So I changed the oil on the Bandit last week. While tightening the drain plug, it felt "funny". It seemed to thread fine, but something wasn't right. Usually I ALWAYS listen to that voice and investigate, but this time I didn't. Mistake #1.

So this afternoon I head to an open house. I get there, things are good, I go to leave and see a few drips on the ground under the bike. I make a mental note to check it when I get home. Mistake #2.

On the way home I turn on to Chicago Drive (a local rural highway) and hit it. Things are good as I accelerate away, but suddenly the rear end slides out, I recover, but it gets SUPER squirrely. Instantly I think of the drain plug. I wail on the front brake which alleviates the rear end sway and bring it to a stop in a turn around. I kept it up on two wheels and killed the engine as soon as I could safely do so, so the motor is fine. I get stopped and watch as a couple quarts of dead dinosaur pour from my now missing drain plug. Suck.
Here's video of my path- I shot it as I pulled up with the truck.  Right at the beginning you can see how much the rear end was sliding:

http://youtu.be/MytoUEKcU4g

Where I stopped:
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It's not supposed to look like that:
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I'm pretty sure I'll get the last bits of my seat out of my butt from clenching at some point.
Moral of the story: Go with your gut. ALWAYS.

Tomorrow I'll pick up and rethread a replacement.  I spent about an hour scrubbing the rear tire with bleach-white once I was home.  After I get it sorted out tomorrow I plan to back into the backyard and do a few burnouts in the sand to further scour the rear tire.  Any more ideas? 

Luckily Meemuh lived only a mile and a half up the road.  I caught a ride to his house and took his KLR home, then brought it back on the trailer and grabbed the Bandit.  So far it turned out OK.  Lesson learned!

One thing I learned a long time ago:  I'd rather be lucky than good any day of the week.   

Lucky, but stupid.   

Well, on the bright side, if the most you paid for the lesson "always trust your gut" is the cost of an oil change and maybe rear tire...that makes it what, maybe a $225 lesson, $250 worst case scenario?

Some people learn that lesson by colliding with a car they totally knew was going to turn at the worst possible time.  How much does that cost?

A $250 bill for a quality lesson is a pretty cheap lesson IMO.  Even though that sucks.

Holy shit!  Glad you're OK!

glad things turned out ok for you.  Oil gets messy.

Lesson learned: doing maintenance in a poorly lit garage the night before a ride isn't a good idea.

Sadly, I think many of us have learned that particular lesson in one way or another... 

Glad this turned out ok.

Clay, is the plug stripped out now? Do you have to do some thread/heli-coil work? Or maybe a weld/drill/tap repair?

(by the way, simple green or some foamy engine cleaner, and hose off that tire and you're fine)

That's what I used to clean off my rear tire.

Quote from: CLAY on June 08, 2014, 09:42:17 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MytoUEKcU4g

This video is private.


Glad it turned out "right" for ya.

Fixed.

http://youtu.be/MytoUEKcU4g

Also, in the pic below, what's going on in the tire? Is that just a stone in the tread, or is there a puncture to deal with, too?

(by the way, simple green or some foamy engine cleaner, and hose off that tire and you're fine)

Just a small stone in the tread.  The tire is fine other than the oil.  When I pick up more oil today I'll grab some degreaser AND simple green.   

There is plenty of metal around the current drain hole.  When a buddy stripped an oil plug on his B6 he went to an auto store- they have self-tapping replacements that rethread into the aluminum.  Of course I'll have to flush it once the new plug is tapped, but his was fine for many years/miles.   

At least your chain is now lubed.  But seriously, glad you're okay.   

Phew. Glad you're still with us...now, did I tell you about the time a tyre came off the rim on a tight right hander next to a 300 foot drop?

Sounds legit.

Sent from the Moto X. A wicked awesome phone.

PR3s....also good in oil.   

For those of us who do our own oil changes, is this preventable or is it an inevitable endpoint for Aluminum oil pans?

I do not believe it is inevitable.  I always make sure to replace the washer each oil change and I always use a torque wrench.  When I was younger I just went by feel, and probably went too tight a number of times.  With the torque wrench I know I'm going tight enough without damaging the threads in the oil pan.

Have yet to use a torque wrench on any of the bikes that have passed through my garage, likely because I don't own one.

Maybe I should buy one...

- Dan

The HF ones seem to get decent reviews.

Don't know that I would try a Harbor Freight special when it comes to torque wrenches - I've heard bad things about the accuracy of even mid-grade torque wrenches...although you can always find somebody with a horror story about anything.  I just don't think that a torque wrench is fail-safe, either.  I think gut instinct is still worth listening to.

Agreed, don't ignore a gut feeling.  But a torque wrench is probably better than the old German spec of 'guedentite', especially after numerous oil changes.

Thing is- I have a torque wrench too.  I will be using it for oil changes from now on.   

I would read through the install instructions of the repair kit to see if they list a torque spec for the new drain plug rather than the factory spec for the original.

I hope you called and reported the spill to the Roads dept., so some other biker-dude doesn't post a lesson learned. 
Good lesson, great post.