Your moto wrenching mess ups.

My dad has a jeep, last time he owned a dirt bike was when i was little. I have heard multiple times "oh this will be quick, I just need to fix this or install this", 1 hour or more later "still not done". Luckily on the most recent jeep, it already had a lot of the stuff used for rock crawling and protection basically. But on the 93 YJ he sold last year, he installed every modification, sometimes needing the help of my grandpa when he lived a few minutes away or a good friend. We started jeeping 10 years ago, maybe more. I have a good story about the first jeep trip, but I will talk about that at a later date. Jeep means Just Empty Every Pocket.

I sold a nice but well used Yz250 to a kid that was just getting into riding & didn’t haven’t much money..he called me 2 weeks later & said it blew up… initially I was like like..caveat emptor… I then realized I had poured unmixed fuel in the tank… it was for my crf450…I paid the engine rebuild bill….When I was 14 years old I bought a used81 Cr125, I was  so stoked to have a watercooled bike, the crank let go almost immediately… the seller told me to pound salt…as a lower income middle class kid, I had to deliver alot of papers to pay for the bike & rebuild….I couldn’t live with myself to be that guy….

I was adjusting the chain between motos when a friend came up and we started to chat. I got lost in the conversation and forgot to tighten the axle back up.

A couple of laps into the next moto things didn't feel quite right back there as the nut had backed off further. It broke the hub. Not really bad, but bad enough that i pushed my bike back to the pickup.

On my way i ran into Ted Devol in the pits. He asked what had happened and I explained. He said he never takes his ratchet off the axle nut to prevent that from happening. So I've been doing that way ever since too. Thanks Ted

Brand new fuel injected 2009 crf 450. Turns out they don’t run so well on diesel.

Washougal practice day get to the track notice unloading. Crap my rear tire is flat! Friend had a tube so we're scrambling before practice to get it swapped. We'll we forgot to pump the rear brake up. 

I get on the track hit this small table then there's a tight right hander turn. At the time it was dug out like a deep bowl turn. I'm way up on the top outside edge. I got to hit the rear brake. Oh shit there's no brake!

Front tire tucked dives in and I flip over the front of the bike. As I fall like 10 feet to the ground on my right shoulder. Getting pile driven into the ground by my bike. Luckily just only banged up no bike damage. 

I make sure my brakes work good now. 

YES!

I did that in 1990.  Forgot to add premix.

At a race.  Took the KX80 out and it seized in about a half a lap.

Hopped on the 125 and seized in almost the same exact spot!  What the heck man!?!  

Not moto related, but I did a clutch on an older enduro bike and left a small rag in that I was using to stop the main gear.  It went through the motor and clogged the oil pump and at about 60 mph, it seized. 

I did the same once with a soil compacter we had rented. We have 2 fuel pumps on the farm , a gas and a diesel of course and i just brain farted late in the day as it was getting dark and I wanted to be done with the job. 

Drained the carb and the tank, pulled the spark plugs and pulled the starter rope a bunch of times. Put gas in it and it ran fine after a minute or so of sputtering. 

About 2 years ago, I was trying to remove the rear brake pedal.  I kept trying to loosen the bolt, and it was really stiff, but I kept cranking.  Couldn't figure out why the bolt wouldn't come off.  Then I finally remembered there is a cotter pin on the back side of the bolt to keep it from falling out.  By cranking that bolt with a cotter pin on, I managed to strip out the threads in the frame that hold the bolt on.  Doh.

Back in the 2 stoke days..... I put a new piston in, went out and rode, it seized in about 10 minutes. I was pissed, pulled the piston out and beat it to death with a hammer  LOL  I went back to the dealer and bought another piston, he asked where the old one was and that he would warranty it.  😦 

First bike Yz80e, it lost power. After removing the head there was hundreds of dents in it, I assumed piston ring locating pin fell out and did this.

I had the head machined, flushed the bottom end with fuel, reassembled it all, and guess what.

Next time I had the crank rebuilt, re-machined the head, new piston ect..

