P.O. Nightmares

[Darci]

Ok, maybe I doing this as therapy and to know that I am not alone...That being said, What is the worst thing that has happened to you and your bike, thanks to the wonderful thing known as a "Previous Owner" #-o:???:

I'll start....

My Previous Owner was so bad he....

completely goofed up the wiring in my bike which caused it to be constantly "on" all the time....a few batteries and melted wires later....I am still having starting issues. Also, he completely messed up the fuel valve (bypassed it actually) so that I had constant fuel flow. There were 3 different types of spark plugs in the bike and had replaced all the fuses with higher amperage fuses. The horn wires were hooked up to the gas tank sender wires and forget about the intake manifolds!!!

There is more, but i don't want to relive my nightmare!!! Am I all alone in this Previous Owner nightmare????

 

[Guest]

The PO of my GS bragged to me how he just bought one of them expensive o-ring chains and he found the front sprocket was on backwards. When the chain wore out too soon I check the front sprocket and he put it on backwards.

I once bought a Yammy XS650 and on the way home the forks popped through the triple trees and I don't know how I didn't crash and burn. He put the wrong size forks on it. What a moron.

Another XS650 and had it a week. The PO tied the rear fender up with an extension cord. The fender dropped and shorted out the wires. To make madders worst he had an aluminum foil fuse and it burned the whole harness. I rewired enough of it to get it home on the side of the rode with a bic lighter.
I now check the important things before riding a used bike. :shock:

 

[BentRod]

let me start with the big ones.. the PO of my bike was thick as a brick and about half as fast

to de-rust the tank, he through in a handfull of nuts and bolts, and drove down country roads at 80km/h. my carbs looked like they were packed with clay! he also missplaced the petcock filter condom.

to bypass the fuse, he crushed the fuse holder to mash things together. this gave out on me at the bank, and the bike had to be walked home.

HE SANDED ONE OF MY FORKS. ask OldSchoolOrange about this one, he corrected it for me. the dumb SOB took what looked like 300grit to the upper tube.

wrong bolts on the engine mounts. on the forward triangular pieces, on each side there is at least one quarter inch UNC bolt rammed in there.

I think it was a wad of mosquito netting in place of an air filter.


my all time favourite. friend of a friend bought a used motorcycle. paid for it, and while the PO was bring it over in his boat, he turned to fast, and with the extra load, pitched to the side, and lost the bike over board.
PO manages to fish it out with the use of an additional boat..

 

[Darci]

The PO of my GS bragged to me how he just bought one of them expensive o-ring chains and he found the front sprocket was on backwards. When the chain wore out too soon I check the front sprocket and he put it on backwards.

I once bought a Yammy XS650 and on the way home the forks popped through the triple trees and I don't know how I didn't crash and burn. He put the wrong size forks on it. What a moron.

Another XS650 and had it a week. The PO tied the rear fender up with an extension cord. The fender dropped and shorted out the wires. To make madders worst he had an aluminum foil fuse and it burned the whole harness. I rewired enough of it to get it home on the side of the rode with a bic lighter.
I now check the important things before riding a used bike. :shock:

Thanks Chef, My issues don't seem so bad now!!!! :-D

 

[Darci]

let me start with the big ones.. the PO of my bike was thick as a brick and about half as fast

to de-rust the tank, he through in a handfull of nuts and bolts, and drove down country roads at 80km/h. my carbs looked like they were packed with clay! he also missplaced the petcock filter condom.

to bypass the fuse, he crushed the fuse holder to mash things together. this gave out on me at the bank, and the bike had to be walked home.

HE SANDED ONE OF MY FORKS. ask OldSchoolOrange about this one, he corrected it for me. the dumb SOB took what looked like 300grit to the upper tube.

wrong bolts on the engine mounts. on the forward triangular pieces, on each side there is at least one quarter inch UNC bolt rammed in there.

I think it was a wad of mosquito netting in place of an air filter.


my all time favourite. friend of a friend bought a used motorcycle. paid for it, and while the PO was bring it over in his boat, he turned to fast, and with the extra load, pitched to the side, and lost the bike over board.
PO manages to fish it out with the use of an additional boat..

Overboard??? That really stinks. I think there should be a law where we can charge PO's for their stupidity!!!!

I feel much better now!!!

 

[Guest]

This needs to be a website, not just a thread!

The stories I could tell about the PO of my sailboat...

No complaints about Suzi's PO: He'd bought it new, and figured he needed to sell since he was 75. That was 25 years ago. Thank you John Conger.

 

[BentRod]

oh god.. other po stories. my buddies car came missing a frame rail...

 

[skip]

Overboard??? That really stinks. I think there should be a law where we can charge PO's for their stupidity!!!!

I feel much better now!!!

you mean that really sinks :-D

 

[Fixxxer]

The PO of my 550 saw fit to remove the air filter, replacing it with nothing, causing a lean mixture that combined with what seems to have been a timing issue put holes in two of my pistons less than a month after I bought it. Still waiting for the replacements.

Don't be like me; check everything before you ride the bike. Make no assumptions.

