Well that escalated quickly

[stinkwheel]

What's the worst a simple job on your bike has turned into?

You know the scenario. You need to do one simple job and you find something wrong which forces you to do a whole load of other jobs.

Motorcycles seem to excell at that sort of bullshit, I should know by now not to tell the wife "I'm just popping into the garage for 10 minutes.".

I went out last night to fit a rivett link on my new chain. The sprockets were already on and the chain was sitting ready and in place, I'd just made an arse of the previous rivett link so had bought a new one.

Got the correct tool, how long can it take? 10 minutes?

As it turns out, having fitted the chain, I couldn't move the adjuster. It's a single sided swingarm so an eccentric adjuster. It rotated but not witout rotating the brake mounting plate too.

Long story short, the brake plate was seized onto the stub axle. I had to take the exhaust off so I could take the wheel off so I could strip the entire stub axle. I had to bray at the torque plate with a lumphammer for a good 40 minutes before I finally got it all apart. Then I had to clean, re-grease and reassemble it all. Oddly small amount of corrosion when I got it apart, not sure exactly how/why it was as stuck as it was.

10 minute job.--> 3 1/2 hours and to be frank, that's bloody good going for stripping and rebuilding VFR750 stub axle, seized or not. It's a good job I have an air wrench and 38mm impact socket in the workshop from last time I did one because the nut is done up to 140ft/lb then piked in.

Any similar disasters? Anyone gone out to change a lightbulb and landed up rebuilding their crank?
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Suntan Sid]

Nothing in particuler springs to mind!
However, it never ceases to amaze me how, what seemed such a simple job requiring two spanners, can easily end with me surrouned by, virtually, every tool I possess!
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"Everybody needs money, that's why they call it money!"

[sickpup]

[Pol Anorl]

went to oil my chain only to find the joining link was gone...

gay as fuck!!

went to replace it and decided to rip the sprocket cover off to find the nut and locking tab had also gone on vacation!

turned my 2 minute job into half hour of taking shit off and back on and about 4 days of waiting for parts.
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GOOD GAME BODYGUARD: https://i.imgur.com/8WePGgf.jpg
20:30:37 Pyro.: I don't sort of like men, I take every advantage to choke on dick.
Jewlio Iglesias: You live in Liverpool - Chances are, the front door has already been kicked off the hinges

[mic]

changing the headlight bulb today

finally made my hand fit where it needed to get to and actually dropped the bulb INSIDE the headlight unit whilst trying to fit the bulb in place. couldnt fit hand deep enough to reach bulb. decided to try take fairing off.... half hour later im sweating my bollocks off and already lost a bolt. fairing is tightened back up as it didnt want to come off (really must buy a haynes manual).

went to halfords and bought one of them stick thingys with magnet on the end.... got bulb out and 'fitted' (still need wire bit).

took about 3 hours £6 and a lost bolt to in effect, change a lightbulb. and i still need to revist it with a clip.


____________________
zzr600

[Pol Anorl]

[stinkwheel]

Just thought of another one.

Never. EVER take the splitpin out of the decompressor valve on an Enfield bullet with the intention of replacing it with an R-clip with the valve assembly still on the bike.

It is all that is holding the valve up. Removing it will allow the valve to fall down into the engine. It CAN be fished out without removing the head but not easily or quickly!
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[MattJ]

Today.


Needed to take the rear wheel off to get a puncture repaired. When I take the sprocket out I find that the sprocket carrier bearing has disintegrated and damaged the hub carrier and wheel. So now I'm waiting on parts which won't be here until Monday.

[radicalrabit]

BMW R1200RT Headlight bulbs are the work of a midwife or someone with tiny hands trying to get the bloody things out is bad enough trying to get the bulb back in is damn nigh impossible .
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VF1000 F2F, BLACKBIRD with carbs, 2nd VF1000F2F just need somewhere to go now..

[Clutchy]

Thought I'd change the coolant on the sv not long ago, 10 min job tops... NOPE.


Have to take a lot of the front of the bike off and the rubber grommets that were holding my after market windshield in place were stuck and then tore and then the new ones wouldn't really align properly so was a fucker the get the screen back in place. Just a really long job for changing coolant tbh.https://i.imgur.com/XvFGZnC.jpg


And then lost the back seat when I rode down to the garage to get more distilled water
____________________
Malaguti F12 Phantom-Dead, Suzuki AY50- Dead, NRG power DD LQ, CBR125.
*33 BHP restriction up on 10/12/14* Current bikes/car: SV 650 S/ MKIV GOLF
Guide to pass your test with no lessons!

