Ducati Monster Forum

As in, you have all your shit laid out just so, well, just the stuff you need 'cause you're so damn
smart, doing your valves, and make the beast with two backsing sanding on your Shim Measuring Tool?  [bang]
(Wow that closer STILL binds a little? Huh!)

Ok so I only wasted a few minutes at it, and as slow as progress is sanding I didn't do any real harm.
But damn, you kinda like to have your head straight doing this stuff?

I'm sure I've done worse.

So what's something totally stupid you've caught yourself doing?

Mine usually involves hunting around for some tool I just had, for ages - when I was super bright and stuck it in a pocket to keep it handy.

+1  I usually would put all tools in one place and line up all bolts/screws in another area.  But while I am working on something, I would think ahead of myself by placing this one tool at where I will need it in the next step.  Like it would save me 3 seconds.  But then I would forget about that move.  Minutes later, I go back to the tool area and can't find shit...

I am an idiot  [bang]

my list is long and storied... lol

Actually my big one is that I continually buy the same consumables over and over.. We do a lot of welding and fab work, and a lot of grinding and smoothing. (I prefer no welds to a row of nickels)

10,000 things going on all the time, and I go to Grainger 3 times, and buy the same damn grit sanding disk or Scotchbrite disk...

Arghhh

Too many to list here - that is for sure-- [roll]


But this seems like an appropriate thread to see the chain made around the ladder rungs [cheeky]

Does somebody have the pic?

taking stock rearsets off bike at work

remove side stand bolt and have bike fall on me

not my best day

but pretty funny

No. I'm a different type of idiot altogether.

sac

I've been beat down by a drill that ran away while drilling out a Honda 919 frame for sliders [laugh]

But yeah, I usually do the "where is that tool" thing as well.....it's always right infront of you when you give up [laugh]

+1, me too.

me three

... At least you're not this guy  ;D

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=595717 (http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=595717)

yes i am an idiot.


first time i did my valves i measured an entire cylinder on the WRONG STROKE.
proceeded to sand the shims until they were double the needed gap and had to buy whole
new shims after i thought the whole adjustment was going to cost me $5 in sandpaper

awesome.

I had the problem of putting things back together to "test fit" w/out torquing down all the bolts....only to forget that things were not torqued to spec and assembling the whole shabang!

Recently hand tightened most of the 14 bolts on the Bandit valve cover only to discover it was on backwards.   :P

What's that about a rear brake caliper??

 :P

Rode bike to work...cool out, about 40 degrees and dropping.  Got my gear on and bike was hard to start.  Push bike up next level in parking garage to roll down and start in 2nd gear...become huge tool in 12 seconds and can not get bike to start.  Try a couple of other times, no dice...becoming even a Godzilla-like tool. 

Finally give up, call tow truck.  In the mean time...lose key.  Need tow truck person to help me push and move rear tire to get on truck.  Very warm at this time with winter riding gear on.  Fortunately had extra key at home and much easier to get in garage. 

Came down to loose battery connections.   [bang]

I think I already admitted to that in a public forum (here).  The valve cover was even funnier, because it took me 60 full seconds to figure it out.  After I stopped swearing, I laughed for 5 minutes.   [cheeky]

I still vote for the caliper as the better of the two.   ;D



Still, neither as good as the following one though.   ;)









 [thumbsup]












(http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g266/altersys/Picture110.jpg)

you too?

ROTFL  That's too funny.  Reminds me of when I installed a new lock on my bedroom door and locked myself out...  The keys were in the bedroom DOH!  Had to bust the door trim to get the door open. 

Pulled up to the gas pump on my old S4Rs and got off but forgot to put the stand down.

You get the picture. :P

Dolph

On a related note...


Happy Birthday Ash!!

 ;D

Really?

How appropriate. [laugh] [clap] [laugh] [clap]

Yay, I'm an idiot too.

Needed a way to get the rear tire off the ground so I could do a nice thorough chain clean n lube.  Couldn't really work it out, but then had the bright flash of an idea: a couple of cheap come-alongs would do, looped around a beam in the carport.  A quick dash to the parts store, looped a strap around each rear swing arm, and carefully lifted the rear end up, smooth and even as you like.

Cleaned the chain, lubed it up, then started thinking about lowering the bike.  How do these things work?  Push here, no...  lift there, no...  lift and push and WHAM the bike's on its side, rear end still hovering so not all the weight rested on the pipes.  Bent the mirror stalk, no other damage.

Note: there's no smooth, controlled release on a come-along.

Yes.

I can't even begin to count the number of tools that have been "lost" in my back pocket while working.

I'll be using a t-handle key and "lose" it so i grab one of the spares. Next thing I know there are 3 5mm t-handle's in my back pocket and I can't find any of them.

I keep dropping my bike like an idiot.

It had its 7th date with the pavement today. I cant keep this thing on its feet.

I hope you have Bar End Protectors ?

Dolph      :)

not really, the clip ons have these little plastic end caps. im not sure if they are going to complain about it @ Team Pro Motion track day on sunday. i dont have enough time to replace it. i DO have a new cap. im just going to file it down. and run tape across it and throw a new plastic cap on.

damn kickstand folded back a bit when i was working on the shock. :(

Late one night (early morning actually) I put the cylinders on a TD3 and put the motor in the frame. decided I could finish the next day.  the next day I realized I'd swapped the cylinders and the carb mounts were sticking out the front of the bike. 

