Pulled the head and added an extra head gasket. No-va. Pulled the head and jug to add an extra base gasket and things are good.

Fired and ran like a charm on 3rd kick.

Gonna revisit my youth and do some 150cc wheelies tomorrow.
 
180 degree floating wheelie turn on a floating dock :|
 
Gary said:
I got married.
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I got married twice! Think I’d learn after the first one?!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Mad Mike said:
Made a classic bonehead mistake this morning. I'm installing a big bore kit on my little Suzuki SP, after sliding the wrist pin into the piston, I dropped the c-clip into the case! Only performed this action a hundred times before without fail - now I'm going on a magnetic fishing expedition.

What's your worst repair fail?
Click to expand...
I knocked a dowel pin off a valve cover and got it caught in my cam chain once
 
Wore shorts to work once, when I was a kid. We were tearing out and rebuilding some walls. Have a four inch scar from walking too close to a cut stud.
 
Where to start?

Rebuilt an old CB350. I boosted it to life with my 10amp engine boost battery charger and then decided to snick it into gear to make sure that side worked. Didn't stop to think about the charger cables wrapped over the back tire. Ripped one cable out of the charger before chucking it across the garage.

Changing tranny gears in an old CB750 and unknowingly mated two gears from different sets. Didn't realize this mistake would lock up the motor completely until I had the engine all nicely bolted back into the bike.

After reading the part about placing rags around the top end of my KLR before pulling the cams, I did a very poor job with the rags and had to pull the side cover to fish out a dowel pin.

Oh and I once bought a BMW.
 
timtune said:
Changing tranny gears in an old CB750 and unknowingly mated two gears from different sets. Didn't realize this mistake would lock up the motor completely until I had the engine all nicely bolted back into the ...
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Reminds me of my fix this Pringle’s on my rear time tiller. Had to split the case (4hrs) then replace the internal drive chains then reassemble (4hrs). Fired her up, times spinning great, wheels no. Fiddled with the shift mechanism for an hour before noticing the wheel drive chain was sitting on my bench.
 
Evoex said:
:cautious:
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I came close, but if I'd bought it I wouldn't have had any cash to repair it.
I may actually have bought a Buick LeSabre instead, but at least it didn't cost as much to repair for it's short life.
 
Had to laugh about this one, happened on the weekend to my brother in law. My young niece just started driving, she took the family Honda Odessy and dads gas card for a fill up. She calls dad from the pump and asks “what gas do I use?” Dad replies “the cheapest”.

In goes 50l of $.94 diesel.
 
FWIW, don’t make this mistake. It cost my BIL $1200 to have the diesel fuel removed and the system flushed.

And another $60 for gas.
 
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