Sally's CBR400 had been sat in the garage for a few weeks unused, so I decided that it was about time I started it up, to get some heat in the engine and clear out any spiders that had decided to nest there. It was parked in the garage, with the exhaust facing outwards, so I just opened the garage door, turned the key, gave it some choke, and hit the start button. The engine turned over... and over... and over... and nothing else happened. So I gave it some more choke, and a bit of throttle, and hit the starter again. And it turned over and over and over again, but still nothing. I repeated this for a few minutes, until all that was left was a dead battery and a slight lingering smell of unburnt fuel in the air. Then I got out the battery booster. I took off the seat, connected it up, and once more repeated the routine of choke, throttle and starter. Then it fired. And when I say fired, I mean exploded. The ground shook, I went deaf in one ear, and the entire muffler shot out from the end of the exhaust pipe casing, ricocheted off the rear door of my van (leaving a half-inch deep dent), and came to rest at my feet, smoking gently. I don't think I'll be popular with the neighbours in the morning. Or have my hearing back.
