I just recently rebuilt my wifes' 98 Trail Blazer. Last weekend I did the heat cycle thing and brought it out to the pit to break it in. It ran good but it got really hot and shut down. Wouldnt restart until it was cool and would backfire through the carb as well. Well I tore it back down this weekend and called the shop that bored out the clinder and asked what the brass fitting was my spark plug sat in on the head. He had no idea what I was talking about and told me to stop by to check it out. Turns out a few years ago I brought it into the store where I bought it and had the transmission rebuilt. I asked them to check the compression as well. Well they rebuilt trans and left the copper compression fitting in the head and just screwed the plug into that! We dont run that bike all that much, mainly my wife rides it or if we bring someone with us they ride it. My 2 sons and I all have Banshees and when one of them goes down we have a blaster we ride until the Banshee is back in the fleet. Its amazing the machine even started considering the plug was sitting in a friggin compression fitting.
Whats the kicker for me is I probably didnt have to rebuild it yet, it wouldnt start and I figured since it was over 10 years on the stock top end I would just go ahead and rebuild it.

Sorry for the book, just thought someone would find this amusing.

 

Both amusing and alarming, that a shop would leave a piece of their equipment in your motor !! do you think they will stand behind their screw up and offer to fix it?
I had a similar thing happen, only to a Polaris sled, I took it in to have a new suspension put into the back, and after I got it back, it would surge and run funny if I did a long high speed run, and when I put in gas, I could hear a sucking sound when I loosend the gas cap. Days later, I was running some wires for a plug in for my heated visor, and took a panel off, and found a pair of vise grips clamping off the vent line!! the tank was full when I took it in, so I suppose gas kept running out the vent when they lifted the back end up to work on it, problem solved, and I got a nice vise grips out of the deal !!