And todays cockup is !???

[stokky]

Back in the mid 70's got my first GP.
Loved it, Royspeed 225 and Royspeed exhaust, 30ml DO carb.

Decided wanted a bit of a paint job and a name on panels.

Always like the custom flames etc.

So hand painted "Hound of Hades" down both panels, and then added flames coming from the letters.
Spent ages doing it, and thought looked the dogs

Only when panels went on did I realise flames were going forward on one of the panels

Bugga !!!

[dapper]

Ho HO Ho, well I did laugh as the layshaft shim was indeed in place. Well, better safe than sorry

[olliewtf]

during the torrential rain I drive to work on the lammy and it conks out in Lewisham. wont kickstart so pushstart it is. find a quiet road, and trust me ive push started this scoot many a time, only this time the engine bites at which point I realise my hand isn't hovering over the clutch. as this grim realisation sinks in my leather soled shoes lose all grip on the soaking wet floor so I topple, protecting the bike from any bruises as the b@5t@rd think lands on top of me.
I also once tried to fit a 16t sprocket but the chain wasn't slack enough, so put it all back as it was, go to start it, all jammed up. so instead of doing the sensible thing and striping back down I decide to do the pig headed thing and push start it. don't what I was thinking, but yep you've guessed it, one hefty crack in my sidecasing. didn't line up the top hat properly. 1 month no bike, train to work, fortune in railfare!

[coaster]

during the torrential rain I drive to work on the lammy and it conks out in Lewisham. wont kickstart so pushstart it is. find a quiet road, and trust me ive push started this scoot many a time, only this time the engine bites at which point I realise my hand isn't hovering over the clutch. as this grim realisation sinks in my leather soled shoes lose all grip on the soaking wet floor so I topple, protecting the bike from any bruises as the b@5t@rd think lands on top of me.

I had a similar experience back in 1971 whilst bumping my TV175. The side road had just been re-surfaced with granite chippings and after pushing it up and down without success for 10 minutes I was just at the point of giving up when it started with the throttle wide open and a carb full of Plus Gas I couldn't run to jump on as I'd started to slow my stride.....I decided to hang on The scoot dragged me up the road then veered up the kerb, across the pavement and into a hedge Result, jeans ripped to shreds and the side of my knee grazed deeply enough to land me in casualty and off work for a week Possibly the most painful injury I've had and scars that I still have

[ArmandTanzarian]

Conked out at traffic lights, went to kickstart it, foot slipped off the pedal and got caught up between the pedal and the footboard. Stayed upright for a couple of seconds before slowly toppling over like Del Boy going through the bar and all in front of a big queue of traffic during rush hour.

[Chris F]

Here is the dumbest thing I've done on a scoot repair.

I used to commute on my TV175 & needed it to be on the road nearly every day. It's been twenty years now, so I don't remember why I had the need to have the piston off on a Saturday morning, but as I was putting in the circlip back on the piston, it popped off the C clip holders & disappeared. As I was doing this work on a wooden deck behind the house & there was a good chance it fell between the boards. I did spend nearly an hour looking for it and also used a small magnet on a thin rod to see if it had gone down on to the surface of the crank webs some where. No luck in finding it. So I used a spare circlip & finished buttoning it up. Pushed it out to the front of the house to started it . Kicked it twice, it ran for about 10 pops and screeched to a solid halt. s**t...! There was the missing circlip.

Another top end strip & I was stopped when I could see the now "found" circlip wedged between the piston wall & the barrel wall.

I knew I didn't have the time or resources to get this mess separated, so I gave Vince M. at West Coast Lambretta Works a call. He came out and collected my scoot, back to the shop, removed the jam, honed the barrel, put some new rings on the piston & dropped it back at mine all in the same day. Top service from a Lambretta legend.

Moral of the story, always have a clean shop rag to stop stuff going in the crank area. Duh.

[Den 08]

and another one in 2007, my nice new to me, ochre painted gp and mot'd 3 months to restore all spangly standard looking NICE!!
picture this, started the scoot on the drive feeling really chuffed opens my quite tall wooden gate pushes bike on to pavement
grabs throttle with right hand, to lazy to put on stand!! turns slightly to shut gate with left hand hears what can only be described
as a thud turns to look bike is led on the floor, me stood there with handle grip firmly in my hand , during rebuild never bothered
to stick gripps. I somehow found it funny do I learn no way.

oh and just to chuck this in a few years ago went to sandford a week early , those who know, know still it was a nice ride, f%%&in scooters

[hendy]

Not long after starting working at MB Mark did an engine rebuild for a lad from Essex.
This lad fitted the engine and was having no end of problems setting it up, it wouldn't rev out, all sorts.
Cue about 2 weeks of phone calls, try this, what about that etc.
Customer started getting abusive and threatening legal action so Mark said bring the bike up, I'll sort it.
But customer didn't have a van so his Dad took a day off work to trailer it up to Doncaster.
They turned up, atmosphere was a little frosty to say the least.
Mark went for a quick spin round the estate, did a little tinkering and said "there it's sorted, have a try"

Customer and his Dad refused to believe it could be sorted so quick until Mark explained they had put the gear cables the wrong way round. Quick further tinker with air screw and tick over and scooter was finished.

I bet the silence was deafening on the way home.

I just happened across this post and pissed myself laughing. Anyone who hasn't seen this has me to thank for the mirth they're currently experiencing

[dirtyhandslopez]

Was building a motor for a customer years ago, with customer in attendance(not a good idea). Go to put on mag flange and it won't fit over the race. Wrong race fitted. Tore it all apart, installed race, put it all back together again, went to fit mag flange, wouldn't fit... Had picked up the wrong race again. Well embarrassing.

Spent a whole evening outside in the snow building a 200 top end with a 34 amal and ott fresco(circa 84?) so I could get to Heathrow to see my parents off on a plane(woudn't be seeing them again for a few years). At the crack of dawn, loaded up girlfirend and rode to the A12 and started out of town(Ipswich). 1/4 mile up the road and it dies. fire it up again and it dies. Repeat a few more times and say bugger it, back to the girlfriends house, pick up her 125(recall it being a Lynx) and of we go again. Get to the airport and plane had left 20 minute earlier. Rode back very unhappy, in the snow. Got back and had a look round the 200.In the carb, at the top of the body in the float bowl was a a hole that should have been blocked by a blanking jet. Was told that wasn' necessary by the people at the bike shop where I'd asked for advise on the carb couple of days before...Not a happy camper.

There's alwayways the old faithful leave the clutch nipple off...

First SX resto for someone ran perfectly, paint was so nice the just slid off without soap when it was washed. Gave it to customer, with the advice to either bring it back for it's first service or at least change the gearbox oil after 500 miles. About 2 weeks later I get a call. "we went to drain the gearbox oil, but there wasn't any" . Yep, had forgot to put oil in it. Ran alright though .

[crooky]

I was putting my engine in and thought the bolt was long won I tightened it. I'd not put the cones in and pressed the mount into the frame that's bad enough but rode it for a week before I noticed the Blackwell was at 45 degrees . Was a pig to get out.