Mechanical Screw-ups

[metlchip]

I'm stealin this thread from Thumper Talk,
this is My story, lets hear yours!


27 years ago as a stoned college student living in an apartment complex, I traded a guy for a DT-250, so in trying to get it running I tried to rebuild the carb. I reassembled everything and gave 'er a kick the bike started and immediately revved to 27000 rpm!, I pulled the compression release(since there was no kill button)to no avail. Now I'm starting to panic I'm sitting on this thing and its screaming its guts out(ON the side walk, POINTED at my front door in the middle of the complex next to the pool with a number of spectators) I really thought it was gonna blow, so the only thing I could think of was to shut off the fuel and drop it!(no kick stand) So it lay there in screaming agony, with a growing crowd of on-lookers and finally died a quiet death. As i disassembled the carb, I found the slide in backward, jammed full open. Turned it around and started it again ran like a top.
The Apartment manager(one of the spectators) asked if I wouldn't please do that again!
putting the bong away also helped.
Stev-0:teeth

 

[Hellraizer547]

HAHAHA! Its always fun to laugh at people's mistakes...and their own.
I was cleaning the carbs on my R6, When I put the carbs back I placed paper towels blocking off each butterfly for I can complete the rest of the maintence on the R6. Later when I put everything together and started up the bike, everything was running perfect...untill I gave it some gas. The R6 was running like a cylinder was not firing, and I started to worry for my blue machine. After spending an hour checking for spark and the obvious on the carbs, i decided it is time to take the carbs off agian. When I took off the air box I found all the paper towels soaked with gas and stuck in the damn butterflys. And yes, i was sober

Sergio

 

[SLOW10R]

not bike related but good...


my roomate once took all of the lugnuts off both front rims on his car before jacking it up or putting and sort of blocks or stands under it. i walked out and he had his head under the front bumper looking for a jack point. friggin genious

 

[rothmans]

living in an apartment complex, I traded a guy for a DT-250, so in trying to get it running I tried to rebuild the carb. I reassembled everything and gave 'er a kick the bike started and immediately revved to 27000 rpm!

WOW, that brings back some memories....

The year was 1993 I was fresh out of high...brrr I mean cont. high and I was in my first apartment in lovely North Redondo Beach, CA.

Growing up as a kid hardley anyone around me was into bikes and my parents sure as hell were not having it so I had to fend for myself. That meant scrounging up enough to buy my own dirtbike.

When I was about 16, a neighbor and myself found a ad in the Recycler for some old Bultacos!! The price was right and we ended up buying all this crap, two runners, a roller and lots of spare parts and crap.

My neighbor took the 250 Pursang, and I took the El Bandito 360....Two Stroke!!

You should have seen us on these things at Gorman, old school, loud as hell two strokes that were heavy as shit...we mixed 10W-40 motor oil in the gas, partly because we didnt know any better, and partly because we didnt care! We looked like we were straight out of the seventies on these things with our old open face, sparkle colored helmets , aviator shades and flannel shirts...priceless.
:laughing

Well the El Bandito 360 got retired shortly after it fell on me after a nasty hill climb at Gorman and I moved light years ahead with an 85 YZ250...wow a mono shock and liquid cooling...it was amazing and so was the guy I bought it from that had all kinds of exotica in his Redondo Beach garage including a Suzuki RG500!

Well when I finally moved out I still had the Bultaco, and had sold the YZ after I broke the rear spring or some such....and I found a clean 77 or 78 Yamaha RD400....thus the lifelong fascination with two stroke street bikes began for Rothmans....I bought it from a cat in Lawndale for I think around $900 and a quarter of some Mexican...ahh the good ol days of the Recycler...

Anyways I had gotten into trouble on the RD400 in Redondo Beach trying to run from the Police after beings seen doing a wheelie so I had to park that bike. I still had the Bultaco in the garage and had not started it for some time as the exhaust had cracked and it was now even louder than ever....

I decided to see if it would have a go. These things had a left hand kick if I remember and they had a compression release... used to use when decesding hill climbs and to kill the engine...

Well I dont know what happened but I fired this thing and it instantly took off and began SCREAMING at full throttle in my tiny garage below my crappy apartment...the exhaust was busted which added to the noise, the compression release was not working and I was beggining to freak out!!

The noise...oh the noise...the neighbors were starting to stream out of their apartments, the garage was now fully enveloped in 2 stroke smoke and I was I was trying to figure a way to kill this thing...I think I eventually just slammed it into gear and after a few tense moments that included me dropping it on its side it finally died.

That was the last time the old El Bandito and I ever messed with each other....hell I was still smarting about by brusied ankle from Groman and after having a taste of a somewhat modern, light two stroke dirtbike I didnt want anything to do with this antique...I guess they were worth something to collectors, but I sold it for $200 to a buddy....not sure what happened to it.

I still have fond memories of that bike...I feel it did a lot for me...taught me a lot about riding and what it was like for the old school guys back in the day and how lucky we are with the machines we have now...

:laughing

Wow this turned out long....next time I will tell the story of when I was 16 and was looking at bikes to buy in the recycler and took an old Suzuki 750 2 smoke for a test ride...at night....or the time the guy let me test ride is 85 RZ350....ahh the good ol' days of buying bikes out of the Recycler in LA....Craigslist aint got nothin' on it!

 

[metlchip]

Thanks for the story Rothmans,
I had an old pursang also, that thing was ON!!! or offf!!! never had a silencer....I still think nothin's sweeter than the sound of an uncorked 2 stroke....
sold it for 35$
wish I had it now
Stev-0

 

[rothmans]

The ol' El Bandito...

Can you believe I manhandled this thing around....Jeeezus......

 

[rothmans]

This was what the Pursang 250 looked like...Thanks Count Bulto....Go Sete!!

 

[zrxjake]

not exactly a screwup but after 35 years of disassembling motorcycles for maint mods etc. my brother confided that whenever I had one of my bikes apart long term like to freshen up the motor and repaint the frame he would go to the dealership for what ever bike it was and buy a couple bolts usually good sized one then when visiting put them in my parts can so when reassembling I would be looking all over trying to figure out where the bolt belonged. used to drive me nuts.
he said the parts guys thought it was hilarious.