It must have happened to all of us, at some stage. Preparing the Yellow Peril for this weekend's jolly to Guyra, thought I'd do the right thing by the old girl and do an oil/filter change (Part of the man/machine bonding process). Dutifully drained the oil after the obligatory 10Km lap to get things warm. Looked for the tool to undo the oil filter...it's ALWAYS in the drawer where I keep all the other stuff. Nope! 45 minutes later, tearing what's left of the hair out, muttering "a place for everything and everything in its place...", still couldn't find the damn thing. Glimmer of a light globe...no...I didn't leave it on the filter after the previous oil change?? Removed the three screws holding the small plate on, clang, out fell the tool!

So, FYI, the engine will run perfectly with the tool still in situ! No loud mechanical noises. Guess its a bit like a surgeon leaving scalpels and clamps in the body after everything has been sewn up.

Rickmeister.

What a good idea!
I'm going to start keeping mine there too
Won't ever loose it.
 

Does that result in any increase in fuel consumption?
Does the engine run any hotter due to the reduced oil volume??

Clever idea, storing it there, none of us ever thought of that. Great for when you are doing very long trips.

too funny uli ...thanks for brightening up my day
see ya at guyra

My senior moment was from a few weeks ago. I was replacing the alternator and had removed the ABS and FI computers to remove the battery. My ABS computer is under the seat (ex-police bike). I installed the new alternator and wanted to test it before putting everything back in. I attached jumper cables to the battery and the pos and neg cable that attach to the battery. Turned the key and hit the starter. Turned over very slowly and wouldn't start. Thought the battery was run down so attached it to the trickle charger overnight. Next day, jumper cables to battery, hit starter, same thing. Now thinking it was the battery. Go to local battery reseller and buy replacement. Bring new battery to shed and have to move a couple of things to set new battery down on the bench. One of the things I found myself moving was the FI computer (doh!). Reattached FI computer with old battery and started no problem. 

How long can a battery sit before it is no good? My old battery would appear to have lots of life left so don't really want to replace it. Can't return the battery to the reseller as they put in the electrolight solution.

I did an oil change a couple of years ago.  Once I had it all buttoned up, refilled with new oil and was putting away the tools when finished I noticed the new oil filter sitting on the ground up by the front tire, not in the bike where it should have been.

"How long can a battery sit?"

Not long unless it is exercised on a regular basis. Hook it up to a tricKle charger and an globe or radio etc.

When working in the shed switch the light on for half an hour or so then switch off load then switch on charger.

Repeat, say, once a week.

ainsjac wrote:You old buggers,,,,,,,,.......my usual thing is to put things in safe places, that are so safe, I cannot find them for at least 4 months.

Can relate to this - I have a very safe place for my spare final drive, can't find the damm thing and it's soo big.

And then there was the time where I spent a little over an hour pulling the plugs and checking connections to try to figure out why my damned K75 wouldn't start. Kind of an odd coincidence but the apparently the bike had run out of gas right as I pulled it into the garage from the prior ride.  Added some gas and it fired right up.

My favourite thing used to be to put it on reserve and then forget to put it back at the fill up ant then think wow I'm getting good ecom..o......m..........y splut splut today.
 And trying to push a Z1300 is harder than a K1100LT.