What is the dumbest thing you did wrenching on your bike

Jack Klarich · Nov 14, 2022

I overfilled the oil tank on my 1960 Panhead, oil blew out under the seat and down the frame onto the exhaust

After that I always left an air space in the horseshoe oil tank

Mykneesbehurtin · Nov 14, 2022

I don't think I have reached my true potential yet lol. But since you asked, rebuilding the top end on my buddies EVO. I put the rings on upside down.

rhino 2 · Nov 14, 2022

Forgetting to put the drain plug back in before filling the crankcase… but I bet I’m not alone on that one… Plus the occasional strip nuts and bolts….And then there was the left handed lug nuts on my 68 Charger…:gah:..

cScjhb · Nov 14, 2022

I "fat fingered" a tiny little nut when installing a GPS bracket. Didn't take any precautions for when I dropped it..... and I did. It was a "one of a kind" size. Spent over an hour on my hands and knees with flashlight, magnet, and a grumpy attitude. Finally went to the hardware store and bought a new set of 4 nuts and bolts to change out the mounting to a more common size. A couple of months later, that #%&@ nut appeared, plain as day, in a shallow seam in the cement. It was just sitting there looking at me as shinny as could be.

That nut now resides in a small bowl on my desk to remind me that a drop-cloth can be my friend..... Jim

wlivin2 · Nov 14, 2022

Pulling fuel line on my sporty and it wasn't coming off pulled a little harder gas went every where in my eyes. And I was hundred yards from my house. couldn't see and of course no one heard me yell for help. Thanks to my neighbor saw me trying to walk across my yard like a blind man in a forest helped me get to some water to rinse my eyes out.

hardwickbv · Nov 14, 2022

Forgot to put the reusable oil filter back on with a relocation kit on before starting it up, made a hell of a mess on the concrete floor.

The filter was still sitting where I put it to dry out after cleaning.

Got is shut down quick and only lost a quart.

Bob

1dn5up · Nov 14, 2022

hardwickbv said:
Forgot to put the reusable oil filter back on with a relocation kit on before starting it up, made a hell of a mess on the concrete floor.

The filter was still sitting where I put it to dry out after cleaning.

Got is shut down quick and only lost a quart.

Bob

At least you flushed out the old oil in the line .

DOKK · Nov 14, 2022

Grabbing a T25 instead of a T27.

Olddog · Nov 15, 2022

While being a helpful child (I thought), I filled the crank case of my father’s work truck, instead of the radiator, with water from the garden hose. Took a while to get up to the proper level in the valve cover.

Phu Cat · Nov 16, 2022

I'll bite, Dog: Just how upset was dear old Dad?

Olddog · Nov 16, 2022

Phu Cat said:
I'll bite, Dog: Just how upset was dear old Dad?

He was pretty cool about it. He called a mechanic friend, who told him, if it hadn’t been started, to drain it and add just the oil and filter back. Lucky for me!

hydraglide · Nov 23, 2022

Olddog said:
While being a helpful child (I thought), I filled the crank case of my father’s work truck, instead of the radiator, with water from the garden hose. Took a while to get up to the proper level in the valve cover.

Well your story brought back memories of something that happened at a gas station I worked at many moons ago…

We sold diesel fuel and being a full service station, we regularly would be asked to check the oil and fluid levels. A coworker, “Rich”, was servicing a semi that pulled in and the driver asked him to check the radiator.

Brought out the garden hose and started filling… ooopsie, he stuck the hose in the crankcase and proceeded to “fill er’ up” with H2O! Semi was idling at the time… man, not a cool scene!

That semi sat at the island for weeks as insurance adjusters came out figure out what to do.

As I recall, many many oil flushes were done.

My wrenching challenges? One of the better ones was failing to use a flare wrench on a fuel line fitting… lesson learned!

Rogue1 · Nov 24, 2022

rhino 2 said:
Forgetting to put the drain plug back in before filling the crankcase… but I bet I’m not alone on that one… Plus the occasional strip nuts and bolts….And then there was the left handed lug nuts on my 68 Charger…:gah:..

You are definitely not alone with the drain plug issue.

Rogue1 · Nov 24, 2022

DOKK said:
Grabbing a T25 instead of a T27.

That's it?

rhino 2 · Nov 24, 2022

Rogue1 said:
That's it?

A lot of people when changing their oil on the early Cam-Am Spyder's grabbed a Torx instead of Allen and stripped the crankcase drain plug head …And then complained that either the factory or dealer Over Tightened it and that’s why it stripped.&#55357;&#56833;…

When The Can-Am Spyders first came out it attracted a lot of tool handicap do it yourselfers…..&#55357;&#56841;…