Guru, Shmuru - Dumbass award

[randy]

Riding home from work yesterday the bike was not handling well. All sorts of complicated reasons were going through my head:

-Tires - nah, 4k w/ lots of tread.
-steering bearings? - nah, 2 yrs old.
-wheel bearings? - nah, 3yrs.
-shocks/fork springs? - nah, 3 yrs.
-fork oil? - 1 yr.

When I arrived home it dawned on me that I couldn't remember the last time I'd checked the tire pressures. Sure enough, rear-25lbs, front- 20lbs! Gee, they didn't LOOK low! Stupid, stupid, stupid.

It had snuck up on me so gradually that I didn't notice the change in handling until it got dangerously loose.

So, this month's dumbass award goes to yours truly. I now keep a tire pressure gauge in the pen holder on my desk as a continuous reminder.

[madmax-im]

BTDT

Hey Randy dont feel too stupid...its been done by the best of us...myself included...you're just having so much fun that you forgot to check it

[blue giant]

Hey Randy,

Don't feel stupid, i did the same thing at the start of the season. Never did care for the way my xj handled and chalked it up to folks here saying these aren't great handling bikes. Decided to check the tire pressures and shock pressures before heading down the XS East. Duh!

What a difference! Now I keep a tire gauge in the tool kit.

I do, however, prefer the way my 79F handles.



Have an Arrogant Bastard and forget about it!


Cheers,

Paul

[randy]

Arrogant Bastard! Yeah, weren't they great?

[madmax-im]

Yeah Ive been looking for that stuff...cant find it around here DANG!

[randy]

I'm told it's available here in Queens. If I can find it, I'll bring some to Torrington!

[CarolynS]

Listen...

I only had two slices of pizza!!!

It's not my fault!!! If I had eaten what I normally do, it could've caused the loss of tire pressure...

[Jerry]

Tire pressure importance was hammered into my by my Dad, I carry a gauge in each of my cages as well as on the XJ. I check tire pressure weekly.

On the XJ, check your rear shock pressure. (XJ has factory-stock air adjustable front and rear suspension.) I went to progressive front springs and no longer use air pressure in the front, but the rears leak a bit and need to be checked more frequently. I use one of those CO2 tire inflators to handle the shock pressure, seems to work pretty well. I run about 28 lbs in the shocks, can feel the loss there sooner than a change in tire pressure.

[trbig]

Well... While we're poking fun... can we discuss backwards mounted gears too??


Tod

[randy]

Oh, that's just cruel, Tod. Lot's of moxie from 2000 miles away.

But no match for my worst f-up ever. 1981. Changing a cyl head on a Ford Capri remember those? Setting up timing, needed to bump the crankshaft a bit to line up the marks. Bump the starter with the ignition,

Fuel spills from the open fuel line.

Spark jumps from the ignition wires.

Yes, engine fire. No great damage, had it out in a jiffy, but that was a scary moment.

[trbig]

LOL.. Wife's uncle was telling me about a van he was working on one time with the cover off in the passenger compartment. It wouldn't crank, so he took the spark plugs out... apparently one of the cylinders had hydro-locked, and it shot out the hole all over him and the van.. but didn't ignite.

My first car was an old 69 Ford with a 351 Cleveland motor. I had done some work to the motor and just re-installed it. I went to fire it up.. which it did immediately... so I revved it a bit to make sure the timing etc was good, then killed it when I saw steam. Apparently, tranny coolant lines are under a lot of pressure when a motor is running, and realy doesn't take a lot of time to pump out 8 or 10 quarts when you haven't hooked them back up the the bottom of the radiator... Some help from the fan helps it sling everywhere even further! What a #$@& mess....

[psycoreefer]

I'm not a guru but I'll jump in with one of those stupid moments. When I was around 16 we had a pair of old early 70's snowmobiles. Well one had dual plugs and sometimes the floats would stick and the cylinders would fill up with gas. Being the smart kid I was I pulled one plug from each cylinder and pulled that cord with everything I had to pump the gas out. You guessed it about a 20ft jet of fire out of both cylinders. That'll take your eye brows off. Shortly after I changed my pants I took the carbs off and cleaned out the float bowls so they'd stop doing that.

[thewiz]

"....Arrogant Bastard and forget about it!..."

Brewed right around the corner. Da' kin !!

www.sanmarcosbrewery.com

[randy]

Hey, wiz, bring some to the Torrington rally!

[red bandit]

This reminds me of a time when I was young. My friends little brother was mowing grass, a push mower w/ vertical shaft. He was going to check the oil so he took out the oil filll plug....while it was running!!