Jon Anderson wrote:
Could anyone be that stupid? Sure!

I knew a guy in the 70's that swore the hot setup for a fresh 2 stroke
was to fire it up on straight gas and rip a full throttle pass up the
street. He said it helped seat the rings.

Reminds me of Seagull outboards where I lived in Long Island NY, they
had gotten a reputation for poor starting, seems most folks didn't
read the instructions. You were supposed to fill the tank then once
started run the engine at WOT for a tank full and that ran in the
engine, started fine after that. Most just pottered about then put the
engine away and wondered why it didn't start well next time. My dad's
one was great, started well, ran great, only downside was you needed to
keep some spare shear springs incase you accidentally grounded the prop.


On the other side of the motorcycle coin, when my dad had his
motorcycle shop, he sold a Ducati 450 RT to a fellow used to Maico's.
Soon as he got the engine lit off, he'd rev the crap out of it. Dad
tried to explain the difference between 2 and 4 strokes, mainly the
need to let oil pressure build before really revving the engine. But
this guy wouldn't listen. Not too many months later, dad bought the
bike back dirt cheap. Engine had about a 1/4" gap at the front of the
engine cases. It was a bitch pulling it apart. Not sure, but it
appeared the rod let go at the lower end on the compression stroke,
piston fired, and drove the rod right down between the flywheels,
splitting the cases apart.
I've got it welded to a base and can post a link to a pic if anyone
wants to see it.

It might be a hoax, but given the low level of technical savvy in
people these days, it's possible.

Stupidity, the one thing that is available in truly unlimited
quantities...

Jon