Well it wasnt on the bike but I changed the oil in my cage one day. I had it down to about a 10 minute job. New filter, new oil, new crush washer. I primed the new filter, took the old one off, put the new one on and gave it a good twist to put it into place. I filled the crankcase with all three and half quarts (Honda civic) and make sure I put the oil cap back on and the drain bolt was in place. I start the car and hear this whooshing sound.  ???  Um weird. It got a little louder and the oil light came on. Shut the car down to see about 2.5 quarts of oil gushing onto the ground from the filter.  [bang] I hadnt noticed that the rubber ring from the old filter had decided that it was much happier being on the car than on the filter!   >:( That was a fun cleanup. Just remember kids, make sure that little rubber ring isnt still on the case when you change your filter!!  [thumbsup]

Classic!!!   [laugh]

I did something similar...

A car will pump 5 qts of oil to the floor really quickly...

if you don't install the filter. [thumbsup]

add me to the list of idiots.  I've tried and found that I'm mechanically challenged  [bang]
I can bolt shit on but last time I dismantled a bike (poor little Vespa) I was left with too many bolts to count.  On the brighter side she runs and looks good, who gives a shit right?

Did somebody say rear caliper?
I noticed this at a meetup spot on a ride, it was only about 30 miles from home. I had been riding pretty hard too.
Oops. Think I forgot to do something when I put that wheel back on.
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a295/giacco/HawksNest001.jpg)

I've got this vintage Triumph.  Even the nuts and bolts are rare and hard to come by, a whitworth standard that they used back then.  So when I took my gas tank off I put the mounting bolts in a safe logical place so that I wouldn't use them.  5 months later they are still lost and the bike is still not running.   [bang] [bang]

Just a few:

• Couldn't get a pulley nut off, so I tried an air-powered impact wrench.  For some reason I didn't hang on to the pulley holder tool, and it swung around and broke off some cooling fins.
  
• Installed the swingarm on my SV, torqued everything up, then found a shim I forgot.  Took it apart, added missing part, reinstalled everything.  Repeated the entire process two or three more times for additional parts that I missed.
  
• Spent a Saturday afternoon measuring for custom brake lines, and made detailed drawings of the lines and fittings on which I carefully wrote in the wrong measurements for each segment.  Of course, the vendor made custom lines that perfectly matched the incorrect drawings.
  
• Bought a 525 sprocket and a 520 chain and spent far too long trying to figure out why things weren't meshing correctly.
  
• Bought a bunch of stainless fasteners--all with the wrong thread pitch.
  
• Dropped a wrist-pin circlip into the cases (I wasn't smart enough to stuff rags in the hole), and spent an hour trying to get it out.  I finally turned the cases upside down and shook them until it fell out.
  
• Powdercoated/painted everything on the bike, put it all back together, started it up, and then panicked as gas leaked everywhere.  Turned out I didn't tighten down the sending unit underneath the tank.
  

It'll do it pretty quick if you forget the drain plug too.  At least I didn't start it and I still had the drain pan under it.  Until I slipped carrying it and dumped all 12 quarts on the floor.

You can also stuff a 180 rear tire onto the front rim without much trouble at all.

I'm a superior idiot.



I can backfeed a house with the generator and destroy every major appliance in about 2 minutes flat.

(http://stylemens.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/05/30/stone_h_2.jpg)


One time I was using a dremel with a cutting wheel on it.  The cutting wheel caught in the aluminum I was cutting and jumped out of hand.  My superior reflexes caused me to grab for it so it wouldn't hit the garage floor.

It's a good thing that cutting wheel got me on the back of the hand instead of taking off a finger.  The good news was it cut me so cleanly it didn't even leave a scar.

In Rat-World that chain would not be deemed a mistake....a minor additional step would be called for

I needed a new ladder anyway would be the thinking as the sawzall w/hack blade bit into the ladder step

[thumbsup] [thumbsup] [clap] [clap]


Rat's Tip for power sanding your own floors for refinishing: 

If the floor-sander pops the circuit breaker

make sure the machine is TURNED OFF

before heading to basement to reset the circuit breaker     [thumbsup]

I'm pretty sure that was discussed as an option when Ash posted that pic the first time around.

 [laugh] [laugh] [laugh]

Most floor sanders are designed to run without supervision, no? [laugh] [laugh]

Kinda like changing the cut-off wheel with the angle grinder plugged in .......DOH
(that's why they make bandaids)

First motorcycle ever was a 78 Honda CB400T.  After a few months I decide to try an oil change myself.  Keep in mind I have no tools other than a crescent wrench and have never worked on anything other than my bicycle. 

I drain the oil, remove and install the filter successfully, feeling like some sort of a mechanical savant.  I add the three or four quarts of oil I read that it needed, realize it's nowhere near full.  Go back to the liquor store (its own indicator of idiocy) and get two more, add them, and it's still not full.  Must have added about 7 or 8 quarts to get that dang thing full.  Start it up, it's super quiet and a bit sluggish.

Remove the filler cap and notice it has a built in dipstick.  I was filling it to the brim.  Turns out I was an idiot sans savant.