Ever had that "Oh Sheet" moment?

[marvinsc]

I had it today! Just at I turned on to Tennessee 232 I went to shift and..................nothing! As in no shifter! I pulled to the side to discover that it wasn't missing, just hanging from the shift rod. The threaded shaft it it attached to had come loose. After searching the area for missing parts I realized everything was still there but needed to be re attached. As I was preparing to remove the seat to get to the tool kit the man who lived there came out and asked what happened. He found an open end wrench in his truck that would work and I tightened the shaft and decided to carefully head home so I could loc Tite the pesky thing. Moral of the story? Give those fasteners a look from time to time and keep a small set of vice grips on your bike.

 

[81gs1100]

I have that same thing happen, but with my clutch. I was coming to a stop sign, pulled the clutch and nothing, bike kept going. Found the pinch bolt to have came loose. Yikes, Im glad I wasn't in traffic.

 

[clancey g]

once at a garage i was admiring an old Honda that had just rode in for fuel and i noticed the main bolt holding his swing arm had lost its nut and was over halve way out, he was pretty happy i saw it, and i had spare nut that fitted and shifter, he was one lucky guy that night.

 

[FiremanBob]

This thread would make a good ad for Loctite.

 

[Dogma]

A couple times, before I got proper riding boots, I caught a lace on the shifter coming to a stop. Not too bad. I still had enough speed left to get the bike leaned over to put my right foot down.

Those were nothing compared to that moment I had on Chicken Hollow Road. "Hey! Where'd the road go? I guess I'll use this unusually long gravel driveway..." I don't trust blind corners anymore. Especially the ones I thought were just straight pavement laid over a little ridge.

Then there was the time I was tooling through Cleveland on I-90 at dusk, tried to signal a lane change and got nothing. Neither blinker lit, much less blinked. Which meant I was heading into darkness with no tail light either. Fortunately the Droid found me an AutoZone pretty quickly. I don't remember what the actual problem was, but I finally learned to carry spare fuses that time.

I'm not quite so foolish as I used to be.

Then there was the time I followed Al and Adam off to some remote corner of WV before the worst storms in 50 years got between us and the hotel. Two weeks before that, a compression tester broke coming out of the plug hole. An event following which I learned that I should not set cam timing at 3:00 AM.

And there was that time in Kentucky when the bike didn't start on the first day of the rally. An awful lot of people probably remember how that turned out for me.

I must really enjoy riding.

 

[Planecrazy]

A couple times, before I got proper riding boots, I caught a lace on the shifter coming to a stop. Not too bad. I still had enough speed left to get the bike leaned over to put my right foot down.

Those were nothing compared to that moment I had on Chicken Hollow Road. "Hey! Where'd the road go? I guess I'll use this unusually long gravel driveway..." I don't trust blind corners anymore. Especially the ones I thought were just straight pavement laid over a little ridge.

Then there was the time I was tooling through Cleveland on I-90 at dusk, tried to signal a lane change and got nothing. Neither blinker lit, much less blinked. Which meant I was heading into darkness with no tail light either. Fortunately the Droid found me an AutoZone pretty quickly. I don't remember what the actual problem was, but I finally learned to carry spare fuses that time.

I'm not quite so foolish as I used to be.

Then there was the time I followed Al and Adam off to some remote corner of WV before the worst storms in 50 years got between us and the hotel. Two weeks before that, a compression tester broke coming out of the plug hole. An event following which I learned that I should not set cam timing at 3:00 AM.

And there was that time in Kentucky when the bike didn't start on the first day of the rally. An awful lot of people probably remember how that turned out for me.

I must really enjoy riding.

"...and one time at band camp..."

Regards,

 

[Tim Tom]

Riding home one night. Did a pre-lane-change shoulder check, look back forwards and in that split second what looked like a pile of sawhorses appeared

At least I knew there wasn't anyone in my blind spots. Fastest lane change ever.

 

[DanTheMan]

"...and one time at band camp..."

