barry38
Member
I'm the service manager at a large multi-line motorcycle dealership. Normally I try to stay out of the shop and leave working on motorcycles to the professionals. Well, due to an injury to one of my tech's and another on vacation, I found myself on a lift doing basic services the past couple days.
I finished my second service this morning and took the bike out for a test ride. We do a 5 mile loop just to make sure everything is good. I manage to hit the one traffic light we have on the route red. Light turns green, I let out the clutch, and the back tire just spins. I look down to find a growing puddle of oil under the bike. I shut the motor off and push the bike into a small parking lot on the side of the road, all while the sick feeling in my stomach keeps getting worse and worse.
I call the shop to come get me. While waiting, I walked back up the road, following the trail of oil. After walking for over 10 minutes, and still not finding the end of the oil trail, I turned and walked back to the bike. The puddle under the bike was pretty damn big by now. The rear tire was covered in oil, along with most of the back of the bike.
How I didn't crash I don't know. After loading the bike on the trailer we drove back to see how far I'd going with the drain plug missing. Clocked out to over 1.5 miles. To say I'm one lucky fucker is a gross understatement.
The moral of my tale is this. When it comes to oil drain plugs, you tighten it. Then you check it a second time, then you check it a third time. And I'm asking all of you out there, that no matter who works on your bike, go out to garage right now and make sure your drain plug is tight.
I finished my second service this morning and took the bike out for a test ride. We do a 5 mile loop just to make sure everything is good. I manage to hit the one traffic light we have on the route red. Light turns green, I let out the clutch, and the back tire just spins. I look down to find a growing puddle of oil under the bike. I shut the motor off and push the bike into a small parking lot on the side of the road, all while the sick feeling in my stomach keeps getting worse and worse.
I call the shop to come get me. While waiting, I walked back up the road, following the trail of oil. After walking for over 10 minutes, and still not finding the end of the oil trail, I turned and walked back to the bike. The puddle under the bike was pretty damn big by now. The rear tire was covered in oil, along with most of the back of the bike.
How I didn't crash I don't know. After loading the bike on the trailer we drove back to see how far I'd going with the drain plug missing. Clocked out to over 1.5 miles. To say I'm one lucky fucker is a gross understatement.
The moral of my tale is this. When it comes to oil drain plugs, you tighten it. Then you check it a second time, then you check it a third time. And I'm asking all of you out there, that no matter who works on your bike, go out to garage right now and make sure your drain plug is tight.