 

[omaharj]

No PO stories I'd like to share... Guess you'll have to wait for the next owner of my bikes.:wink::-D

 

[bradleymaynar]

Hmmm.... Many have already heard this, but I'll share it with you. The PO of my 1100, in an apparent effort to make the bike look good, armour-alled the 24 year old tires, yet failed to check the tire pressure. I dumped my new, to me, bike within site of my driveway.

Brad bt

 

[kent]

I bought a GS550 several years ago, the PO said it was running just great before he parked it for two years under a pine tree in his back yard. I took it home and tried to get it running after good carb rebuild. It would run, but only with the choke on and at about 2000 rpm. Humm, I said to myself, it has to be the carbs. I put those things on and off about 6 times and was about to give it up, so sitting in dispair I decided to put some stainless steel bolts in the carb boots, thats when I discovered the jerk had removed the boots once before and left the o rings out. So now the bike runs better but not good. so I checked the timing, he had been there also. He took the timing plate out for some reason, so I purchased a timing plate and set the timing correctly. Now the bike runs pretty good, time to take it for a spin. Made it about two blocks from the house and the chain falls off, I tried to get it back on but it would not line up correctly, thats when I discovered the bent swing arm. All in all I have about 750.00 into a bike that might be worth 500.00 the way it sits.

 

[BentRod]

just cause I'm ****ed

just cause I'm ****ed

Today I was ready to go out and put cash down on a Cm200.. (fix and sell)

I'd already seen the guy, told him i wanted it.
turns out last friday a guy showed up and bought it out from under me....

for some reason, no one seems good for their word any more

 

[klhilberg]

40 miles into my first ride after I got it running my 1000 started smoking from one tail pipe and wouldn't drop below 2500 rpms. This was literally my FIRST run on the open road with my bike just running around the area I live. I limped it home with my buddy following on his Road Star. When we pulled the carbs the #2 boot had a 1/2 inch cut out of it. Also for some reason the PO decided he didn't need any lowend power and swapped the factory 42 tooth rear sprocket for one with 32. The bike lugged all the time but you could do 55+ in first. Neddles to say that has all been corrected. I still need a good carb sync but the bike runs much better now. Or it will just as soon as I get the starter clutch fixxed.

 

[RJz1100E]

I actually have a lot of good things to say about the PO/original owner of my bike. He took great care of it since it was new, maintained it well, did'nt have anything to hide when I looked at the bike and sold it to me for $100 less than what I offered for it because he could tell that I was instantly in love with it. Which ended up being $300 less than what he advertised it for. Just an all around good guy and gave me a great deal on a real nice bike. Sorry.:-D

 

[RJz1100E]

Come on guys, don't let me be the threadkiller on this one.8-[

 

[marvinsc]

I'm in the Same Camp. I bought Mine on Ebay and Drove 1000 Round trip to bring Her home. PO said all it really needed was Riding and He was Right, the More I ride, the Better She Gets. All I have done is Replace the Air Filter, Battery, Tires, Seat Cover, and Oil and Filters as Needed. I can't Complain.:-D

 

[Cathy344]

Well, as aside from one ride around the block to get a feel for anything that might be wrong with her, I really haven't had a chance to do a great deal of riding of my eBay special yet. After I do, I may be back to this thread with MUCH more to tell.

As is, the first bone headed maneuver my bike's PO did was to install one of those "cruise controls". Now, you may be ready to tell me that lots of riders use throttle clamps, and that's all find and good, but this one was such that it made it impossible for me to hit the engine cutoff switch. It's no longer on the bike.

The true bone headed maneuver was discovered when I removed the cam cover to replace the gasket to discovered one of the head's acorn nuts just laying there in the valley. Apparently, while reassembling the engine, he just fumbled it down there and never bothered to retrieve it and torque it on properly. I did that, and I think the change in head bolt forces opened up a slight oil leak in the head gasket.

One of the really dangerous things my bike's PO did was to allow the gearshift link rod attachment to the little pittman arm to become tenuous at best. The bolt through the pittman arm is so corroded, I'm surprised it didn't just snap during my round-the-block test ride. Had I taken notice of it, I wouldn't have even attempted the test ride.

 

[DimitriT]

The PO on the 550 drilled out the idle jets so he could start it with no choke.

Also on the #2 carb he drilled out the hole for the idle mixture in the carb body.

The sliders were also dinged up and needed to be polished to work right.

The air filter was a piece of dry packing foam.

He Kreemed the tank with the sending unit in there.

Countless missing rubbers and bolts.

The petcock never worked on prime. Turns out he broke the metals tabs off the vacuum diaphragm.

After putting in new jets and replacing the carb body (and countless other maintenance items, repairs and upgrades) the bike runs amazing. It's now my commuter/backroad scrambler/beach runner bike. Turns in 55 mpg and hums along doing 70mph all day. Even took it off road a little on a trip out to Cape Cod.

Next I want to get Massachusetts Antique Motorcycle plates on it.

 

[bonanzadave]

Whats a PO ?