Ride Apart: Ten Dumbest Things You can do on a bike... ADD some more

http://rideapart.com/2013/10/dumbest-things-you-can-do-on-a-bike/

Yep, done ALL those.


I'll add one; at a large gathering of Gearheads, Hot August Nights at a major casino in Reno. I parked in a throng of bikes, most HD's.


Came back out, everybody there is revving motors and there's a huge gathering of people just admiring cars and bikes I mount up give it a good rev to leave and LAUNCHED the bike at a 45 degree angle because I left the wheel lock on. Bike shoots in-between two 20k dressers and slams down onto the pavement right in front of the valet where everybody's waiting for their cars. Leaving me standing there to take a bow to my adoring fans.

you gas up and pull away from the pump only to have your bike die then realize you grabbed the green handle is filled with diesel

was there any lasting damage on that one?

Headed to work, about 2 miles from the house, went over a sharp rise and heard a loud clunk. Of course I properly latched my left pannier onto the rack before I left...

Went up the narrow ramp at my marina to park on the sidewalk in my 'special' spot by the gate, heard a loud clunck and came to a sudden stop because I'd forgotten the panniers were on and I ran into a brick wall.

Couldn't get motor to start. It was way low on gas so I filled it with new and spilled some on the head.

Still didn't start, so I pulled the plug to see if it had spark and just rested it on the metal so I could see if it was sparking.


Yep! Spark set all the spilled gas on fire real good.

Closed petcock.

Done a few of those, especially the whole "let my keys/wallet/phone" in my jeans pocket, UNDER my riding pants, so now I have to unzip my riding pants a bit and fish around in there at the gas station/store/friend's house/etc, looking like a creepy dude having too much fun in public. :huh

not sure, it wasn't me that did it, but seen it happen on 2 different group rides

About 10 years ago I stopped in Goldendale WA on my '02 K1200RS and not paying attention, filled my bike with diesel. I realize what a stupid move I had made, just as the tank was full. Duh. So I pulled the bike away from the pumps and walked to a near by auto parts store and bought a section of hose. I syphoned as much diesel out of the tank as I possibly could, rolled the bike back to the pump and filled her with 92 octane. I held my breath that I had diluted the diesel enough to start the bike and after a few attemps got her fired. I headed off towards Yakima and everytime I got hard on the gas, it looked like I was doing mesquito control. No damage other then oiling up the mufflers and of course my ego. I still laugh thinking about all the smoke I left as I was passing vehicles.

forget to take the plastic bag off your air filter after washing your bike and then wonder why it's running like shit...

Getting ready to head home after a 15 hour workday.
Warm the bike up and begin to pull away.
Stop suddenly with a very loud Klunk.
Remember that the bright yellow disc lock is still on the brake disc

When the left pocket of the tankbag is full it hits the horn at full lock. And you only hit full lock in crowded parking lots.

After making a few stops or working 16 hrs. Hop on the bike, idle it for a few seconds and take off. Make it about a mile and it quits. Left the damn pepcock closed.

Or start it up to warm up. Get all gear on, stand bike up, forgot the fork lock turn it off to unlock it.

Or on the old bike, I sometimes go to pull out and fell a scraping. Left the kickstand down.

On the rare occasion forgetting to strap the chin strap. Odd feeling.

Riding down the road and start to sputter... Out of gas. NO WORRIES, I'll just reach down and turn the petcock to reserve!

DOH! Some dumb-ASS (self) left it on reserve after the last time.

During my MSF BRC on the test day...
The procedure when you are off the bike is to close the fuel petcock, and of course, the procedure when getting on is to turn it back on, but I forgot that part.
So I'm idling my way up the line, then it's my turn to do the "box", make the first u-turn in good shape, then I'm starting my turn in on the second and the bike sputters and dies.
I pretty much immediately realize what happened, clutch in, get the bike upright, feet down, reach down and open the valve, hit the starter and finish.

Lost a couple of points for putting my feet down, but I still think I should have gotten a brownie point or two for not dumping the thing.

Fuel injection is a really wonderful thing

this I did once,

let the clutch out a bit to quickly and not enuf gas, bike stalls, but with enuf forward momentum to throw you forward, loose your balance, fall down, bike on top of you .........

in front of a crowd of 50 or more people

Bought a disc lock w/alarm before a major trip to the Smokies. 3rd day in, parked at the motel, checked in locked it up and took a shower. Wandered down to the office later with fellow riders to inquire about a restaurant. It was not in walking distance so we all jumped back on the bikes...yep...forgot the damn disc lock. Wheel was already cocked the way we were going...a nice 90 degree pullout, bang on the parking lot...then the alarm went off which was the icing on my embarrassment cake.

After that trip my buddy bought me one of these as a joke(the yellow one):


I actually used the thing for 3 more years...worked perfect

Stop on a steep ass hill facing diagonally. Realize lower leg is not 5 feet long.

This happened last week; I pulled up behind a large truck at the end of a looong line of slow moving cars. I quick glance down the road and I see a grey pickup that looks like it's passing the lead car and no oncoming traffic. I back off a bit to get a jump on the passing speed, start to pass the big truck and realize the grey pickup was coming my way and closing fast... pucker factor moment!