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The "egg On Your Face" Thread


Dutchy

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Leon...your story is similar to mine...

I had a 1990 Yamaha Radian. I decided to take my first ever long ride (500 miles in one day) from Provo, UT to Denio, NV. I was meeting a friend who was driving there from Oregon and then we were to ride back together in his truck (with the bike in the back). I had been riding my bike for quite awhile so I was familiar with the fuel range...135 miles was the max. As Nevada is not exactly over populated I determined that while I could just make it from town to town to fuel, I would strap a 1 gallon can on the bike, to be safe. I gassed up in Salt Lake and headed across the Bonneville Salt flats. About 1/2 way there I remembered that I hadn't filled up my can...no worries, I should have about 15 extra miles worth of fuel. About 30 miles out I had to go to reserve, which was very bad. 18 miles out, in the middle of nothing bigger than a piece of dirt I was out of fuel. I had to hitchhike in to Wendover, with my empty gas can, then back to my bike. The rest of the trip I experienced the same mileage issues, barely making my fuel stops. When I arrived in Denio I was glad that my friend was to meet me there because fuel was 2x the going price at home!

After waiting for 2 hours past when he was supposed to be there (pre cell phone days) a lady told me she had seen my friend on the side of the road in the mountains...with a bad fuel pump. It was 100 miles BACK to the closest place to find a universal fuel pump that would get a 1972 Toyota pickup going...or 45 miles to where my friend was stranded...I opted to head his way thinking we could figure out a MacGuyver fix if we needed to. When I got to him he had determined that his fuel pumps diaphram was weak, not completely ruined, but because he had stopped on an 8% grade due to overheating the fuel pump wasn't strong enough to get the fuel up from the tank. We discussed a few options and decided to see if my 1 gallon can, in the engine bay above the motor would gravity feel enough fuel. It did and we made it off the mountain. We drove overnight to get back to Utah and installed a new fuel pump in the autoparts store parking lot.

When I finally got my bike back I took it to work (at an autoparts store) and a friend had an infrared thermometer. We determined that I had one pipe that was nearly room temperature while the rest were all hot. It turned out the main jet had somehow come loose and fallen into the float bowl, resulting in feeding 1 cylinder as much fuel as it could drink! Oddly enough I hadn't noticed much of a loss in power.

My VFR story is much more depressing...

I was laid up with a separated shoulder as a result of a low speed washout (2 days after returning from a 3300 miles ride to Colorado). During the time I couldn't ride I decided to adjust my valves. I read all the methods, got all the tools etc and went to work. After getting about 1/2 way in I changed tactics, having found a method that didn't require removing the timing gears. It took some time to get the right buckets in and put everything back together...at which time I forget that I had started by removing the timing gears. I took it for a 30 mile ride and everything seemed ok. On my way to work the next morning I started hearing valve train noise and just as I pulled off the tollway the motor died. I tried to turn it over with no luck, it was locked up dead. One of my cam sprockets had come loose and the chain had slipped off. I had 4 bent valves in the front head, couldn't even get them out as they were stuck in the guides. I keep one on my desk at work as a reminder.

Since that day (even after fixing the motor) I haven't commuted on the bike more than a hand full of times. I gassed the bike up last week for the first time in a year, my inspection sticker expired in October of last year! Somehow my enthusiasm drained out.

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Boy was my race red back in 2001 during the weekend of World Superbike
at Laguna Seca... not once but 3 times...

There we were 2 RC45s on our way to Laguna Seca cruising 90mph in the
fast lane when I feel Mr.RC45's stiff-as-marble frame quiver like a
giant tuning fork... I ease off the throttle and frantically hunt for
the reason when I glimpse in the mirror a small dark object sailing
over my buddy's head in tow... I got back on the berries thinking "all
is well" just a foreign object seemly kicked up by my rear tire... I
think again when Dave over takes me screaming and pointing to the back
of my bike... WTF!!! there on top of my exhaust canister rest my rear
brake caliper Mercy me... I forgot to tighten the bolts and the
caliper worked free striking the ground and jettisoning the brake
pads... Boy was my race red!!!

post-3131-0-12535300-1412313296.jpg

I think things are beginning to go my way when I stop at the nearest
Honda dealer and they just so happened to have a set of dusty RC30
rear brake pads which are the same as RC45 pads (thank you Honda)... I
beg tools and torque the caliper bolts until my elbow clicks about
10ft pounds... Back in the saddle I'm elated to have finally reached
the bending bits on H35 but there is something funny about the quality
of traction today... I can't figure it out exactly but I attribute the
unpredictable handling to the patches of wet among the patches of
dry... my main concern is for my buddy Dave who thinks California
roads are akin to race tracks... I load my tires in small increments
waiting for the tattle tell slip but it never comes... still I'm
dumbfounded as to the nature this strange feel...