[Entertwainer]

needed fork oil seals replaced.
lower leg bolt wouldnt undo on one of the forks.
introduced the drill.
drilled through oil damper unit rendering it useless.

one and a bit months + an incorrect set of forks later, eventually sees me get hold of some correct forks and job done......

just checked under the fork gaitors and found that one of the new seals is leaking.
promptly replaced the fork gaitor and applied a jubilee clip to secure it all on

i ALWAYS find every job i undertake, i end up doing so much more than anticipated - which the Mrs enjoys to no end. this isnt just limited to my motorbike.
____________________
Honda CG 125 W - Turkish - 1998 - 2015 RIP

[Rogerborg]

[J.M.]

My starter clutch died once, so I decided to do a full service whilst I was working on the bike.

Being a noob I broke the magnets on the rotor and had to replace that, which took us on a long detour in my Dad's car to pick up a spares & repair engine with an intact rotor and starter clutch for £40.

Before I found the spares & repair engine, I started on my servicing and when checking the valve clearances I noticed that the RHS exhaust bucket was extremely far out, enough to suggest a bent valve. So that caused the head to be removed. It later transpired that it was just a sticking bucket. So I lapped the valves and reassembled with new buckets, starter clutch and rotor and it ran perfectly after that.

Until the coils decided they hated water.
____________________
2004 R1 & 2018 XSR900

[The Shaggy D.A.]

Recently, doing the valves on the Savage.

Removing the tank is a pain in the arse as the petcock is kind of L shaped and wraps under the frame, so it doesn't lift off straight up, but has to be twisted to get it to clear. Trying to do this without gouging the frame is fucking awkward, as the speedo is also mounted in the tank, so you have to release the speedo cable and light cluster wires first, for which you need the hands of a 6 year old.

Once the tank is off, you find the inspection covers have been done up with hex head bolts whilst the engine was out of the frame. Now it's in the frame, there's no room for the short end of an Allen key to go in it, so you have to fashion a stubby key to release it.

You then find that you don't actually have a spark plug socket that fits - you have a number available that are a few mm either way, but not for that one, so it's pack the bits of bike back in the garage and pop to Halfords.

So maybe an hour and a half before even getting the feeler gauges out.
____________________
Chances are quite high you are not in my Monkeysphere, and I don't care about you. Don't take it personally.
Currently : Royal Enfield 350 Meteor
Previously : CB100N > CB250RS > XJ900F > GT550 > GPZ750R/1000RX > AJS M16 > R100RT > Bullet 500 > CB500 > LS650P > Bullet Electra X & YBR125 > Bullet 350 "Superstar" & YBR125 Custom > Royal Enfield Classic 500 Despatch Limited Edition (28 of 200) & CB Two-Fifty Nighthawk > ER5

[MarkJ]

Splitting some already dis-assembled forks. Literally just slide hammering the bushes out, was going to be a 5 minute job but turned out to take 5 hours of bashing because one of the dust seals was knackered and had let rainwater in, making everything rust.

[pits]

I had to check a switch that was playing up for the mot, took switch apart, found gaffer tape, prodded gaffer tape and the switch essentially exploded springs and bits of plastic everywhere.

No problem, ordered a new one and noticed that one brake line was catching on the mudguard, easy fix, pop caliper off and make a new hole for it.

So I popped the one side caliper off no problems, otherside wouldn't budge, meaning I had to take the line off, no problem, the bolt made from toffee rounded off, couldn't beat another socket on there so had to bleed all the fluid out of the master cylinder. I then had to bleed the brake which was playing up, finally got it on the bench and still couldn't get it off nicely, 20 minute trip to mates where we got it off, turned the 12mm head into an 11mm head.

Took back refitted and when refitting I disturbed the headlight, which made it stop working (lousy Japanese electrics) meaning I then had to clean up all the connectors, buy a new H4 connector.

My new switch was slightly different so I needed to modify it slightly to get it mount to my clip ons, which was annoying considering it was a standard Ducati part replacing a standard Ducati part, just a years difference.
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Stinkwheel: You have no right to free speech
00:32:08 Blau Zedong: yes, i am a massive CB400 fan and collector
00:33:00 Blau Zedong: the CB400 is my favourite road bike

[nightshaddow]

worst for me was a simple gearbox replacement on the cb should have taken around 5 hours,

turned out one of the mounting bolts had welded itself to th engine and had to cut the sob out,

then i had to send the crank case to the engineers to be drilled out and as he did he broke part of the casing.

so that also had to be re welded

5 hour job due to having to wait for the engineer ended up being 4 weeks
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"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 100 MPH THATS IMPOSSIBLE Its chinese OFFICER."
Current rides CB 125 TDE(the next project) NS125RK ( now on the road ) CB125TDC (soon to be project 17) melody ( the nephews )

[map]

Currentl in the middle of this.
Popped out Thursday night to check daughter's scooter prior to MOT.
Found back brake did not actually do anything. Case of "I have been meaning to mention that. Is it important".
Adjuster seized. Took off exhaust to take off back wheel and unscrewed exhaust stud.
Could not undo rear wheel bolt. Had problem before but brraker bar worked.
This time no chance. Suspect last time looked at spanner monkey over enthusiastic with air ratchet.
So came to put exhaust back on so could take to mechanic I trust.
You guessed it. Cannot get stud back in.
Working outside after work only gives a couple hours daylight now too.
Hope I can get somewhere tomorrow and also find another pair of hands to make it a tad easier.
____________________
...and the whirlwind is in the thorn trees, it's hard for thee to kick against the pricks...
Gibbs, what did Duckie look like when he was younger?