Regards,

Hey Steve, fancy seeing you here. How ya been? Did you get my emails? Got another bike yet? The 1100G is back on the road again, valves adjusted (all exh were tight), new cam cover gasket, some more wiring probs sorted out, new r/r (wire came loose on stator connections, ate the last one), on my second new rear tire, loving riding that bike, still need to get the GK up and rideable.
And for the thread topic, yes I have had those moments, and I carry several sizes of vise grips, they work well as emergency shift levers and side stand extensions........

 

[bwringer]

Once, in the wilds of Wisconsin at a GS rally lunch stop, I somehow noticed that one of the front brake caliper bolts was missing from some guy's GS (I'm like Rain Man with bolts, but abysmally bad with names, so I can't remember who it was).

As the "oh shoot" look entered his face, and he started feverishly trying to figure out how to get home, I rummaged around in my tool roll and came up with the correct 8mm bolt. In stainless, of course.

We had everything snugged up in about 60 seconds, and the bike owner's MIND = BLOWN.



This kind of stuff happens all the time -- I hear at last year's Wisconsin hooraw the GS collective pulled an 1100G stator out if its ass and changed it in the parking lot before the owner could even begin to make a plan.

 

[Guest]

I was about 3 blocks away from the dealership with my first bike (non-scooter) Suzi X6, and the shift lever fell off, set-up guy hadn't tightened it. I suppose I could have been irate, but I was so happy and excited to have this little red rocket smoker, I didn't really care!!

 

[Guest]

Anyone that's been around bikes long enough probably knows to keep those shifter pinch bolts tight. Even if they loosen some and still grab, they'll evenually wear out the splines on the shaft.
An old 450 I had I wore out the splines, and I tightened the shifter as tight as it would go, still wouldn't clamp, so I cut out a section of the shifter so it could tighten down even further, but it still slipped.
So, I drilled a small hole though the shifter and shift shaft and put a pin in it. Hated to do it, but I now keep a watchful eye on the shifter for looseness, really don't want to do that again.

 

[Guest]

I had a shifter come off the splines at a track day at Loudon, come out of turn 12 , 2nd gear,3rd,4th, 5th, down front stretch about 130mph went to down shift for turn 1 Ho sheet no shifter It's PUCKER TIME off through the barriers I go get stopped at the wall , thank god for safety wire all parts present and accounted for now just wait for session to end and go back to pits and repair the bike.

 

[Skateguy50]

I need to ask my surgeon if she used the red or blue loctite on my bolts... don't want them coming out during a ride.

 

[gustovh]

Comeing out of Hood River Or. on my 79 850 with son on the back, doin around 70, black as the ace of spades out, just toped a rise and.......out go the lights....it is amazeing how fast one can stop and pull over in the dark. It took about a half hour to identify the fuse and change it. But that's another story.
V

 

[1_v8_merc]

Came flyin around a corner one night, went to click off my turn signal, and unknowningly flipped Off my Lights. I freaked out, thinking my bike shut down...but I was still accelerating fast! Then I figured that I blew a fuse, and there's NOWHERE to pull over...so I just kept going in the dark since I was barely a mile from home.
Then halfway down the road, I realized the lights got bumped off...Woowww what a relief, just in time as a car in the opposing lane was coming around the bend.

 

[Flyboy]

Hahaha, I think we have all had a few moments like that.
The shifter is an easy fix, longer bolt with a nyloc nut at the back as backup, keeps it nice and tight, no more worn splines from loose bolt.

