The "I'm dumb" thread.

[Falban]

Internet Archive is cool!  I've never seen it before.     

After owning my bike for over a year I finally sat down and read the "Periodic Maintenence, Lubrication and Tune-up" chapter in my Clymers. 
There's not an emoticon to express the "Ooooooooohhhhhhhhhh" of illumination that left my lips with each turn of the page.  Previously I had referenced the chapter for a few individual tasks, but reading it as a whole gave me a broader sense of what motorcycle ownership is about.    me!     

[BabyHawk250]

I've also forgotten to use the strap for the helmet after putting it and my gloves on, so I have to take the gloves off to get the helmet strap in place...then I remember about the ear plugs I forgot to use and I do it all over again.

lol, this one happens to me more than I'd like to admit...

...and I also accidentally waved to a scooter once, if that counts.

[cjbear11]

I've also forgotten to use the strap for the helmet after putting it and my gloves on, so I have to take the gloves off to get the helmet strap in place...then I remember about the ear plugs I forgot to use and I do it all over again.

lol, this one happens to me more than I'd like to admit...

...and I also accidentally waved to a scooter once, if that counts.

Lol. I'm in the same boat. Don't worry.

[slmjim]

Hi all,
   There was the time I put the rear wheel back on after mounting a new tire and I forgot to connect the torque link to the rear hub. Everything was fine until I touched the rear brake at the bottom of my driveway's hill & promptly wrapped the brake rod around the rear axle spacer  .

   That's the only one I'm admitting to 'till I get to know y'all better...

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE

[tdw]

First 
Second day on the bike, beautiful quiet Sunday morning, family all accounted for elsewhere, figure it's a perfect opportunity to ride to church.

Get all the gear on, fire up the beast, riding down the road thinking "what is that flapping around hitting my helmet - I don't remember there being any straps, zipper pulls, ... on my jacket".

Stopped at a light, feel around for what could be the offending thing flying around in the breeze but can't find anything. It's not until I reach my destination, stop the bike & try to undo my helmet strap that I realize it was never done up.  At least I found out what was was hitting my helmet. 

Second 

When I purchased the bike, I needed to have a new rear tire installed in order for it to pass safety. I don't have a garage, so we trailer it to my buddy's house to leave it in his garage while having the new rubber installed.

We remove the rear wheel so he can take it to a guy he knows. While we're removing things I think "hmm, there's a hole through that bolt (which I learned the hard way to be the bolt that holds the torque link to the rear brake panel) ... doesn't that mean there should be a cotter pin through it?" (First strike - listen to your instincts)

This is my first bike, I've never done any of my own car maintenance & my buddy was the one with all the experience encouraging me to ride a motorcycle, so I figured he knew what he was doing. Further the PO clearly hadn't put a cotter pin in there & he led me to believe that he was an avid rider, highly experienced & performed almost all his own maintenance. (Second stike - don't trust anyone else to maintain your bike like you will)

Tire comes back from the shop, all balanced with a nice new tire (or tyre for our continental friends). My buddy & I re-install it, still without a cotter pin.

About a week later I'm on a long Sunday afternoon ride with him. I notice that when I apply the rear brake that it occasionally 'clunks' before I can feel the brake being applied. I mention it to my buddy and his response was "probably nothing, it's a 30 year old bike after all". (Third strike - listen to your bike, if something "doesn't seem right", it probably isn't)

Next morning I'm on my way to work, doing between 80 & 90 km/h (~50 mph) coming up to a light. The light is going yellow so I start to brake to stop for the impending red when my rear wheel locks up. Thankfully I'm able to keep it upright and come to a complete stop without hitting anyone / anything or being hit.

The light is red & I'm in the right hand lane so I'm able to push the bike off to the shoulder. When I inspect the rear wheel I see the tourque arm hanging free, the brake arm mangled beyond recognition and the brake rod wrapped tightly around the rear axle spacer.  It immediately dawns on me ... so that hole in the bolt was for a cotter pin! DOH!!

I am now the proud owner of both the OEM shop manual & a Clymers manual for my bike, am slowly building up my 'bike tool chest' & while I'll always appreciate my buddy's help & encouragement, I'll not rely on him to ensure my bike is in proper working order.

Hope this helps someone else from repeating my mistakes.

