Note to self:

[SpitfireTriple]

When the tyre deflates and the bike tips over, remember your mistake. Do not make the same mistake the next day.

[JimVonBaden]

Originally Posted by Kokopelli

...

As a self-taught mechanic I can only conclude that my teacher was an idiot.

Awesome, I love it!

Jim

[Highchief]

when draining your brake fluid, drain it into a container that is in no way shape or form similar to the container of the beverage you are currently consuming.

[duck]

Originally Posted by Highchief

when draining your brake fluid, drain it into a container that is in no way shape or form similar to the container of the beverage you are currently consuming.

Mobil 1 tastes great too. When on long tours, I carry some spare oil in a plastic 20oz. Coke bottle. Small, seals well and easy to pour. One night after a long day and checking into a B&B at about midnight, I unpacked and promptly grabbed the wrong Coke bottle and started to take a swig. Didn't swallow any but it took HOURS to get the oil taste out of my mouth. I now put a few wraps of electrical tape around the cap of the Coke bottle with oil in it.

[Motoriley]

Don't want to start an oil thread but did the Mobil 1 taste better than non-synthetic? Maybe if it had been regular oil the taste wouldn't have lasted as long...

Originally Posted by duck

Mobil 1 tastes great too. When on long tours, I carry some spare oil in a plastic 20oz. Coke bottle. Small, seals well and easy to pour. One night after a long day and checking into a B&B at about midnight, I unpacked and promptly grabbed the wrong Coke bottle and started to take a swig. Didn't swallow any but it took HOURS to get the oil taste out of my mouth. I now put a few wraps of electrical tape around the cap of the Coke bottle with oil in it.

[RandyB]

Originally Posted by marchyman

Do not put soldering iron on floor because the work table was crowded when toddlers are in the house.

It'll launch a cat like a catapult though.

[spqr]

Do double check the oil drain plug after changing oil. Don't be in a hurry and on your way to a hot date with a hot girl.

The plug will vibrate loose.

On the twisty mountain Highway.

During commute traffic.

On the down hill.
[IMG]images/icons/eek.gif[/IMG]
In a hard descending, decreasing radius, right hander.

At 65+mph.

The oil will pour out, coating your rear wheel. Turning it to snot.

I kept it up though!

A much more experienced rider stopped by and asked what happened, I explained. He asks "Ever done any flat tracking?" I reply, "No" He looks at me and says dead level... "Well you have now."

The date was delayed, while I waited for a tow truck. But I had to stay the night so I could go and get a new plug from the shop. So I guess things worked out.

That bike broke every time there was a girl involved, jealous bitch!

[murgatroid42]

The Suzuki manual says to add some sealer to the valve cover gasket. There is a reason for this, even though you think it is unnecessary just because you used a new gasket and your Honda did not leak without any sealer. Now you have to spend another 2+ hours taking the bike all apart just to get to that leaking gasket, instead of taking an additional 10 minutes when you had the bike apart last week to check the valves.

[ConanKrusty]

When changing the break pads on your g/f's Mazda - make sure you actually tighten the wheel nuts before taking it for the test drive

[Geek]

Originally Posted by murgatroid42

The Suzuki manual says to add some sealer to the valve cover gasket. There is a reason for this, even though you think it is unnecessary just because you used a new gasket and your Honda did not leak without any sealer. Now you have to spend another 2+ hours taking the bike all apart just to get to that leaking gasket, instead of taking an additional 10 minutes when you had the bike apart last week to check the valves.

Ouch.. sorry Dan

[Wolfie]

On replacing front fork oil seals and dust caps plus changing the fork oil...
1) Have the shop manual at hand before you disassemble your only mean of transportation, not 10miles away...
2) Make sure you have the new oil seals at hand, not where the shop manual is. Also before you disassemble the front of the bike.
3) Don't kick over your cup holding the new fork oil when you're doublechecking the fluidlevel in the fork. Atleast learn from the first kick over not to do it again 10mins later when filling the other fork...
Optional 4) GET THAT D*MN FORK SEAL DRIVER TOOL! Save alot of nerves

Also, when doing electricals on the bike. Remember to connect the ground to the engine and/or chassy to complete the circuitry, not just to the battery. Heck of a lot easier to start a bike with the starter button when you don't have a kickstart if you have the grounds connected.