I have had too many Ohhhhh Sheet moments to recall, but one of the most memorable, and one which will stay with me for ever;
One afternoon, on the 1000G in a hurry to get back to the office for knock off time, cranking hell for leather, doing a 100 to the ton down a two lane dual carrigeway, which ended in a right hand corner and then 50m further a T junction, at which I turn left, so if you cauht the lights green, you could do a niffty little, crank it over right, as you hit the apex, flip it over to the left and catch the second apex and blast through.
Well, as I was approaching the right hand bend, placed myself nicely on the outside of the two lanes, lined up for the apex, cranked her over, right over, pegs dragging, and as I cut the apex of the turn, I see a muncipal bus ahead sloshing diesel all over the road from an obviously over full gas tank, right through both bends.... FUUUUUUUUUUU........
I am living proof that you can indeed live for several minutes with your heart at a complete stand still.
I stayed on top, and managed to get through, Lord only knows how, because I don't, last thing I remember was being in a two wheel slide heading for the kerb, cranked right over, waiting for the sickening noise and the pain.

 

[Dogma]

Good one. I guess you already had a 3rd point down, do it couldn't fall over, eh?

 

[Mad Mark]

yeah ive had that moment haha. it was on a little mini bike though, a honda 50 with a 110cc engine in it and this thing was pretty fast. i was trying to get it running for a friend before going to the desert and thought i would take it in the street and rip through the gears to clean out the carb a little. now this thing was abused no plastic left on it everything bent or broken off, front brake lever was gone.

so im in second gear going pretty fast toward a intersection and its wet out and i think the throttle stuck and i went for back brake oh sheet!!!! theres no back brake!!! or front brake!!! and im right at the cross street with a mini van coming at me. so i thought i gotta lay it down. and some how i managed to do a perfect dirt track slide right next to the mini van to stop my self from getting hit. and i didnt lay it down too. woo i ended up walking it the few house lengths back to friends after that. most scared ive been on a bike in a long time.

 

[Flyboy]

Another, shall we say, uuurrrmm, memorable moment was at Oshkosh 2007, in this case it involved the sampling of other cultures without a bike of any sort in sight.
Oshkosh 2007, around the camp fire, putting away a few cold ones, talking all things aviation and generally chewing the fat, a mate and myself are chatting to two ANG Black Hawk drivers who happened to stop by and see what the South African invasion of the Dairy State was all about.
Now this is one of those where you had to be there to appriciate the humour of the situation and one that any self respecting American who has a persuasion to 'chewing' will relate to in a heartbeat, alas I digress.
So Capt. Cool with Ray Bans and a squadron patch is merrily chewing away on a wad of chewing tobacco, chomp, chomp, chomp, spit, chomp, chomp...
Now never having tried this and seen it plenty in films and movies and TV, I decide, mmmmmm, gotta try this, hey, when in Rome.....
So after asking Top Gun if he minds me trying a wad of his prize leaf, he looks at his mate, the mate looks back at him and they grin at each other.
Now I should have taken my cue from that and headed for the hills for all I was worth, but no, we are going to do this.
Capt. Cool reaches into his pouch, produces the merest sliver of tobacco and hands me this morsel along with instructions on how to tuck it up in the back of your cheek blah blah blah, with the words I will never forget as long as I live and breath. "What ever you do, don't swallow"
Yeah, yeah yeah, right with such a punny piece of leaf, why should I need to.

Well, I swear, to this day I have no idea how that little morsel of tobacco is able to generate what seems to have been around 47 gallons of saliva in about a half a second flat. FUUUUUUUU......
Within half a second, i was standing there looking like a chipmunk with its whole winter store of nuts in its cheeks, while my saliva glands were only just starting to come onto the power band and pumping out spit, snot and God only knows what, at a rate that would have put a fire hydrant to shame.
All the while in the back of my head, all I could hear were the warning words "What ever you do, don't swallow", "What ever you do, don't swallow"
Well, by now, five seconds into the ordeal, my cheeks were stretched to the point of being as tight as guitar strings, the flood was russhing up my nasal cavaties looking for escape, and I am sure, trying to find its way into my audio channels to seek escape an pressure relief through my ears.
My entire mouth was as if it were ablaze, my eyes were blinded by the tears my head was spinning and the ever repaeting warning "What ever you do, don't swallow" a warning I was fighting an obviously loosing battle to obey, I had to get out of there and get out now, before the, what seemed like all the saliva generated by human kind in the last hundred years and the fire hydrants ni the back of my throught, which seemed to deliver stronger by the second conspired to force open my throat and, God forbid, send this evil torrent gushing down into my bowels, releasing all manner of dark and unthinkable ills upon me.
I staggered to what I thought was a tree I could barely make out through the streaming cascades from my eyes, at this point I didn't care what it was.
I collapsed in a heap under the tree, and let go, what seemed to be a zillion gallons of evil, totally exhausted, and drained blinded by tears, mouth on fire, and every one of my five senses, surely destroyed for ever.
This just seemed like such a good place to curl up and fade off into the darkness.
"What ever you do, don't swallow"

