Quelle Horreur!! PO butchery ...

[nighthog]

A few weeks ago I picked up an alternator at an autojumble for a tenner. I didn't actually need it but thought it would be a handy spare to have up my sleeve, so to speak. The rotor is good, just checked it with a multimeter, but the wiring is, <ahem>, interesting. Here's what I revealed after removing the 'insulation' (yes, that is Gaffa tape):

I would put money on the bike having been broken up because of charging problems.

I dare say others have seen horrific things from POs that belong only in a Black Museum. Care to share? The more cringeworthy the better!

 

[jpdevol]

Ha! A great idea for a thread; lot's of potential humorous and puzzling "solutions". Though less butcherous than your stator wiring, here's a more common find: a motor rebuild from a few years ago wherein the PO was infatuated with RTV silicone.....

 

[JJames]

I always like a good blob on my exhaust and spark plugs as well. Lol.

 

[WideAWAKE]

Haha. A bit rough!.

That wiring job reminds me of these Chinese scooters I used to have to work on.

10 different pieces/colors of wire twisted together to make 1 longer wire to run across the bike. Always fun to trace electrical problems. Blue at one end, red at the other haha.

 

[Downeaster]

The Suzuki GT380 I flipped. I don't have a picture (dang it...) but there was a 3 foot long section of 16 gauge extension cord, complete with orange jacket spliced into the wiring harness with wire nuts.

 

[gggGary]

Bondo, good enough for gas tank remodeling?

 

[jpdevol]

View attachment 241242

View attachment 241243

The Suzuki GT380 I flipped. I don't have a picture (dang it...) but there was a 3 foot long section of 16 gauge extension cord, complete with orange jacket spliced into the wiring harness with wire nuts.

LOL; butchered wiring AND permatex (gold star)

 

[nighthog]

I stripped the forks on my SR500 to replace the leaking seals and while I'm in there, fit YSS emulators. Notice anything wrong here?



The PO had the stanchions rechromed.





<sigh> .... just ordered a new pair from Yambits. This bike is costing me an arm and a leg ...

 

[AUTOMAN]

I've seen it all, so far.

Great idea to make a sticky, what you may not do or really think about.

Scratch the think about....

cliff

 

[Wingedwheel]

Posted these before but still makes me scratch my head. Found inside the clutch cover.
I think somebody got pissed off at the PO at the time.

 

[nighthog]

Ouch!!

 

[Wingedwheel]

Ouch!!

That’s probably what the PO at the time said. Funny thing they were all dated before 1982 except for one that was 1983. ‘82 was the last year of all copper, after that they went to sandwiched steel. Luckily the ones that went through the gears were copper but I’m willing to bet that’s when the engine became locked up.

 

[AUTOMAN]

95Cu/5Zn to 5Cu/95Zn on US pennies in '83

 

[nighthog]

Not really a PO thing this time, but more a professional's incompetence.
On a recent trip to Scotland, one of us picked up a rear puncture on his 2016 Multistrada from a lump of glass. This did the tyre no favours at all, so he decided to get it replaced and he had a relative who lives near Aviemore and was able to find a bike shop who could do the job and had the right tyre. So, off we went and lo! the job was done.
Over the next 1200 or so miles, his chain got slacker and slacker until it looked like wet knicker elastic, and the bike behaved increasingly oddly. We stopped at Hinckley where we were due to have the Triumph Visitor Experience the next day before coming home, and by now he could rock the back wheel from side to side by at least half an inch! We started taking things apart, and this is what we found:



Two drive pins sheared off, all six cush rubbers were loose, wheel mullered, you can see the state of it. Needless to say, the chain & sprockets were buggered too. It was only the wire locking ring that held the back wheel on!
The bike shop are paying £2600 for all new parts which our mate, being the anally-retentive engineer he is, will fit himself.

A cautionary tale!

 

[LTGTR]

Nighthog - the bike shop obviously f..... up - but what did they actually do wrong to cause the damage. Was the wheel not tightened properly or can it be fitted incorrectly.
Thanks - Ray.

 

[gggGary]

Over the next 1200 or so miles, his chain got slacker and slacker

?????????????????????????

 

[nighthog]

With a single-side swinging arm, the drive pins on the hub need to locate into the holes in the wheel. They didn't, so the pins were in the voids. Under acceleration+deceleration the drive and wheel slipped against each other, banging back and forth. It was torqued correctly just not fitted correctly! Have a closer look at the fourth pic.

The chain got slacker because of all the wear on the other bits, and it wasn't sitting on the rear sprocket squarely because of the collapsing of the cush rubbers. If you can twist the sprocket that puts forces on the chain it wasn't designed to cope with. And the constant jerking as the hub kept bashing back and forth .... do that few million times ....

 

[Grimly]

With a single-side swinging arm, the drive pins on the hub need to locate into the holes in the wheel. They didn't, so the pins were in the voids. Under acceleration+deceleration the drive and wheel slipped against each other, banging back and forth. It was torqued correctly just not fitted correctly! Have a closer look at the fourth pic.

The chain got slacker because of all the wear on the other bits, and it wasn't sitting on the rear sprocket squarely because of the collapsing of the cush rubbers. If you can twist the sprocket that puts forces on the chain it wasn't designed to cope with. And the constant jerking as the hub kept bashing back and forth .... do that few million times ....

Make something foolproof and nature will invent a bigger fool.