DL650 - On a recent trip back through Europe with the wife the clutch started to slip quite badly in Slovenia. I couldn't think of a bodge to get home other than stick the wife on a plane from Venice................it worked ........I made it back .

I had an Enfield 500 that was my daily ride to work. One day the return spring for the kickstart lever broke, so I could kick it over once, pull the lever up by hand, and kick over again. I could get the bike started with one or two kicks no problem, but then what to do with the loosely dangling lever..?

I used a loop of old shoestring to tie the lever up and out of the way after getting it started. It actually worked okay, and I kept riding the bike every day to work until the replacement spring arrived from the warehouse about 10 days later.

__________________
Bruce Clarke - 2020 Yamaha XV250

In serbia this year solo on a cbr600, the bike was overheating the fan wasn't kicking in and turning the bike off when stationary means the water isn't moving around and will just boil in situ.

Unplugged the positive connector to the horn and made the cable a bit longer, and just held the horn button down when required..

pair of vice grips to extend what remained of the sheered off clutch lever

and using a piece of fairing i cut out of a friends dirt bike to patch up his plastic fuel tank using two component glue
worked like a charm and he still rides around like that after more then six months

Brclarke,

Funny same happened to me on a Bullet 350 but in the middle of the Zanskar range in the himalaya. I used a length of metal wire from some farmers, and tied it to the handle bars when not in use. It was a royal PITA as that particular bike cut out every time I stopped.

I think the Indians must be the bodge-fix kings. On a different bike I had it serviced by a truly abysmal outfit of 'mechanics' in Rishikesh. A few days later it became apparent that while they had changed the bars to a low set of choppers, they failed to change the cables, not only that they didn't tighten the bars so after a rough stretch the bars came forward and pulled all the cables tight, snapping the internal mechanism in the throttle jamming it closed (and ruining a clean pair of underwear in the process).

I wheeled the bike to the nearest village where thirty blokes crowded around. We took the throttle apart and then one blot picked a twig up from the floor and jammed it into the mechanism with some superglue - hey presto it did for another 250 miles until I got it back to the mechanic.

In 1992 i was traveling around Australia on my own in a 1978 XC Ford Falcon 4.1ltr,somewhere between Emerald and Longreach i came across a dried out river/creek bed that's bridge had been washed out, i was'nt about to turn around if i could help it, so walked alongside the riverbed until i found a spot where i reckoned the bank was low and slopey enough to drive in and out the other side, still a bit lively though, but bugger it, so i drive in ok and cross the bed with out any problem, but i under estimated the angle of the bank on the far side and after several goes at it, and loosing the number plate i sat down and got the stove out for a brew, tea is an amazing brain stimulator i reckon. AAHH!! i thought,there's a very handy tree about 15ft from the bank, (not too many of them about either) i got a good bit of rope in the boot, and a spare wheel, it's worth a go,so i turned the car around with the arse facing the way out, i got the spare wheel out and let the tyre down, jacked the car up and put it on, i tied the rope really tight around the flat tyre so it would grip and form a pulley, the other end went round the tree, just, then i put the car in reverse,and being an automatic i could leave it in gear keeping the rope tense while i got out and steered it, keeping an eye on the rope on the wheel,and gently putting my foot on the throttle a bit as we went up the bank backward's, laughing like a lunatic and thinking to myself,me and PG tip's can solve anything. Pretty damn ingenious i thought, and so did the blokes in the next pub i came across, which was the Emerald Hotel

ok bodges and roadside repairs.... here goes....
let me think back....
my first bike, a 1984 suzuki cl50, the P.O. had used sealent instead of gaskets on the motor, so the top end went, i rode it a mile with no piston rings at about 3mph.... my mates tomos (same year model oddly enough) decided to blow all the bulbs on the dual carriageway (yes 70mph limit and we rode mopeds on it!) at night, so i was his lights for a few miles, which was VERY scary!
then came my gilera runner, 2001 plate 4 stroke.... loads of problems with that one, let me see, i rode into the back of a car, and smashed all the panels, so used duct tape to hold it together (good for over 70mph by the way) the variator smashed to peices once at 70mph and locked the back wheel, couldnt fix that at the side of the road!
next came my cheapy £50 pit bike one of those daft chinese things with the big bore honda crunchy engine, anyway, me and a mate where riding in some wasteland, and my chain snapped and he ran out of fuel, i fixed my broken chain with some old wiring from a burnt out car and towed him home with some rope we found laying around! crazy stuff!
then there was my suzuki gt125, i did lots of bodges, they were originally temporary, but lots stayed forever, the list was a follows:
the ignition was so worn out that i just used any old key to start it
it got stolen so i bypassed the ignition and fitted a hidden switch
the steering lock had to be smashed off (from the theft!)
the seat rusted, so i cut the subframe and got a cafe racer seat, which was cable tied on (so i could top up the oil tank!)
the bars bent when it blew over once, so i fitted some clip ons with some old innertube cut up to make them fit!
oh the list goes on.....
next bike is my VF750, i "ran out of talent" in a hairpin in a tunnel and managed to "park" it in a drainage ditch, we pulled it out and wheeled out of the tunnel, when i tried to start it, coolant poared out, so i freewheeled down the mountain (luckily we were at the top and a petrol station was at the bottom!) and just pushed the top rad hose back on, and it was fixed.

