View Full Version : Idiot of the week submission
ChrisCurvyS
12-06-13, 08:13 PM
Got a bit of an issue with the bike where it runs on one cylinder after being left out in the rain until it warms up.
Started it tonight, was keeping the revs up while I backed it out a parking space, then the revs dropped and it cut out with an almighty backfire. Went to start it again and absolutely nothing happened when I hit the starter button.
Everything else seemed fine - alarm came on and off OK, dash etc as normal. So with many an expletive I got down on my knees in the rain, got the toolkit out, took the panels and seats off, went through all the fuses starting with the ignition and main fuse - nothing, all fine. Swapped them for the spares just in case and still nothing from the starter button.
Getting p*ss wet through now and lots of pitying looks from people leaving the office. Checked the clutch and sidestand switches, then checked the starter motor connections and what I could see of the wiring loom coming out the button - nothing.
Was just about to call the RAC. Then I saw it...
DarrenSV650S
12-06-13, 08:15 PM
Kill switch! :D
ChrisCurvyS
12-06-13, 08:18 PM
Kill switch! :D
Got it in one! Must've caught it with my thumb while revving the bike.
The backfire should have given me a clue.
That's an hour of my life I'll never get back...
Nobbylad
12-06-13, 08:22 PM
...but what a learning curve! You'll never do it again!
ChrisCurvyS
12-06-13, 08:34 PM
...but what a learning curve! You'll never do it again!
You'd hope so. Like the time I put a new battery on in the unlit shed and got the terminals the wrong way round.
Or absent-mindedly took a blown number plate bulb out with a metal key fob on the car. Result - 20 quid for the garage to replace the fuse which Renault helpfully placed under the ECU and shed loads of gubbins in the engine compartment.
Nobbylad
12-06-13, 08:49 PM
I've lost count of the number of mains electric jobs I've done without switching the juice off....lots of electrifying memories!
well you see the pointy has an 'idiot light' telling you to 'CHECK' when you hit the kill switch or leave it in gear.
yey one up for the pointy.. lol
apart from that may i bee the first to say PLONKER :-)
Hahahahahahaha! We have all been there :D
LewSpeight
12-06-13, 09:39 PM
well you see the pointy has an 'idiot light' telling you to 'CHECK' when you hit the kill switch or leave it in gear.
yey one up for the pointy.. lol
apart from that may i bee the first to say PLONKER :-)
This is news to me!? :O
Sent from that magical device in my pocket.
I used to do this when pushing the bike out of the garage and a few times I thought the battery had given up!
GoatMasterUK
13-06-13, 11:03 AM
I did the same. But left it in gear.. I was furious!
ChrisCurvyS
13-06-13, 11:37 AM
There's a great vid on YouTube of a guy on a Harley at a meet. The bike won't seem to pull away so all his mates come over and start inspecting the rear brake, thinking it's siezed.
They're there for ages tinkering with it - one even goes and gets a bucket of water to throw over the disc to cool it down, still to no avail.
Then the rider looks down and realises he's been in second all along - pulls away looking decidely sheepish! Search for 'Jackass: Harley Davidson edition.'
Littlepeahead
13-06-13, 02:00 PM
My baby Beemer kill switch flicks left or right. Because I am a woman I read this in the manual, but it's not unusual for people to see it's flicked on, then flick right to the opposite side and wonder why the bike still won't start.
ClunkintheUK
13-06-13, 02:21 PM
Done that. Kids on the estate flicked ALL the switches on my bike. I unflicked all except the kill switch. I tried bump starting thinking the battery flat and everything else i could think of. Then called out the AA. Half an hour later he looked it over and it started. He did have a good giggle at me.
Great start to my birthday that was....
DJFridge
13-06-13, 04:19 PM
My stupidest kill-switch moment was while riding. For reasons known to nobody, including myself, on spotting the lights weren't on I reached across with my LEFT hand to switch them on. And promptly caught the kill switch with the glove. Effin idiot doesn't come close!
Owenski
13-06-13, 06:02 PM
I seem to recall a member of this forum having his Beneli recovered all the way home after he'd knocked the kill switch. If I recall he noticed while it was been loaded on the truck but kept his mouth wisely closed to save face lol.
Just remember if its an inexplicable breakdown its prob because of user error ;-)
aesmith
14-06-13, 09:18 AM
One of my Hondas had a kill switch that didn't disable the starter motor, that was a stupid design and gave me a few bad moments.
daveyrach
14-06-13, 09:48 AM
I have caught the kill switch when reaching up to wipe rain off my visor.
Had another idiot moment yesterday, changed the carbs on my bike 2 weeks ago and yesterday noticed an oily greasy substance running down the LH engine casing, fearing I had leaky carbs or an oil leak I started to strip the tank and that off to get to the carbs.......there it was staring me in the face.........I forgot to reattach the crank case breather hoses to the airbox so vapourised oil was being sprayed all over engine. Absolute tool I felt!
Paul the 6th
14-06-13, 10:16 AM
I once spent 25 mins at a petrol station searching high and low for my keys, thinking I'd left them in the ignition by mistake when I'd gone to pay and someone had snatched them away.
Checking cctv revealed I'd been under my pillion seat.... went to check and there the keys were still in the seat lock. Asssswhole. Apologised profusely to the station staff and bung'd a couple of quid in the charity box by way of an apology/to thank them for their help.
ChrisCurvyS
14-06-13, 11:59 AM
My stupidest kill-switch moment was while riding. For reasons known to nobody, including myself, on spotting the lights weren't on I reached across with my LEFT hand to switch them on. And promptly caught the kill switch with the glove. Effin idiot doesn't come close!
I was wondering actually - how severe is the deceleration on an SV when you do that? It wouldn't lock up the rear wheel unless you were at walking speed, would it?
ChrisCurvyS
14-06-13, 12:02 PM
Some awesome tales here - love the one about the guy seeing his kill switch was on as the bike was being loaded onto the recovery truck but keeping mum out of shame.
Coming back from London on a train once, I realised I didn't have the keys for my bike which was chained up at the station. Phoned various rail companies, the office I'd been visiting for a meeting, phoned ahead to the station searched pretty much the entire carriage...and they were still in the bike where I'd left them.
I was wondering actually - how severe is the deceleration on an SV when you do that? It wouldn't lock up the rear wheel unless you were at walking speed, would it?
No it's the same as shutting the throttle.
I know this because... the pointy has a tip-over sensor, that I neglected to fit back on its mount after a rear-end dissassembly.
Trouble is it doesn't trigger until you wobble it sufficiently. Such as hitting a minor bump on a motorway.
ChrisCurvyS
14-06-13, 02:09 PM
Ah - another one of those ingenious 'safety' features that ends up being a danger in itself.
A motorway bump once triggered the sidestand cut-on on mine (stand was a bit dangly when up). Gave me a little fright when both cylinders stopped firing for a second or two, especially as I was lying across the tank. Felt like I was going to headbutt the tarmac.
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