Dave and I arrive at Alice's happy to make it through the bendy
bits... but as I look over Mr.RC45 I about sh*t me drawers... my rear
tire is soaking wet with brake fluid!!! Mercy me... I forgot to check torque
on the brake line and sure enough it worked free... Boy was my race red!!!

After the World Super bike races Dave and I gather a crowd of exotic
bike lovers in the infield parking lot... I wind it up Mr.RC45 and
drop the clutch when CLINK!!! cast aluminum hanger snaps because I
forgot to remove the rear disc lock...BOY WAS MY FACE RED!!!

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At least Olive was of sound mind to replace the drain bolt prior to attempting to fill said motorcycle with new oil, I on the other hand was not so smart... It makes such a beautiful puddle that glistened in the sunlight...

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FU moto is what Olive was shouting all of the time..... :goofy:

LMAO. I can't believe Olive swears! Ahhh, maybe just that once. :laugh2:

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I guess one persons hot mess of garage words is another persons ROTFLMAO. :happy:

I've never done most of the common ones. :pinocchio::beer:

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Olive is in Ireland at the moment and it is wet wet wet. She will probably learn that the local pronounciation is "feck":-)

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Olive is in Ireland at the moment and it is wet wet wet. She will probably learn that the local pronounciation is "feck":-)

Your still cool Dutchy and for your info you still have no warning points displayed .

Double egg on your face ?

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Fourth gens....Bike is on the verge of overheating...why won't the fan come on? Test fan, good, test connections, good, clean grounds, good....check fuse, good...it's the NEXT fuse in line, not the one above it and yes, it was a vacant space.

Put bike together (who HASN'T done this?) start to crank, and crank, and crank......petcock is set to off...smh

Put new starter clutch in a terd gen...couldn't figure out why the dag on thing wouldn't start...starter wouldn't spin...turns out I put the stupid washer on the gear in between the starter and the crank backwards causing a binding...lucky I didn't burn something up

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All my egg moments have been minor, except one. My DIY work on my VFR consists mainly of oil changes, but a year or two ago I tried doing a coolant flush. While trying to burp the system, coolant started spraying out the filler cap - running onto the fans and wiring on the right side of the bike. Turned off bike, topped off coolant again and upon testing the system the fans wouldn't turn on. Took it to a local shop, where they had to replace the fan switch. Didn't cost me an arm and a leg, but I felt pretty dumb.

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Knock wood, salt over the left shoulder, four leaf clovers all day... I haven't had a major EOF yet. And now that I've jinxed THAT by saying it... The biggest "well that was stupid" type moment was when I thought I could un-seize the clutch slave cylinder by tightening the slave body down with the 3 bolts. 1 broken ear and a few weeks later, I had a new slave cylinder and have been fine since.

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1st VFR, 1983 Euro model, bought it in Wurzberg, Germany in 1983. Gold Rims were really cool, anyway, I thought I would tackle the first service myself...plugs, oil, how hard could it be. Took the bike over to the Soldiers maintenance shop in Bad Kissengen.....German contractor there helped me with tools.....drained the oil, no problem, filter, oil back in, no worries....took the tank off to get to the plugs....didn't bother emptying it....as i was trying to put the tank on a chair, still connected to the fuel line fuel gage...it slipped out of my hands, full of gas and crashed on the ground....giant dent on the side of the tank.....cracked paint....it was only a couple months old....ughhhhh

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Shortly after purchasing my '07 I had a serious leg workout one morning. With that "rubbery leg" feeling, I headed off to work on my shiny VFR. While backing her into my spot at work - just a foot or so shy of bumping into the curb - my left foot rolled on a short twig from the tree that graced my bike with shade all day long. We all know how heavy a VFR can get when gravity takes over and add in the fact that my legs were complete toast from squats earlier in the morning and over she went. She didn't so much crash to the ground because I was still mounted but I more or less layed her down gently. HEY! GUESS WHAT!!?? MORE SQUATS THIS MORNING! It took me two tries to get her up because she began sliding away from me on the first lift. After righting her with NO DAMAGE to the left side, I was in total dismay because in my effort to lean in and fight her fall to the left, I had run my helmeted head into the right side mirror and snapped it off with the mirror wedging nicely into my dash area. The mirror and stalk never ever hit the ground. $100 to mother Honda immediately after work - at least they had one on the shelf! Of course I walked into my office like not a damned thing happened!

I have also moved my VFR into the garage and gotten off the "wrong" side so that it could lean as close as possible to my cabinets. If I do this, I have enough room to get my SUV and my bike into my side of the garage and my wife still has room for her car on the other side. Well I forgot to put the stand back down and about the time I realized she was getting away from me and there was a problem at hand, the left bar end went into the face of my cabinets. I now have a nice ring pressed into the wood there to remind me to put the stand down.