[Kurgan]

Yesterday afternoon I pulled the NH out for a spin. Hit the starter, wouldn't turn over. Tried it again, nothing. Checked the fuel petcock, it was fine. Tried again, and again, and again. Checked the battery voltage: 12.4 (fine).  Eventually it started, but it took a long time to warm up, and would stall every time I hit the throttle to rev it. Of course, I am used to FI bikes... and had forgotten that this sucker has a choke for cold start-ups!! 

[Money]

Yesterday afternoon I pulled the NH out for a spin. Hit the starter, wouldn't turn over. Tried it again, nothing. Checked the fuel petcock, it was fine. Tried again, and again, and again. Checked the battery voltage: 12.4 (fine).  Eventually it started, but it took a long time to warm up, and would stall every time I hit the throttle to rev it. Of course, I am used to FI bikes... and had forgotten that this sucker has a choke for cold start-ups!!  

Did something similar after pulling mine out from hibernation. Trying to get some fuel into the carbs again by push starting so I didn't run the battery down while filling the bowls. Forgot to turn the choke on while attempting to start it. Sure seemed like it was taking an awful lot of pushing to get things going! Once I figured it out she fired right up, just as I am accustomed to.

[82CB750SC]

Checking the bulbs on the bike this morning forced me to take a trip in the car to the store to replace a rear turn signal bulb.  Guess who left the key in the ignition turned on.

Guess who needs a new battery.

[NightHawked]

Can't you try a recharge on it?

[82CB750SC]

Maybe.  I have it on the trickle charger now.  When I got back it wouldn't spin the starter, but would just click.  After a few minutes of charger it wanted too, but didn't have enough juice. 

I was told that once a battery goes dead it's hard to bring it back.  Not the first time I've done this...

[NightHawked]

OK, well I would try it overnight/24 hours anyway.

[Soupskin]

I've left my key in my Bandit at work...

In the ON position...

TWICE.

Did you know it's next to impossible to bump start a fuel injected bike?  Learn from my sitting in a dark parking lot at 10 PM waiting for a jump.  Amazingly, my batter is still good.

[Poligrafovich]

Maybe.  I have it on the trickle charger now.  When I got back it wouldn't spin the starter, but would just click.  After a few minutes of charger it wanted too, but didn't have enough juice.  

I was told that once a battery goes dead it's hard to bring it back.  Not the first time I've done this...

Don't give up. Recharge it and try again. If I'd had to buy a new battery every time I've run one down I'd be even poorer than I am.

[bajakirch]

I've run mine down at least 3 times since I've owned the bike. It's not great for the battery, but mine have all survived.

[ariwhiteboy]

Well, new vehicle=new stupidity I guess.

Last night I was trying to program some sort of feature on the new Flex. Had the parking lights turned on so I could have all the buttons illuminated inside. Yep, I left them on. Luckily for some strange reason SOQS popped her head in the garage around 3am to make sure I had closed the garage door. She turned them off and it started this morning. 

[82CB750SC]

Thanks guys for all the input about my battery.  I've charged it, now let's see if it quits on me.

[shadow2595]

My dumb story happened back when I first got my bike.  It was probably the 2nd or 3rd time I had ever ridden a motorcycle other than those little 250s I had to use for my motorcycle endorsement course.  It was pretty chilly, maybe mid 40s, and back then I hadn't done anything to the bike yet.  The air filter still looked like someone had took a dump in it, the carbs were still dirty as heck, among a few other things so with all this plus the cold weather the throttle response was far less than great.  I'd turn the throttle, but it would take literally 2-3 seconds before the bike would respond.  The fact I actually rode my bike in this condition is probably dumb enough, but it gets better.

I rode it to class and when me and my roommate hopped on our bikes I just couldn't get my bike to get up and go because of the aforementioned reasons and I was so nervous because of them i definitely wasn't giving it enough gas so I kept stalling.  Well finally my hand slips and I dump the clutch and it's at this time the throttle decides to kick in so I basically dumped the clutch while getting the throttle practically all the way open.  The front of the bike comes up what my roommate says is a good 3 feet off the ground, the bike slams back down, and it launches me off the side of the bike.  My back was sore for a good two weeks after this little mishap and now my roommate and his friend have given me the nickname "stunt-man Mike" in honor of this hilarious story.  So lesson learned, if the bike is running like crap I'm not gettin anywhere near it til it's fixed.

[Boise Jim]

Amazingly, my batter is still good.

How were the pancakes?

[Soupskin]

Amazingly, my batter is still good.

How were the pancakes?

Tasty!  They're fruity and nutty, just like me.