 

[marvinsc]

Another, shall we say, uuurrrmm, memorable moment was at Oshkosh 2007, in this case it involved the sampling of other cultures without a bike of any sort in sight.
Oshkosh 2007, around the camp fire, putting away a few cold ones, talking all things aviation and generally chewing the fat, a mate and myself are chatting to two ANG Black Hawk drivers who happened to stop by and see what the South African invasion of the Dairy State was all about.
Now this is one of those where you had to be there to appriciate the humour of the situation and one that any self respecting American who has a persuasion to 'chewing' will relate to in a heartbeat, alas I digress.
So Capt. Cool with Ray Bans and a squadron patch is merrily chewing away on a wad of chewing tobacco, chomp, chomp, chomp, spit, chomp, chomp...
Now never having tried this and seen it plenty in films and movies and TV, I decide, mmmmmm, gotta try this, hey, when in Rome.....
So after asking Top Gun if he minds me trying a wad of his prize leaf, he looks at his mate, the mate looks back at him and they grin at each other.
Now I should have taken my cue from that and headed for the hills for all I was worth, but no, we are going to do this.
Capt. Cool reaches into his pouch, produces the merest sliver of tobacco and hands me this morsel along with instructions on how to tuck it up in the back of your cheek blah blah blah, with the words I will never forget as long as I live and breath. "What ever you do, don't swallow"
Yeah, yeah yeah, right with such a punny piece of leaf, why should I need to.

Well, I swear, to this day I have no idea how that little morsel of tobacco is able to generate what seems to have been around 47 gallons of saliva in about a half a second flat. FUUUUUUUU......
Within half a second, i was standing there looking like a chipmunk with its whole winter store of nuts in its cheeks, while my saliva glands were only just starting to come onto the power band and pumping out spit, snot and God only knows what, at a rate that would have put a fire hydrant to shame.
All the while in the back of my head, all I could hear were the warning words "What ever you do, don't swallow", "What ever you do, don't swallow"
Well, by now, five seconds into the ordeal, my cheeks were stretched to the point of being as tight as guitar strings, the flood was russhing up my nasal cavaties looking for escape, and I am sure, trying to find its way into my audio channels to seek escape an pressure relief through my ears.
My entire mouth was as if it were ablaze, my eyes were blinded by the tears my head was spinning and the ever repaeting warning "What ever you do, don't swallow" a warning I was fighting an obviously loosing battle to obey, I had to get out of there and get out now, before the, what seemed like all the saliva generated by human kind in the last hundred years and the fire hydrants ni the back of my throught, which seemed to deliver stronger by the second conspired to force open my throat and, God forbid, send this evil torrent gushing down into my bowels, releasing all manner of dark and unthinkable ills upon me.
I staggered to what I thought was a tree I could barely make out through the streaming cascades from my eyes, at this point I didn't care what it was.
I collapsed in a heap under the tree, and let go, what seemed to be a zillion gallons of evil, totally exhausted, and drained blinded by tears, mouth on fire, and every one of my five senses, surely destroyed for ever.
This just seemed like such a good place to curl up and fade off into the darkness.
"What ever you do, don't swallow"

HaHaHa, thanks for the laugh! My Grandfather chewed "Mail Pouch" brand Tobacco his entire life. Walking in the yard required carefully dodging "Tobacco bombs" which were everywhere!:lol: