reminder to double check your work

Make sure and check your work over. We tore this bike down and replaced rings. took it for a short test drive and all was good. This weekend i got it out and was giving it one last test drive before i delivered it back to the customer. It started and ran for about 30 seconds then died with a few clanks, bangs, and otherwise bad noises. Apparently we forgot to loctite the cam gear bolt.
and apparently a ttr125 is an interference engine. This customer gets a new valves and a valve job for free now and i get to feel like an idiot in front of them when i explain what happened.

 

At least it won't be a come back. Better to have it happen to you than the customer.

 

and as frick ups go...this is a cheap one. 2 new valve=$35. valve job is just 15mins labor to cut the seats and lap the new valves. all total its only a $100 mishap and the customer is going to end up much better off because of it.

 

True but it's always frustrating to do the same job twice. Good to see you made it right. Could have been way worse.

 

Where's the dislike, I feel for you, been there done that button. Glad to hear it was a minor mishap.

 

Don't feel bad, I think we have all made a similar mistake. I just got done rebuilding my 024AV with a new slug & jug recently. It was late so I figured that rather than wake the neighbors, I would wait till the next morning to fire it up. Decided to clean up the tools and bench instead. Good thing, I found one of the wrist pin clips lying on the bench! Forgot to put in the second one! That could have been a disaster.

 

We all have those days and when its your own stuff you can laugh it off....having the joy of telling a customer you screwed up and its going to be another week till parts get here is another thing. thankfully for me this is a really, really good customer and understands. 15yr old kid of all things.....they moved to kentucky this fall and his family continues to bring their stuff up to me on their trips up to visit the remaining family that lives close

 

Really what is a customer going to do if your honest with them about you screwing something up and are going to make it right on your own buck? This day and age that's about the best you can ask for. It's frustrating and unfortunate but we're all human.

 

I had a motorcycle shop that made a big boo boo. That almost ended up really bad. Forgot to tighten caliper bolts. Needless to say when I needed front breaks I got showered with metal frag as the caliper and pads exploded. Luckily I avoided the deer.
The dealer did everything he could to make it right. A year later I bought a new motor cycle from him.
Mistakes happen, making them right very seldom does.

 

We've all forgotten stuff before. Back in my early 20's I had just finished replacing the brakes on the front of my truck, and just as I was lowering it from the jacks I got a call from a buddy wanting to hang out that night. I was probably on the phone for 10-15 minutes and then went in to get a shower, put my tools away and then jumped in my truck and left. About 5 miles down the road I felt things getting REALLY squirrely and pulled over. I HAD FORGOTTEN TO TIGHTEN THE LUG NUTS!!!! I was lucky that I felt it before a wheel fell off.

 

The cam gear is only held on with one bolt?

Pretty cool that you admitted your mistake and even posted it on the Internet for everyone to know! We've all screwed up, it's just part of life. Making it right such as this situation tells you a lot about someone.

 

one bolt....and its only a 10mm bolt on top of that. stamped steel cam gear with a tab bent over as the keyway. really cheap design. gets even worse to time this this thing...its basically just put it at TDC and line up the mark on the cam gear with the dash on the head.....there is .050 gap in the cam gear alignment tab so the cam has room to move and either advance or goober a few degrees just by where the bolt tightens down.

I dont have a problem admitting mistakes. Just gave me/us a reminder to slow down and check our work and figured someone else could use the reminder too

 

what bike?

 

This is a pretty minor mistake...and in all honesty it wasnt me that made it...but an even bigger one was the time i burnt up a VW Beetle at my cousins car lot.

My cousin has a used car lot that i used to work at. We sold this VW bug to a couple and they came back in about a week after the sale because the fog lights had quit working. At the time this VW was only about 5 yrs old and 100k on it. So i pulled it in the shop...found a blown fuse and replaced it. turned the lights on and it blew immediately. I looked over all the exposed wiring and couldnt find anything so i replaced the fuse again and turned the lights on...nothing...lights stayed on and worked so i put the car up in the air again(with the key on and fog lights on) and proceeded to look at the wiring behind the bumper. smelled something burning and looked underneath for smoke...nothing. checked the fog lights and they are still on but flickering.....poked my head out from under the car and saw smoke rolling out the drivers window. By the time i got the car set down disconnected the battery and got the fire extinguisher after it...the whole wiring harness under the dash was toast, under the hood was toast, dash panel itself was melted. total loss. My cousin had to buy the car back and send it to the scrap yard. In my defense...The fuse for the fog lights never blew even with flames coming out from the dash. that was an expensive whoooops. IIRC it was about $8000 loss for my cousin.

 

Yamaha TTR 125

 

Thats what i thought.... HONDA BABY YEA

 

Yami ttr125

 

I read the words and now feel like a boob. I was reading the pictures, not the words at first. Sorry.

 

The small bikes from all brands are built fairly cheap. Even my xr80r Honda has some cheap bits.

 

Yea, but the XR is still a toy bike, the 125 class is a bit different.