hmm few bodges in my 5-6 months of riding so far
had a wee spill and snapped my clutch lever, disconnected the lever and used a spanner and gaffa'd the cable on. got me home & stayed like that for a week while i was waiting for the replacement...

Zip tied some sticks together to hold my rack together after it snapped in half on a dual carriageway... took me being flashed by the car behind for some time to notice

Taped together mine and my mates plates after some toerags had so kindly smashed them off for us, quite amusing watch a xj6 with flappy plate and furious rider go over speed bumps

Loving this thread, some of these are genius!

Back in the day and on a CT175 Yamaha, I towed mate on his Bultaco Lobito about 15 kl with a 800mm long bungie cord.By the time we hit town it was at least 4 meters long,on the slack.
Then there was a Mark Two Zephyr with twin SU carbs and a busted link.A matchbox to hold it at lowish revs got it through town and home. Intersections were interesting

On return from France to UK last year I started to leak fuel from under the tank. Close inspection found some bad corrosion and vibration on frame caused pin hole leak. Quick fix was chewing gum and gaffer tape which got me home.

Once home I bought some of that 2 pack tank weld stuff for fuel leaks and that worked for a couple of months and then the leak got a lot worse. After speaking to one of our Aircraft fitters at work he suggested I try B2 Aircraft sealant which they use to seal high pressure fuel tanks on the Aircraft we manufacture. Bottom of tank now plastered in the stuff. A bit messy to apply and cannot be sanded or painted so only good where it doesnt show. It also comes frozen so you have to defrost it and then have 20 mins to work with it..

Works a treat! and hopefully will hold up for my UK to Croatia trip this summer

Fuel tank leak from a pin hole. Fixed by driving in a self taping screw with a steel washer and rubber washer (a bit of old inner tube) under the head. This thread has just reminded me of it - it's been holding about 3 years now, think I'll continue to leave well alone

Sent from my GT-P3110 using Tapatalk

__________________
Martin

finally back on the road again


http://awayonmybike.blogspot.com/

This might be of interest if you're overlanding on anything using points -

AA mechanic fixes Land Rover with a spud | Western Morning News

The original owner of my R80G/S told me that the rear crankshaft main seal started leaking when he was in India on a RTW trip, not having the tools or spares to do a proper job he smeared some instant gasket around the seal and hoped for the best. That repair got him home, 30 years and 90,000 miles later it is still there and has not leaked.

and is 20 K from home when it quits. In saying that the car drove about 15Km on the fuel Mix of about 80% petrol 20 % Diesel He'd just filled it at the petrol station about 10 mins earlier

Recovery was not an option due to how it had quit and he had flattened the battery getting it out of traffic

So Rig up a dummy tank

Turn on the ignition (to open the stop valve)

and pump with the bulb to flush PetroDeisel out (via the return fuel line) and fresh Diesel in and while this is happening you have a car running beside boosting the battery up

Started in about 15 seconds and drove 25km home until I could drain the tank and fill with Fresh Diesel I guess the same would work for a holed tank provided you stop and refill the can every 40 km

Attached Images

 

In 2012 I broke 120 spokes on my 1910 FN riding it from Nepal to Belgium. First repair was done by a guy who cut the ends and bent them to suit. Then, when no more were available, I had about 50 broken spokes welded together to make new ones. They didn't look pretty but they got me from Pakistan to the Czech Republic where I managed to buy new ones.

see on my website: Old Bloke on a Bike

And in the 80s when an airline broke on our Honda GoldWing in South America, my wife flagged down a passing truck and offered to buy the guy's aerial. He broke it in half and said, "Medio para tu, medio para me," (half for you and half for me). The aerial was still working as a replacement years later when I sold the bike.