I was out near Bakersfield last summer, bike started sputtering, and I found a crack in the hose right by the petcock. I wrapped it with electrical tape just to get home, figured it would last 10 miles at best, but it held for 3 days until I could get a proper replacement hose from the shop. Has anyone else had a ghetto fix turn out way better than it should have?
Riding home from work last Thursday on my 2011 KLR 650. Hit a pothole on Route 9 near the old mill. Heard a loud ping. Got home and found a broken rear spoke. Figured I'd just replace it. But when I pulled the wheel off, three more were loose. Then I checked the rim runout with a dial indicator from Harbor Freight. It's got 0.040 inches of wobble. That's way past spec. Now I'm sitting here with the wheel off, wondering if I should try to true it up or just buy a whole new rim off eBay. Anyone else deal with a warped rim on a budget dual sport? What's the most you'd sink into a 13 year old bike? I'm at 38,000 miles and the engine runs perfect, but the wheels are getting tired.
Went to a shop in Nashville last month for a new rear tire, and the mechanic asked me why my chain was so tight. I told him that's how I always ran it. He showed me the manual spec and the slack it should have, like a full inch of play. All that time I thought tight was better for power delivery, but I was killing my sprockets and bearings. Anyone else get a basic thing wrong for way too long?
Spent $15 on a motion sensor light for my garage workbench and it saved me from dropping my engine block on my foot when I stood up in the dark last week, anyone else use cheap lighting tricks to avoid costly mistakes?
Last Tuesday I got home from a ride and saw a puddle under the crankcase. Thought it was the drain plug, so I torqued it to spec. Next day, still dripping. Then I replaced the crush washer. Still leaking. Finally found a hairline crack in the oil filter housing. $18 for a new cover from a guy on Craigslist and it's been dry for three days. Anyone else have a simple fix turn into a whole week of hunting? What's the weirdest place you found a leak?
I was helping a buddy swap oil on his CBR600 last weekend and his drain bolt was torqued so hard I thought it was welded. Took a breaker bar and a lot of swearing to get it off. Then I see posts online all the time about stripped oil pans and helicoils. It's 18-20 ft-lbs most of the time, not a lug nut on a semi truck. Has anyone else run into this where previous owners just gorilla grip everything?