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I no longer own the bike, but I sure own the story! My 5th gen daily commuter blew its head gaskets a while back. I pulled the engine, turned it over to my mechanic, and caged my way to work for several god-awful months. I took the opportunity, though, to replace a number of old or corroded parts, carefully following the torque specs, keeping a detailed journal, etc. When I finally got the engine back, I shoehorned 'er in the frame, hooked up everything that was unhooked, added new oil, coolant, and plugs (carefully torqued, of course). I was thrilled when she fired up on the first click.

Flash forward a couple of weeks, with break-in period over. I wanted to check compression. Did so, and it looked great. I re-installed the spark plugs, dutifully (read: stupidly) applying Service Manual torque specs, in an ill-advised attempt to re-crush the already crushed crush washers.

Luckily (luck being relative!), I was able to pull the cylinder without removing the entire engine. I went egg-faced to my mechanic and had him extract the spun plug. Doh! Ran great after that though!

-Aram

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  • 3 weeks later...
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I installed a Datel meter about 2 1/2 years ago. From the get go it would randomly fluctuate - not often, but at times showing 14.6v for hundreds of miles over days or weeks, then suddenly fluctuate in to the 13's and occasionally show battery voltage. Then suddenly it would snap back to a steady 14.6v. :huh: After re-routing the wire and dinking around with it nothing changed, except that it seemed to be getting worse though I had never had any problems with a low battery. Finally one day recently I pulled in to the driveway with it showing 12.8v :pissed: . I left the engine running while I got the shop VOM. Got out a 2nd key to remove the seat and put the VOM across the battery - 14.5v. W . . . . . T . . . . . F ??? :blink: So I finally got serious and took the entire thing apart including removing the front cowl, checking the wire every step of the way, taking the meter out and checking the attachment screw which must have certainly been the problem. This time however, I traced the ground wire. I *assumed* I had grounded the meter to a bolt on the frame where I had grounded the Powerlet, which looked fine. When tracing the ground, what I found was that I had grounded the meter to a second bolt a bit further back on the frame, which I had never tightened. So I'd spent the past 15,000 miles accusing my stator of being possessed by Satan and/or the R/R being a piece of OEM junk, when it was in reality installer error. :blush: The bolt must have continued working loose with vibration causing the connection (and the reading) to become increasingly erratic. After tightening it last weekend I went on a 350 mile ride and it showed a solid 14.5v almost without variation. Tightening that small bolt sure beat hell out of spending a bunch of ca$h on things I don't need. Lesson learned: When installing or troubleshooting, never assume anything.

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3 of 'em.

Paid $75 extra to have plugs changed unnecessarily, dropped biked off the side of a tilted driveway (no damage, just egg on face, and I can laugh now), wink at gal with fly open, lookin' cool beside bike.

Oh, and there's the time when I thought the PGFI (or whatever) sticker on the bike was indicative of the 4-valve VTEC operation - 5th gen NOT!

Folks here were quick (and diplomatic) about correcting me on that...

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I forgot to mention the time when I was getting ready to sell the 250 I was backing the bike out of the garage to take some pictures (no need to move the wife's car as there is plenty of room to get by). Next thing I know the bike is laying against the tool cabinet...right fairing nicely scratched. What the hey I'll get some touch up paint from color rite (the bike requires a base coat, color coat, and clear coat). Needless to say the touchup looked like feces. Ended up buying a new faring which was about the same price as the paint.

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4th gen. Synced carbs with external tank. Got everything done, put bike back together, gear up hop on and take off for a test drive. The neighborhood kids were hanging out cause they think the VFR is cool {not so much me]. Get about a 1/2 mile through the neighborhood to main road when it starts cutting out bucking then shuts off all together. Forgot to turn the petcock on had no tools to get cover off to reach petcock. Egg on face and walk of shame pushing bike back to house past the kids with their questions about what was wrong! Only good part was last part of trip was down hill to house, pushed off hopped on and glided into garage. Kids still think bike is cool, Not so much me!!

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  • 3 months later...

My worst wasn't VFR related but it did include my two other Hondas before the VFR. Alarms go off at 4:30 am. Get up, get showered, dressed, kiss wife good bye and head to basement to get geared up for morning commute. Jacket, chaps, gloves, helemt, check got it all. By now my body has realized its to early to be awake so brain needs to shut down. Throw my leg over my 800 lb VTX 1800. Standup and lift bike up off of side stand. For some strange reason I decided once i got it upright that that wasn't good enough and that I should continue leaning it to the right. Got it past the balancing point and over we both went right into the 750 Magna that was sitting next to it. Took about 5 minutes to wiggle and pull myself out from between the two bikes. By then I was wide awake. Finally got the VTX back upright. A few scratches on both of them but nothing major. Should have kept my mouth shut but told the wife. Was hoping that I would get a kind word but nope had to pick her up off the floor from laughing at me.

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