[FretGrinder]

On my varadero 125 I changed a headlight bulb.

Little did I know that this was a precursor to my reg/rec getting up in my face and giving me the effing finger
____________________
Yamaha MT-09

ಠ_ಠ

[331X2]

Taking a plug out to check for a spark resulted in a full top end re-build, apparently NGK had a shit spell of plugs snapping. After building it all back up it still ran on 3 and turned out to be a fucking weak spark from one side of the coil

[331X2]

Taking a plug out to check for a spark resulted in a full top end re-build, apparently NGK had a shit spell of plugs snapping. After building it all back up it still ran on 3 and turned out to be a fucking weak spark from one side of the coil

[anthony_r6]

Started last week. Decided I was finally going to replace the engine mounting bolt for my Hornet, removing the bent and damaged crash bung in the process.

Replace the right one, no problem. Then it came to the left. Bolt wouldn't unscrew the bolt no matter how much I went on it. For fear of snapping the bolt, I decided to saw the bung off and pull the remaining bit with some grips. Grip to pull it, but wouldn't budge.

THEN had to saw through the washer between the engine and bracket, which took forever, cutting through the bolt again in the process. Tried pulling it again, tried pushing it out, tried putting penetrating oil on it, tried drilling, but can't get the bloody thing out.

Losing the will to live. Don't have the facilities to remove it from the frame.
____________________
Ted : "Maybe he's agoraphobic."
Dougal : "Jack scared of fighting? I don't think so, Ted."

[metalangel]

Fitting topbox bracket to the CB500. My friend had a better toolkit and so was helping. He decided to give one bolt a final twist to ensure it was snug and sheared it, inside the fucking frame.

His solution was to buy some 'metal epoxy' to glue the parts back together, hoping it would set enough to get at least a few turns of the bolt so we could then grasp it with pliers or something and turn it the rest of the way out. Obviously, this didn't work, and I ended up with a set of screw extractors which did the job in seconds.

THEN... a year later, trading the bike in, dealer wouldn't give me anything extra for the bracket so I decided to take it back off and sell it separately. Fiddly job (you have to rewire the signals as they ran through holes in the frame) and without a proper light in my garage I struggled with flashlights until it was so dark I turned the bike to 'on' so I could work by the headlight.

So of course, I almost completely flattened the battery. The missus had to give me a push start down a dark, rainy side street as I *had to* get it working again as it was being traded in the following day!

I wrote a far longer 'diary of a disaster' of the flat battery, but the above'll do lest I end up going all Tef on yo asses.
____________________
Previous: 2002 Honda CB500 (sold), 2007 Suzuki SV650SK6 (crashed), 2005 Yamaha FZ6 Fazer (sold). Currently bikeless
"A faired bike will get you 10x more clunge than a unfaired one." -Marlboro Matt

[thx1138]

adjusting a chain once took several hours to loosen wheel but, though it was really an escalation of spanners, started with the kit under the saddle, to a standard spanner, to one that was like nearly 2foot long from Halfords, to a scaffold pole over spanner, and mate jumping on it

[Furrybiker]

OK its not a bike, but it was annoying. Peugeot 806 belongs to mate, his wife was always breaking it. I get a call, indicator bulb blown and she has tried to replace it and managed to drop the bulb into the headlamp. Silly person I thought and popped over, no it seems the design allows the bulb to unscrew and drop into the main body of the headlamp as you screw it into the unit.

Now two bulbs in headlamp.

Next door neighbour is a very experienced mechanic, he has a look and decides we need to remove the headlamp, but only after he manages to drop another bulb in.

Next I ring Peugeot helpdesk and explain, their reaction wasn't what I was hoping for "Remove headlamp on one of those? NIGHTMARE, ha ha!" He explains that most of the front of the car has to be dismantled.

Somewhere along the line someone else has had a go and we now have four bulbs sitting in the bottom of the headlamp, quite pretty really.

By now the owner of the car is losing the will to live as the electric side doors have decided to do there own thing and open randomly.

At this stage he decides to get it into a dealer, £400 later his wife can safely turn right...

Oh and the doors are still a bit iffy!