.Luckily the bore and port openings survived without a scratch.

Anyway, an expensive lesson learnt, whist working a part time job.

When I was about 15 I forgot to put the gas cap back on after filling my bike up between sessions, soaked myself with fuel very first jump I hit 

In '85 I zip-typed my CR500 air filter bracket that had broken because I had a big money (for local pro) race on the weekend. Probably could have swapped the airbox with my CR250 but was too lazy to try and stupid enough to think it would hold for one race.

Was leading - bike slowed, came to a stop. Instead of making money had to replace crank/piston/bearings. 18 and stupid. 

In 1977 I had a 76 RM250. I was doing some normal maintenance getting ready for a ride the next day. After I was done I tried to fire it up but it wouldn't start. I kicked it tell I couldn't any more. I pulled the plug out and kicked it over but no spark. I was like great. My buddy had the same bike, so I took it over to his house and pulled his ignition system of his and put it on mine. Still no spark. I had been working on it for a few hours and gave up. 

I had a friend that had a small shop so the next day I took it to him and explained what I had done up to that point. His first thing he asked was "did you check the spark plug". I said no I had put a brand new one in when I started doing the maintenance prep for riding the next day. He said that's your problem. He put in an old spark plug and it fired right up. I felt like an idiot. The simplest thing first he told me. So I learned my lesson to never think because a part is new that it can't be defective.

I got this. Starting a Supercross team?? 

Couple of giggles.

Friend messed up his maths converting nM to in/lbs and went to torque the drain plug on his brand new Beta, you can guess the rest. 

Had a roommate put a paddle tire on backwards. Came in the house and ripped another binger then proceeded to take it off and put it on backwards a second time. He didn't make that trip to Glamis. I miss that guy.

I posted in another thread years ago making a homemade spark arrestor on a YZ250 for a desert race that went backwards through the silencer and ended up plugging the outlet of the expansion chamber causing a long walk back to the pits. Took me a while to figure that one out.

And who hasn't left a rag in the airbox at least once?  

My next door neighbor rode bikes and bought a 1986 CR250 that had been super dependable for me.  I had bought a top end kit for it and never installed it as the top end was fine.  After riding the bike for a few months, he tells me he's going to put in the new top end. I asked if he needed a hand and he said he knew what he was doing and would be fine.  After putting it back together it barely runs and wont rev out at all. I'm helping him out and checking out the carb and looking for any massive air leaks, but all looks good.  I then ask him if he left anything in the cylinder..."nope I don't think so". Then asked if he put the piston in the right direction..."Hmm...I don't know, which way is the right way?" .  Yep, the arrow on top of piston was pointing backwards. At least it didn't mess anything up. 

I did this exact thing on an 85 250R three wheeler, but it was the shop that gave us the arrow direction.   It went together but ran like crap, thankfully we pulled it apart with no cylinder damage.

New OEM piston put into my YZ 250. Bike has an Apex head and the replacement o rings took awhile to get delivered. So I used an extra set of OEM rings and a cheap hardware store o ring for the water seal by the spark plug (if you run an Apex, you know). Fired the bike up and immediately went to WFO runaway!! Sacrificed my hand and yanked the spark plug cap. Felt like I got electrocuted up to my shoulder. Long story short, improper O-rings will lead to a massive air leak. Bike was only wide open for 5 seconds, and everything looked okay….just had to go change my pants afterwards. 

My kids “helping” with bike work is one of the most stressful things I’ve encountered. First big oops was replacing chain and sprockets, didn’t tighten front sprocket bolt and it fell out lap 3 of practice over a table top locking up on landing. Second oops was doing an oil change on our ktm 50, didn’t tighten drain plug. My rips off on his bike to come back 2 minutes later saying he’s bike sounds weird. I followed the trail of oil down the paddock and actually found the bolt! Poured oil back in and the little thing fired right up. 

I love that your riding buddies (or wife) took a picture so you'd never forget.

