Other The What is your biggest Rookie move on a build.

[Austin]

I just got done with a motor rebuild in the x2 put it on the hose and turned on the water, then I realized I had to go to the bathroom ( forgot to turn off the hose). 20 min later came back and engine wouldnt start then figured out my motor was full of water. Then had to tear it ALL APART AGAIN.

 

[LIVE2RIDE Powersports]

Drinking while buying. I try not to do that anymore. I end up with alot of stuff I dont need or cant afford.

LMFAO... You have no idea.. When drinking last year, i bought a 32 foot Rv, go kart, js300 and Cadillac srx all in the same week. I wouldn't recommend the Cadillac...

 

[Tmart]

well i havent completed mine completely yet, but like Zack said already leaving salt water in the motor after riding. I left for school right after riding salt without flushing it and am going on a month now. I'm hoping to god it cranks when I get back home this weekend or new motor here I come. Stupid azz mistake

 

[tightithrash]

Just pried my exhaust mani off like that, only slightly hurt the area outside the water channels. Were you able to fix the cases? Ill probably find another way to get the block, head, and cases apart.

i sanded them a bit and re built it. no problems.

 

[Waternut]

Not running a fuse to my total loss ignition followed by hooking the battery up backwards. Then watching smoke billow out of the brain and feeling my stomach sink...

 

[NorCalSJ]

I also tend to buy parts, sometimes not use them, sell them, and then realize i need to re-buy them later on.

x2 I do this quite often lol not so great on the bank account =/

 

[chriselmore_1]

I put a cylinder on backwards
Forgot to put nuts on the ebox
Forgot hose clamps on the cooling lines
Used a map has torch to soften up the turf while turfing
caught my motor on fire after getting ask the water out and trying to get it fired. Had to dump 2 bottles of water back down the flame arrester to put out the fire

 

[gto0209]

saying I could get it done in one winter, I always open my ebox little cap after riding to let some fresh air in, left it off next ride and filled the ebox with water.

 

[Dmac80sc]

This thread makes me feel so much better that all these long time riders have done some rookie stuff. I left duct tape on my exhaust side when I painted the cylinder. Rode the ski for a while and it would die thought it was electric and changed a few things but just blew the top end cracked the sleeve. Woohoo live and learn. Won't do that again. lol

 

[D-Roc]

everyone was a rookie once. man there are some dumb rookies out there. haha.

 

[SXIPro]

Did a fresh top end on my SJ too late at night and after a couple beers. While mounting the carbs back on and taking forever to tighten the nuts that are way too close to the hull, I forgot to tighten the ones that are easy to get at. First ride with the new top end....air leak under the carbs and lean seizure. Yeah!! I get to do another bore and top end. No fun throwing away pistons that have 6 minutes of ride time on them....

 

[OCD Solutions]

One rookie mistake was when I moved down to the south and built my first surf boat. I had all the right pieces but didn't realize how corrosive the salt water really is. My ski looked like crap in the first 4 months and required a complete teardown to be cleaned, repainted and reassembled with red and tacky #2 on every nut and bolt.

I also learned that flushing with freshwater and spraying the engine with wd-40 or silcone alone is not enough. You must use soap as well to neutralize the effects of the salt.

Perhaps the biggest and most expensive rookie move I ever made though was trusting a local snowmobile engine builder to port an engine for me. He did my seadoo 951 and I fought tuning that engine for over two years. Porting must match the pipe and total combination of components or the powerband will be near impossible to tune. When it comes to internal engine mods, call upon the experts that understand what they are doing. A couple dollars more for shipping can save you a ton of headaches and money in the big picture.

 

[Mark44]

Caught a newly foamed tray on fire with a head gun in my house!

 

[OCD Solutions]

I burned up a brand new 1050 BB top end on my Seadoo in the first 5 minutes because I forgot to tighten down my spigot mounts. That wasn't as much a rookie move as it was a dumbazz one. Wrenching in the garage cause you are too pissed at your spouse to be in the same house as them is never a good idea.

 

[Idok]

dropped a fresh build in the water at daytona with no prior test ride a couple years ago...forgot to install the steering cable lock (the little plastic piece)......not really a big deal, but scratched the out of new paint fixing on the lawn, bought a cable that I didnt need and caused hours of frustration because it was installed in a rush


forgot to torque the cyl boats on a blaster once..bolts alll backed out and the top end was bouncing up and down....ran great though!


went to Dcut a rideplate a few years ago and put the D on the wrong side


left my superjet running in the bed of the truck while flushing.....went inside to get a beer and the ski had unloaded itself down onto the driveway

 

[N3vrSat1sfied]

Tapping the top case with a hammer and extension to try and un-stick a frozen bendix, Lead to a hole in my cases! I swapped them out and still hit the surf the next day.

Hooking up a battery backwards on a 650 sx (it was dark and I was in a hurry)

 

[imabadfish]

installed one of those aftermaket starters that goes out after like 10 rides despite reading all the warnings posted on the forum about it...

 

[B3IS]

Started riding 7 years ago or so. One of the first things I heard back then was that the colored fuel and water lines always chap crack dry out or have issues. While putting together my ski I thiught I would learn for myself and I have. COLORED WATER AND FUEL LINES SUCK ARSE.

 

[Scraggly]

for me it was having to many ski's (kawi's) and thinking and x2 was a solid ski.
i know ill probably get flack for that one and im not hating i do love the old school x2
they just will not handle abuse unless they weight 400 pounds.

 

[JPCharmin]

installing a 62t flywheel on a 61x stator... wow did it run good!! had smoke, shavings, and badass noises coming out of the case.