Things that cause you problems down the years.

[sickpup]

Just rebuilt the cooling system between the V on the 09 Deauville and it was still losing coolant. Not much but enough.
Checked everywhere but couldn't find a leak but heard a hiss and noticed the overflow bottles level had risen. The rivet in the top was letting air out and when the hoses were squeezed it was very noticeable.

Checked it with the cap off the ER6 and the system worked fine so defective rad cap.

I have had to replace the rad cap on every water cooled bike I have ever owned at least once, some two or three times and yet I still overlook it every time.

So what reaccuring fault do you always overlook?

[sickpup]

Yep confirmed, ran the 09 through two heat cycles and after being allowed to cool over night the cooling system is still full so yes it's another defective rad cap.

[Robby]

Flat batteries and water in fuel. A few times I have been trying resurrect a bike that has been standing, and failed to leave it long enough to charge the battery fully, and properly drain any water out of the tank.

Lots of cocking around trying to look for faults in the carb or ignition, when I should have just drained the tank and left it on charge for a few hours.

[stinkwheel]

Ignition switches in an intermittant partial fail state (lights are on but nobodys home in the ignition department).

Fuel pumps with dodgy points causing intermittant stuttering/cutting out. Behaves like a fuel problem, is actually an electrical problem.
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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.

[xX-Alex-Xx]

Cam chain tensioners have always been my favourite (thanks Honda for shite spring loaded units).

Weirdest issue I've ever had with a coolant system was on my K5 - about 30 minutes into a ride my warning light started flashing due to high temperatures. Looked under the fairings and everything's dry as a bone, including the contents of the cooling system. Tow truck back home. Couldn't find anything wrong. Filled the system back up from pretty much empty without actually doing anything else. System worked fine again after that. Literally no reason for it to have emptied was ever found (and I had a few people take a look at it too).
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DILLIGAF

[Robby]

Thinking about, my biggest recurring mistake is trusting other people.

Often I end up helping someone out with their bike. Often they have an idea about what they think it is, so I work on that basis.
Those ideas tend to be wrong. If I had just started from the usual position of just having a bike in front of me, I would start with normal fault finding.

This is also why I prefer to work alone. I can't spanner and talk at the same time. I certainly can't marshall my own thoughts into the straight line needed for diagnosis when someone else is interrupting them.

[Easy-X]

[MarJay]

Triumph wiring issues.
Grenading two strokes (par for the course I guess?)
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[chickenstrip]

I've been pretty lucky, and never really had recurring problems with any of my bikes, not even the tuned ones. Part of that I suppose is that in my earlier days, bikes got moved on for something else before they had a chance to start misbehaving, but now I've settled on a model that is generally pretty reliable, and have got more into this one than any previous model I've owned, so I know what to look out for and can pre-empt it by proper care and servicing.

The one that has the most potential to cause problems now is the EXUP valve, but regular servicing before issues arise have meant I've only seen this on one of the 5 of this model I've owned, and even a sticking EXUP valve didn't cause major headaches - just a bit of a loss of power low in the rev range, but on a bike with a fair bit of power anyway, so not the worst problem imaginable, and didn't affect general reliability and usability.

Hedges. They've been a reoccurring problem.
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Chickenystripgeezer's Biking Life (Latest update 19/10/18) Belgium, France, Italy, Austria tour 2016 Picos de Europa, Pyrenees and French Alps tour 2017 Scotland Trip 1, now with BONUS FEATURE edit, 5/10/19, on page 2 Scotland Trip 2 Luxembourg, Black Forest, Switzerland, Vosges Trip 2017
THERE'S MILLIONS OF CHICKENSTRIPS OUT THERE!

[stinkwheel]

[ThatDippyTwat]

Listening to previous owners. Assuming they had half a clue.
Now I check everything, and change oil as soon as I get the bike.
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'98 VFR800 (touring) - '12 VFR800 Crosrunner (Commuting) - '01 KDX220 (Big Green Antisocial Machine)

[xX-Alex-Xx]

[stinkwheel]

Straight-up stale fuel is another favourite.
____________________
“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.

[Arfa__]

Hit the dodgy rad cap on my old Fazer too.

Twice I've tried to remove the rear shock on a bike to fine the bottom bolt is corroded, seized solid and an utter bitch to remove. That was a CBF500 with no hugger so the shock bottom, bearing and bolt were one huge seized mass. The other was the shock sliding collar on an FZ6, like fuck it slides out. Had to angle grind grooves in it then use a big drift to twat it and loosen it up.

- So, keep ya shock bottoms clean of gunk and fit a fooking rear hugger!

The other one is shit after market wiring jobs, crappy crimps, taped up joins, Scotchlocks and other bodge jobs. Fine for a few months, couple of years, but they'll invariable fail at some inopportune moment.

- Just get a bloody soldering iron, some heat shrink wrap and do it properly.
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Beginner Biker Adventures Blog
Yamaha FZ6 S2 2007

[Easy-X]