DIASATER!

[motormike]

The basic story.. client's bike.. 1972.... had it over the winter.... restoration.... engine passed every test.... nicest running engine we've ever seen. Pull engine... powder coat frame, etc etc.... paint ( in house ) chrome..... client wanted alloy rims which looks very nice. Got it done..off the lift... did a few around the block..city streets... made minor adjustments... double check cotter pins... yesterday the final 25-40 mile ride on the back roads of Wisconsin ..... Ten miles in the bike is running perfectically..... I'm following in the truck and saw a plume of whiteish smoke from under the seat... a second later I can smell. .. " LUCAS " IN the truck ! . We pop the left side cover and..... NOOoooooooo ....
We haul it back to the shop.... and discovered... the fuse from the battery touched the starter relay.... it shorted the main black wire that runs from the rectifier to the ground at the base of the coils.. about 2 feet. The wire was reduced to bare copper strands. Adjoining wires were.... melted together. The fuse itself did not pop. So.. a new harness is on it's way. We tested all of the other electrical bits... and they checked out. The final photo... I was installing the battery (12v) in my Ducati... it takes a bit of twist..turn to insert.... my ring was against the positive battery post at the palm.... on the top of the hand the ring touched the cylinder fin.... big flash... light... my finger is on fire.. the ring is burnt.... this was last week... today's photo shows the 12v path.. still hurts...

 

[RC4MAN]

I worked with another young machinist apprentice near 50 years ago. He came in one morning with his left hand bandaged, had been pulling the battery from his wife's car and his wedding ring touched the fender, current traveled through ring to wrench to terminal and it melted the ring off is finger.
Hope it heals quickly

 

[WideAWAKE]

Well that’s a bummer!

On the upside, at least it happened while you still had the bike and not once delivered. That’s always the worst.

As for the ring… I’ll add that to the long list of reasons I do not wear a wedding ring.

 

[Adamc]

The basic story.. client's bike.. 1972.... had it over the winter.... restoration.... engine passed every test.... nicest running engine we've ever seen. Pull engine... powder coat frame, etc etc.... paint ( in house ) chrome..... client wanted alloy rims which looks very nice. Got it done..off the lift... did a few around the block..city streets... made minor adjustments... double check cotter pins... yesterday the final 25-40 mile ride on the back roads of Wisconsin ..... Ten miles in the bike is running perfectically..... I'm following in the truck and saw a plume of whiteish smoke from under the seat... a second later I can smell. .. " LUCAS " IN the truck ! . We pop the left side cover and..... NOOoooooooo ....
We haul it back to the shop.... and discovered... the fuse from the battery touched the starter relay.... it shorted the main black wire that runs from the rectifier to the ground at the base of the coils.. about 2 feet. The wire was reduced to bare copper strands. Adjoining wires were.... melted together. The fuse itself did not pop. So.. a new harness is on it's way. We tested all of the other electrical bits... and they checked out. The final photo... I was installing the battery (12v) in my Ducati... it takes a bit of twist..turn to insert.... my ring was against the positive battery post at the palm.... on the top of the hand the ring touched the cylinder fin.... big flash... light... my finger is on fire.. the ring is burnt.... this was last week... today's photo shows the 12v path.. still hurts...

Double Oooops!

 

[40north]

Longtimeago fella told me that everything that can go wrong, does, sooner or later. I am glad that the injuries are modest...as in not terribly permanent. Still, you, Brother, have had a very nasty experience. And an expensive one too. Prayers. It might have been worse. Shorted battery sometime explode... with sometimes eye damage added to burns. Best!

 

[SEd27]

Motormike,

Glad you are ok.

I’ve seen pictures floating around of a mechanic who did something similar, but wasn’t as lucky (the ring shaped burn on his finger looked like crispy bacon).

I’ve gone to a silicone unit as my original wedding ring was getting uncomfortable after 10+ years of wearing daily:

They are dirt cheap on Amazon and come in many different colours.

You don't even notice it is on your hand.

I no longer have to worry about taking it off if working in the yard, tinkering on the bike, or playing sports.

 

[nj1639]

I almost got a ring hung on a ladder rung once, early days of being the cable guy. I heard the stories of the skin on the finger being turned inside out and I've been ringless for decades. A tattoo would work grand.

 

[bosco659]

Many, many years ago while working on my ‘71 Datsun 510, I was reaching under the dash while wearing a metal banded wrist watch. Couldn’t see where my hand was going, then heard a crackling sound and my wrist started to get real hot, real fast. Managed to yank my hand out of there before I was severely burned, but it left me with a reminder for many weeks afterwards. Lesson learned.

 

[mrtwowheel]

I once had a dead battery in my '68 Chevelle at work. The temperature was way below zero degrees F. A friend came out to give me a jump. I was hooking the cables to my battery and the top of the battery blew off and hit me square in the face. Luckily the big sink was not very far away. Most of my acid burns were on the top of my head. The top of the battery had shielded my eyes and most of my face. We guessed the battery must have been frozen. I keep my head back from batteries now when jumping or connecting.

