Garage Confessions - Anonymous rider-submitted stories:

---

Submitted by: Honcho 

One of the dumbest things I’ve ever done on a motorcycle happened when I was a newer rider working at my first motorcycle shop. I had just finished servicing a sportbike and, like always, I took it out for a test ride before calling it done. We had a standard loop that was about seven miles long, and I’d ridden it so many times I could practically do it with my eyes closed. The bike ran great. Everything felt right. I was feeling pretty confident.

As I wrapped up the ride, I pulled up to the last stoplight before the shop. Light turns red. I stop. Go to put my right foot down. Nothing. My foot wouldn’t move. At first I was confused. Then I started panicking. I yanked on my leg, trying to get my foot free. Bad idea. Instead of freeing my foot, I pulled my weight to the right and started tipping the bike over. Now I’m fighting the bike, trying to save it, while also trying to figure out why my foot is stuck.

Spoiler alert: I wasn’t saving it.

As the bike started its slow-motion journey toward the pavement, I looked down and saw the problem.

My boot lace had wrapped itself around the rear brake pedal and foot controls. I was literally tied to the motorcycle. Down we went.

Thankfully the damage was minor. A brake lever and a mirror if I remember right.

The bike was easy to fix. My ego took a little longer.

To this day, I still glance down and check my boot laces and make sure they’re tucked in before I ride.

Submitted by: Geazer

First dumb thing I did was buy a ’73 XLCH that was a mosquito fogger. But it was $1,500.00, and I thought it was the guides in the heads. I disassembled the thing down to the frame. I powder coated the frame and the body work, tapped each bolt hole, and hand sanded/polished the front hub to a shine. I even re-spoked the rims. I had the bike assembled except for the engine. Took it to a shop in Phoenix, AZ, to fix the engine, only to find out the piston wrist pin retainer clip had popped out and it was sliding up and down the cylinder, sending metal throughout the whole engine. $5,500.00 and 4 months later, the engine was ready. I installed it and got it running. I took it to a different shop for tuning.

Here is where I almost got really dumb. I picked up the bike at twilight and started riding back home. At a stop light, the engine died. I was disappointed, thinking that it was the shop’s fault. The XLCH was a kick-start-only bike. As I was trying to get it started, the kickstand folded and the bike fell over at the light. It felt like ALL of Phoenix was there to see this. I picked it back up and thought, “Maybe it’s out of gas.” WELL, it was dark by now, and I couldn’t see in the tank. I did not have a flashlight. I only had a Bic lighter. I pulled out the lighter and put it next to the fill opening, and God stepped in at the last second, and He said very loudly, “STUPID, GAS FUMES EXPLODE. But you do you.” He caught me just in time.

I pushed the bike to the gas pump at that intersection and filled it up, and it ran fine. That is when I found out that a motorcycle shop will use all of your gas to work on your bike and not give you any to make it home.

And get this… By the time I finished the bike, I had about $10K into this rebuilt, now brand new, 1973 XLCH. I then learned that no matter how much you spend on an old bike, the technology keeps it old. Later, I only got $2,800.00 for it because of what it is. The good part is that I learned a lot from that rebuild and how to better choose a bike.

Oh yeah, I’m 6’1” and pretty stocky. I looked like an ape on that bike. What was I thinking?