Was attempting my first fork rebuild myself as a teenager. BBR SP5 pit bike forks for a xr50. I was struggling holding the stanchion in place while working with the other hand, so I used a vice (with steel jaws)......stanchion ruined.

Lots of dumb shit. But my wife's favorite is me not tightening the rear axle nut before sending my son out to practice. At least her frustration  turned into embarrassment as I ran the entire track looking for it during the national anthem before the race. 

Doing oil change on my kid RMZ250. Drain engine oil and hand tied drain plug,than i see 13 years old kid driving big Kodiac pick up truck in the pits. Bieing the board member at the time had to run and stop this kid from running somebody over. Put oil in afterwords. Practice next morning bike locked up half a lap in to it (drain plug came out) Moral of the story ,don't get distracted when working on your bike or car

Oh! Just recently, I did a carb clean on my kid's RM85, which we're about to sell. I put the slide in backward, which means the throttle is essentially wide open, thanks to a locator groove on one side but not the other. I don't know how I managed to even get the carb back together that way, but thankfully the bike wouldn't start anyway. 

The one that sticks out most to me is the time I replaced the clutch on my 1983 YZ100.   It was my first full sizish bike and I was around 12 or so I think. It was well used by the time I got it.  I replaced the clutch plates and did not have a torque wrench. My buddy had just snapped off a few bolts when doing a clutch on his XR 200 and I had read that they should be around 12-15flbs or so.  So I tightened them to what I thought that might be. And went for a ride.  It was going great for most of the ride. But then it started to squeal. So I headed home. Not long after the sound started, it stopped.  Shortly after it stopped I looked down and noticed my right boot was wet and muddy. It took a second to realize I had not ridden through any mud at all and I took a second look and notice a perfect circle was cut out of my  clutch cover!!   

I pushed the bike a few miles home. My Dad called up the local Yamaha shop to find out the cost of a new cover. And the bad news was that there were not any available or many days/weeks away , or perhaps just too much money for 12 year old me. It was magnesium and the next day my Dad talked to his buddy that worked in the tool room at his shop. And got the name of a welder. We were able to get if welded up for $20. And it said AHAM instead of Yamaha . But it worked perfectly fine and I rode it for a couple years before buying my next bike.

 An 89 RM 250 at 14. For $1200 from a guy up the road. I lost the drain plug on it onetime but stopped before it was an issue.  It had gotten close to being stripped out by the previous owner. And I did not want to have another bolt fall out from not tightening it enough, so I ended up overtighening it and killing the threads that were left and only found out when I tried to put the new plug back in.  

 I went out for practice at Joly Rogers on a CR 250 without trans oil and rode 3 laps with a fresh clutch and  only the oil I soaked the plates in before installing. It ended up being fine. Back then we only got 2-3 laps for practice. 

I changed a tire for a buddy while still drunk from the night before. He came back to the truck after trying to fill it with air , with a tube that had over 20 pinch holes in it.................

That's all I can remember  . 

I'm actually guilty of leather polish on my seat.

Just completely rebuild my YZ250. Had it down to a bare frame, split cases, new top end, full on rebuild. Fired right up and was great. Did two heat cycles with no issues. Thought I’d ride around the yard for a bit and be easy on it. Made about two laps and it just bogs our & dies. First thought was it was out of gas. Checked that and had plenty. Kicked & kicked for what felt like for ever. Decided to check for spark and wasn’t getting any. Traced it back and forgot to tighten this pickup. Luckily the bolts just fell to the bottom and didn’t mess anything up. Put it back together and fired first kick after lol 

Overtightened oil drain the night before going riding. It stripped the threads and it made a small crack in the casing. The cases were trash at that point, so JB weld the drain bold in place to hold for next day and ran it for like 10 more hours since I knew it’s fate 🤷🏻‍♂️

In 2002?, I blew up a kx125 at Millville.

My dad, a couple friends, and myself did a fire drill to put a new top end in before my next moto.

Made it about a lap and a half and the thing starts smoking. Not long later, I am pushing it back again.

One of us missed a hose clamp.