 

[wildav]

Yep, jewelry of any kind does not go well with mechanics work, including neck ornaments.
BTW, great car that was Bosco. My sister had one and let me drive it to Miami once to visit friends. A blast to drive. made great race cars too in SCCA.

 

[13R]

I've never worn jewelry of any kind - the above are just some of the reasons why.

 

[motormike]

Years ago... when I turned a wrench for almost a living.... ( Midas, brake-exhaust ) I was dualling out a car ..... work'n with the pipe bender... on one end of the machine.. the pipe is clamped in place so the ram can expand-flare the pipe... as I flipped the lever to retract the ram... I was holding the pipe.... but this time the clamp didn't keep the pipe in place but slid into the machine.... every break a chicken leg....? that noise, times two.... Now, I'm looking at my hand in the machine.... no pain... but it was rather strange... I reverse the lever... my hand was free... middle and ring finger.. folded backwards... string like muscles ... red stuff spurting .... jagged bone.... wrap'd in a shop rag... Off to the hospital ..... now... pain is an issue. Thankfully I did not wear a ring on the job.. it would have ...complicated the...problem. As a result, I'm officially 2% handicapped ...... I ask'd about handicapped plates for my bike... 2% doesn't get plates...

 

[motormike]

Got the Mikes Xs almost fits new wiring harness installed today..... most of the wires color matched.... the left side turn signal wires have a different color.... also, one or two others... but a volt ohm meter on hand I got it figured out... only blew 2 glass fuses .... I do have to sort out why the tach dash light blinks with the turn signals.... We checked voltage at 2000 rpms... north of 16.... we opened the volt-reg and just a sight turn lowered it to spec with lights on.... can't test ride util next Monday..... Holiday week..... besides the 4th... off to a Moto Guzzi rally (on a Ducati) in Elkader Iowa this weekend. Visit the National M/C museum in Anamosa that's closes 5 Sept.... Mecum auction next day..... they have bikes posted on the Mecum site. One 72' Xs.

 

[46th Georgia]

Yep, jewelry of any kind does not go well with mechanics work, including neck ornaments.
BTW, great car that was Bosco. My sister had one and let me drive it to Miami once to visit friends. A blast to drive. made great race cars too in SCCA.

Me and my dad raced one in the 90's. I sure miss it.

 

[Kojack]

The basic story.. client's bike.. 1972.... had it over the winter.... restoration.... engine passed every test.... nicest running engine we've ever seen. Pull engine... powder coat frame, etc etc.... paint ( in house ) chrome..... client wanted alloy rims which looks very nice. Got it done..off the lift... did a few around the block..city streets... made minor adjustments... double check cotter pins... yesterday the final 25-40 mile ride on the back roads of Wisconsin ..... Ten miles in the bike is running perfectically..... I'm following in the truck and saw a plume of whiteish smoke from under the seat... a second later I can smell. .. " LUCAS " IN the truck ! . We pop the left side cover and..... NOOoooooooo ....
We haul it back to the shop.... and discovered... the fuse from the battery touched the starter relay.... it shorted the main black wire that runs from the rectifier to the ground at the base of the coils.. about 2 feet. The wire was reduced to bare copper strands. Adjoining wires were.... melted together. The fuse itself did not pop. So.. a new harness is on it's way. We tested all of the other electrical bits... and they checked out. The final photo... I was installing the battery (12v) in my Ducati... it takes a bit of twist..turn to insert.... my ring was against the positive battery post at the palm.... on the top of the hand the ring touched the cylinder fin.... big flash... light... my finger is on fire.. the ring is burnt.... this was last week... today's photo shows the 12v path.. still hurts...

I worked in a steel mill for 48 years, 25 of them in the machine shop. No jewelry, ever. My wife hates that I don't always wear a wedding ring but I still have all my fingers, and a lot of arthritis.

 

[Mailman]

Wedding rings…
When I was a welder in a fleet garage, I was doing a job repairing a crack on the telescoping mast of a big forklift. I was standing on the fender about five feet off the ground. After I was done welding, I removed my hood and gloves and grabbed hold of something on the mast for balance as I jumped off. My wedding ring caught on something and literally hung me off the ground , it cut deeply into my finger and pulled the ring into an egg shape. I had to cut it off and that was the last of my ring wearing days.

 

[Kojack]

Wedding rings…
When I was a welder in a fleet garage, I was doing a job repairing a crack on the telescoping mast of a big forklift. I was standing on the fender about five feet off the ground. After I was done welding, I removed my hood and gloves and grabbed hold of something on the mast for balance as I jumped off. My wedding ring caught on something and literally hung me off the ground , it cut deeply into my finger and pulled the ring into an egg shape. I had to cut it off and that was the last of my ring wearing days.

They used to have this picture posted around the mill.

 

[motormike]

DONE ! Everything works.... voltage check with lights on.. within specs... starts really well.... we did nothing to the engine.... did go thru the carbs.... Did a 20 mile test ride.... now parked.... waiting for client to pick up drop check.$ !