First Ride Of The Seaon - *Funny story.. I guess..*

SVrider24

SVrider24

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So this past week I was slowly preparing my bike for riding season to finally begin after this very long nasty winter!! Part of my preparation was to do a quick oil change (which I've preformed probably 100 times) and a bunch of little things like checking the chain tension, brake pads, tire pressure etc.. so all is good today (Sunday March 30th) and I pop the battery back in and she starts up on the first try - beautiful! Quick blinker check, brake checks, everything looks great (heart starts pumping with excitement) first ride here I come!! Fully geared up and I take off. That first ride after winter is absolute bliss btw!!! ... now comes the fun part..

So I'm at a light and my right foot slips off the peg, that's weird so slippery? I guess its the cold.. I keep riding for a bit and decide to take a break, check the bike out make sure everything is good. I get off the bike and look at my bike from the left side and I see on my rear passenger seat green fluid.. wtf??.. I look down at my bike and see green fluid everywhere.. I see my right leg COVERED in this stuff.. W... T...F.. I go to the right side of my bike and the entire back end, rearset, swingarm, tire, everything is just covered in green ****. (The only green fluid on my bike is my rad fluid and oil).. I then look at the oil filer cap.. wait.. WHERE IS MY OIL FILLER CAP.. so to my horror the cap is no where in sight, probably back at my house flung from my seat when I was changing the oil and forgot about it, and went to install the battery. So I'm 15km or so away from home with a dead phone (of course) a slippery bike, and a gaping hole spitting oil. I have to ride home, keeping the RPM's as low as possible and watching the temp/oil spitting from the filler gap.. I make it home, wash the bike to death and place an order online for a new cap and more oil. - *sigh.. end of story.


Even with that mess, I had an absolute amazing time riding today and although embarrassed (8yrs riding and this is a first) **** happens. be safe and check your bike thoroughly ppl!!! Lucky for me it was just an oil cap and not a missing brake or axle nut etc..
 
thanks for posting,this will make me more aware of what is happening when riding every time out not just the first ride of the season.
 
I've done better. Replaced the clutch on my bike a few years back and did an oil change. Due to time and various little issues, it took me about a week. Thought I had buttoned everything down and went for a shakedown run. About 20km in, my bike tire spins up leaving a red light. Must be something on the ground... Next light notice my oil light is on and puddle of oil underneath. Immediately shut her off and roll into a parking lot. Look over the bike and I'm missing the drain bolt, doh! I finger tightened it and forgot to torque it down...

Got a tow home, picked up a drain bolt the next day and refilled with oil. Thankfully didn't break anything.
 
Thankfully I've never forgot the filler cap or drain plug. But I did forget to change my filter this time. Only had about 2500km on the oil, but I figured since it sat all winter I'd change it anyways. get the job all done, start putting things away, and see the new filter in the box. I could have sworn it was laughing at me
 
Man. I guess with all the excitement sometimes this stuff happens. At least you noticed right away.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
 
Good thing you caught it before it potentially took you out.

I did something mildly embarrassing during my first ride today. Nothing mechanical but I was stopped at a light on Bathurst near Finch. I could see there was another bike across the intersection about 2 cars back. I was so eager to give my first wave of the season that when the light turned green I missed my shift into 2nd and ended up waving from the middle of the intersection while revving loudly in neutral.
 
AF4iK said:
Good thing you caught it before it potentially took you out.

I did something mildly embarrassing during my first ride today. Nothing mechanical but I was stopped at a light on Bathurst near Finch. I could see there was another bike across the intersection about 2 cars back. I was so eager to give my first wave of the season that when the light turned green I missed my shift into 2nd and ended up waving from the middle of the intersection while revving loudly in neutral.
Click to expand...

lmao

I noticed riders, yesterday, were giving full blown "HI!!!!" waves instead of the normal, relaxed, below gas tank waves. I guess we all hated this winter.
 
I had a similar experience when I changed the oil on my Honda VT500 Ascot. 1985. First time I ever changed the oil myself in a motor vehicle.

The Honda had a spin-on can filter at the back of the engine, just in front of the swingarm. The o-ring from the old filter stuck to the engine and I didn't realize it. I went for a quick ride and about 2km from reaching back home, I felt the rear end get all squirrely - the two stacked o-rings had finally come apart and oil was leaking onto the rear tire.

Drove it home gently, leaving a trace of oil along the way.

Ahh, the good old days before cell phones!
 
I just spent the last two weeks obsessing over my tail light bulb. Replaced the bulb twice & almost ordered an OEM bulb from the dealer for $15. The tail light was working but brake light wasn't. Even cleaned the terminals with Q-tips.

Never occurred to me that the tail light & brake light circuits use different fuses even though it's the same bulb. D'oh!
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