So, are you an idiot like me?

[DucHead]

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. 

Classic!!!   

[ducpainter]

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.  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!! 

I did something similar...

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

if you don't install the filter.

[muskrat]

add me to the list of idiots.  I've tried and found that I'm mechanically challenged 
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?

[lethe]

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.

[akmnstr]

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.  

[Cider]

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.
  

[Ddan]

I did something similar...

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

if you don't install the filter.

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.

[Popeye the Sailor]

I'm a superior idiot.



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

[Privateer]

• 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.
  

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.

[RAT900]

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



Still, neither as good as the following one though.   

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

[RAT900]

I'm a superior idiot.



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

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     

[Rameses]

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

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

[Rob Hilding]

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     

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

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

[Billyzoom]

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.