I really need a vacation soon, my head just isn't in the game at the moment

[KLboxeR]

On plumbing and sweating copper joints:

1) Take the time to go and get the good pair of safety glasses before soldering overhead joints. The bobo brand glasses that came free with your weedeater just don't cut it in the real world.

2) When the "magic blob" of molten solder bounces off a section of pipe and rebounds off an electric wire, landing itself square on your eyeball and tender parts of the eyelid, try and refrain from throwing the propane torch to the ground. While it didn't explode this time, I'm sure the possibility exists for something very bad to happen

Additional note: Once the sound of sizzling bacon resonating in your skull stops, the solder has probably cooled off from all that juicy eyeball goo and the real pain is about to begin!

3) The act of ripping the now solidified blob off your eyelid/out of your eye is probably not recommended by any sane medical professional, but hey, at least it causes excrutiating pain.

4) One of the greatest disappointments in life happens when you stick your head under the kitchen sink intending to flush out your burning eyeball and you throw the cold water on full blast resulting in a big stream of NOTHING. You were, after all, working on the plumbing and the water is turned off. Dumbass.

As an upside, a split second later you realize you have a hidden talent as a human fucking divining rod and you can locate an alternate source of water like a mofo when needed.

5) Driving a 6 speed Jeep Wrangler with one good (albeit watery) eye, calling the wife, applying a cool compress to the injured eye, and smoking a cigarette all at the same time is difficult but possible if motivated by enough pain.

It pays to live 3 miles from a hospital as well.

6) Hospital people seem to have a lot of sympathy for you when you're suffering from eye pain. Shaking like a leaf, looking pale and pasty like you're going to barf, yet still trying to be as polite as possible seems to help get you to the front of the line.

7) Pulling the dime sized blob of solder (that was previously in your eyeball) out of your pocket will impress the heck out of your ER doc. Kind of wierd that I pocketed it, but I thought they might need to see it for some reason or another

8) Cocaine drops in your eye sting for a bit but shortly wipe out all pain whatsoever.

Vicodin rocks, it's a shame we can't pop them like Flintstone vitamins

Second degree burns on the tender parts of your eyelids and burns/scratches on your eyeball suck ass.
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While this incident bites, I don't think there's any really bad damage. I am pretty lucky to still have my eye. Solder melts at +/- 800 degrees, if this had happened while I was welding steel it would have been more like 2000 degrees. I'm pretty experienced at welding/brazing/soldering and i should have know better than to settle for using the cheaper, poorly fitted safety glasses that were close at hand. I should have taken the time to get one of my good pairs and used them instead or I should have used my full face shield. Lesson learned.

If you cringed when reading this, good, that's partly my intent. Please use this as motivation to get several pairs of GOOD safety glasses and keep them close at hand all the time. I really don't want to see anyone go through that kind of pain and worry when it's so preventable. I deal with eye hazards all the time and always thought I was very diligent about eye safety. Today I learned you can never be careful enough and I'll take that lesson forward from here.

If you want some good glasses, check these out:

Jackson Nemisis safety glasses

They're comfortable, optically clear, they never fog up, and they're very inexpensive. Available in clear, smoke and dark. They are my normal safety lens and they'd have prevented this from happening, I'm sure.

[Lee Keller King]

Originally Posted by KLboxeR

If you cringed when reading this, good, that's partly my intent.

Like "Scarred" on MTV. How NOT to do extreme sports! (Or in your case, how NOT to do plumbing repairs)

http://www.mtv.com/ontv/dyn/scarred/series.jhtml

I found my 9 y/o son watching it last week and I was concerned, until I found out that it was "Scarred" that convinced him to always wear his helmet when he skateboards. If he can learn from the mistakes of others (without me having to take him to the ER again), that is way cool.


Lee

[xymotic]

Don't use a power screwdriver (er drill on high speed setting) to tighten the screw on a utility knife, particularly with the blade extended.

I honestly have no idea why I still have fingers on my left hand.

[Lee Keller King]

Originally Posted by xymotic

Don't use a power screwdriver (er drill on high speed setting) to tighten the screw on a utility knife, particularly with the blade extended.

I honestly have no idea why I still have fingers on my left hand.

(Saw a coworker do this once).


Do NOT use a Buck lock-blade folder to open a can of paint.

Miraculously, although he refused to go to the ER (no insurance), despite needing at least 8 stitches, he didn't lose the use of his left thumb. (My homemade butterfly stitches apparently worked).

Lee