Havent seen one of these threads here on LFSforum so i thought i would make one!
As the title suggests really, post your scary moments.
I have a couple of memorable ones, mainly from when i was younger.
Messing around on BMX's with a few mates as a lad and having lots of fun jumping kerbs and stuff, until i got going as fast i could, pulled a wheelie, and then, epic fail, turns out the nuts were loose and.....bye bye front wheel!
As funny as it sounds now, trying to slow down while wheelieing along a tarmac road at the age of about 10, knowing that any accidental wobble would cause the bike to come crashing down, into the road and me losing my face wasn't that good.
I managed to slow down enough to just jump off and let the bike get mashed, whilst i did that comedy long strided flailing of legs thing that happens when you hit the ground going faster than you can actually run, before falling into a heap.
Then there was the fishing rod incident, on that same (straightened by my dad!) chrome BMX with black 'mag' wheels.
In my laziness after going fishing, i decided that it would be a good idea to leave the rod all set up and just tie it along the length of the frame with it sticking out of the front of the bike.
This worked fine, until i had to negotiate a corner.....
It was a very narrow little gravel track with long grass and some weeds and nettles either side, and, as i had forgotten, little concrete posts along one edge that come up about 3 feet off the ground every few yards.
The rod hit one as i went around the first slight bend, which flung the bike into a ridiculously high pole vault, sent me over the handle bars into the stinging nettles, broke the rod and bent the bike, again.
Then there was my moped......
I was given a totally trashed 3 speed auto granny moped things when i was about 13 which had loads of bits missing like the exhaust manifold, lights, engine covers, most of the wiring loom, fuel lines were damaged and leaky etc. and it never started, ever. It was f--ked really, but it was free, and a little project for me.
I had it for about 2 years by this point and despite me working on it most evenings after school and managing to re-wire it well enough to actually get a spark when you kicked it over it would never run, it just wouldnt bring the fuel through from the tank to the carburettor. No matter what i did, it just didnt work.
Turns out that the a few days before had somehow jammed the throttle fully open, and over these few days, for the first time ever, the carb had filled with fuel
I hopped on it, kicked it over just for a laugh while saying to myself 'oh yeah, this is pointless as usual'
It started, and ran, at full revs, at about 8 million decibels,(no exhaust remember) scaring the hell out of me, and i jumped so much i knocked it off the stand while diving off it and running for cover because of the stupidly loud noise of it. It fell over,ran out of petrol and stopped.
When my dad got home he laughed because i refused to go near it, let alone ride it. It was my turn to laugh later though, when my dad went for a ride round the garden on it and the throttle jammed again, so after it started to wheelie he dropped it, and there it sat spinning in circles on its side until it cut out.
It never ran again.
I do have another one involving an unexploded bomb, which didnt stay unexploded, but it really is a bit traumatic, despite nobody being hurt.
As the title suggests really, post your scary moments.
I have a couple of memorable ones, mainly from when i was younger.
Messing around on BMX's with a few mates as a lad and having lots of fun jumping kerbs and stuff, until i got going as fast i could, pulled a wheelie, and then, epic fail, turns out the nuts were loose and.....bye bye front wheel!
As funny as it sounds now, trying to slow down while wheelieing along a tarmac road at the age of about 10, knowing that any accidental wobble would cause the bike to come crashing down, into the road and me losing my face wasn't that good.
I managed to slow down enough to just jump off and let the bike get mashed, whilst i did that comedy long strided flailing of legs thing that happens when you hit the ground going faster than you can actually run, before falling into a heap.
Then there was the fishing rod incident, on that same (straightened by my dad!) chrome BMX with black 'mag' wheels.
In my laziness after going fishing, i decided that it would be a good idea to leave the rod all set up and just tie it along the length of the frame with it sticking out of the front of the bike.
This worked fine, until i had to negotiate a corner.....
It was a very narrow little gravel track with long grass and some weeds and nettles either side, and, as i had forgotten, little concrete posts along one edge that come up about 3 feet off the ground every few yards.
The rod hit one as i went around the first slight bend, which flung the bike into a ridiculously high pole vault, sent me over the handle bars into the stinging nettles, broke the rod and bent the bike, again.
Then there was my moped......
I was given a totally trashed 3 speed auto granny moped things when i was about 13 which had loads of bits missing like the exhaust manifold, lights, engine covers, most of the wiring loom, fuel lines were damaged and leaky etc. and it never started, ever. It was f--ked really, but it was free, and a little project for me.
I had it for about 2 years by this point and despite me working on it most evenings after school and managing to re-wire it well enough to actually get a spark when you kicked it over it would never run, it just wouldnt bring the fuel through from the tank to the carburettor. No matter what i did, it just didnt work.
Turns out that the a few days before had somehow jammed the throttle fully open, and over these few days, for the first time ever, the carb had filled with fuel
I hopped on it, kicked it over just for a laugh while saying to myself 'oh yeah, this is pointless as usual'
It started, and ran, at full revs, at about 8 million decibels,(no exhaust remember) scaring the hell out of me, and i jumped so much i knocked it off the stand while diving off it and running for cover because of the stupidly loud noise of it. It fell over,ran out of petrol and stopped.
When my dad got home he laughed because i refused to go near it, let alone ride it. It was my turn to laugh later though, when my dad went for a ride round the garden on it and the throttle jammed again, so after it started to wheelie he dropped it, and there it sat spinning in circles on its side until it cut out.
It never ran again.
I do have another one involving an unexploded bomb, which didnt stay unexploded, but it really is a bit traumatic, despite nobody being hurt.