The "Stupid things you did as a kid that should have killed you thread"....

[ohioriverrat]

You all bring back many good memories, and one or two not so great.

I can remember a little twist to the Evil Kneaval day ramps and jumps. We had little money, and when Schwinn came out with their banana bike series, we all wanted, but could not have one. Instead, I cut the legs off of an old pair of front forks, removed the tire and rim from my machine, pounded the cut forks onto the existing ones, and then remounted the wheel and tire. It was like having a super extended fork until I got the idea to do the ramp jump. I took off down the hill for all the bike with it's hyper extended front end would go. I hit at the ramp at the perfect angle at the perfect rate of speed. The forks and wheel promptly parted company in the apex of the arc, leaving nothing but two spears and no wheel. The wheel and tire, still firmly mounted to the cutoff  set of forks, just kept on going. When the part of the bike I was still on hit the ground, the now bare front forks dug in just like two tomato stakes, the bike came to an instant halt, and I just kept on going. I remember the cool feeling of being airborne, but it was short lived. I landed. Must have rolled and tumbled for twenty feet oh yeah, almost forgot to add- this was all happening on pavement.

You surly need no descriptions of how torn up I was. I have blocked the landing from memory anyway. And the bicycle fared little better. The sudden stop bent the forks over double. The bad part is that not only was I torn bloody up, but my grandfather wouldn't replace the bike. I ended up walking most of the rest of that summer.

Maybe I learned to fly because of that event.Nah.

One of many childhood idiocies I have lived to tell about.

[FishingBuds]

Man, lol I have for gotten about the extended fork stuff, lol yea that was crazy too ;D

[grimlin]

You all bring back many good memories, and one or two not so great.

I can remember a little twist to the Evil Kneaval day ramps and jumps. We had little money, and when Schwinn came out with their banana bike series, we all wanted, but could not have one. Instead, I cut the legs off of an old pair of front forks, removed the tire and rim from my machine, pounded the cut forks onto the existing ones, and then remounted the wheel and tire. It was like having a super extended fork until I got the idea to do the ramp jump. I took off down the hill for all the bike with it's hyper extended front end would go. I hit at the ramp at the perfect angle at the perfect rate of speed. The forks and wheel promptly parted company in the apex of the arc, leaving nothing but two spears and no wheel. The wheel and tire, still firmly mounted to the cutoff set of forks, just kept on going. When the part of the bike I was still on hit the ground, the now bare front forks dug in just like two tomato stakes, the bike came to an instant halt, and I just kept on going. I remember the cool feeling of being airborne, but it was short lived. I landed. Must have rolled and tumbled for twenty feet oh yeah, almost forgot to add- this was all happening on pavement.

You surly need no descriptions of how torn up I was. I have blocked the landing from memory anyway. And the bicycle fared little better. The sudden stop bent the forks over double. The bad part is that not only was I torn bloody up, but my grandfather wouldn't replace the bike. I ended up walking most of the rest of that summer.

Maybe I learned to fly because of that event.Nah.

One of many childhood idiocies I have lived to tell about.

Oh God I'm crying from laughing so hard! 

[baboosicbass08]

Im just about to turn 20 so I've still got a lot more stupid things to do in my life, but heres some I can remember doing off the top of my head:

-Train hopping on the way home from middle school so we wouldn't have to walk (let me tell you that could get pretty sketchy when they go over the bridges and you're just hanging on)

-Too many incidents involving the bed of a pickup truck.

-Homemade bombs made with friends with various substances

-And unfortunately theres been quite a few incidents involving alcohol.

-Last minute weekend canoe trips with a friend down the merrimack river where we almost went down a dam at 4 am because we didn't want to sleep on the shore. This was due to the fact that we were 99% sure we were gonna get robbed by homeless people because we ran into a few groups of them who kept trying to lure us into shore. Plus we forgot to pack the tent, basically all we brought was a ridiculous amount of fishing gear.

-When my brother first got his license and we got our moms 1993 dodge caravan up to 105 on the highway

-And most recently, you know how everyone has or has had that friend that is always starting trouble....Well I went to visit a friend at college and I went up with my buddy who is that friend. Long story short, me and that kid almost end up fighting an entire frat house. With the combination of alcohol, the adrenaline, and pretty much just plain stupidity we weren't backing down. Luckily someone talked them down and we walked out of there in one piece....That night really could have ended badly.

I'lll post more as they come to me....This has been a pretty interesting thread to read, brings back some memories.

[clipper]

Jumping home made bike ramps

Jumping off the garage roof

Climbing 60' high in sweetgum trees

Climbing to the top of saplings and then riding them down to the ground

Rock battles, BB gun battles, rope swings over the creek

Catching snakes

Getting towed behind a bicycle at top speed wearing roller skates - no helmet or pads - they didn't exist back then

Before skate boards we made our own by fastening two by fours in a T shape to the top of a roller skate.  We then rode these down the steepest hills in the neighborhood attaining terrifying speeds.  This was done in a sitting position with your rear 2" from the pavement.

Putting firecrackers in tin cans and watching them get airborne

Holding firecrackers in our hand, lighting them, and then throwing them

We once put dog mess in a paper sack on the front porch of an unliked neighbor's house, set it on fire, rang the doorbell and ran.  If we had gotten caught it would have meant a belt whipping that would have left scars.

Knocking down wasp nests in the garage with an 8' pole.

None of the above should be attempted now, we led charmed lives back then.  Must have had someone watching out for us.