roadside self rescue tips for newbees

[FROSTY]

I just occured to me that a bunch of you lot haven't heard of some of the little get ya home tricks us old farts grew up with.
If ya happen to run outa gas on an older style of bike then if you lay the bike on its side the last half litre will swish over to the tap side of the tank and might get ya to a gas station.
If you loose brake or clutch fluid and you're in the sticks --a get you home solution is to pour water in there. -Yep youl hafta flush the lines but itll get ya home.
A busted chain can be fixed as a get you home with a bit of fencing wire bent into the right shape
A busted throttle cable on bikes with twin cables is easy fixed by using the return cable as a throttle cable. --The trottle might have to be rigged to work backwards--But afgain itll get ya home .
Holes in crankcases /fuel tanks even fuel lines can be patched with Knead it -its a lil tube of stuff ya can buy from any hardware shop
This point was raised by another KB member-gear lever bolt worked loose leaving him stranded.right in front of you is a source of hundreds of assoerted nuts n bolts.A missing fairing bracket bolt wont be terminal but used to replace a missing gearshift lever bolt itll get ya home.
heck theres gotta be heaps of lil tricks for the newbees

[DarkNinja]

This is a great idea for a thread - Kiwi ingenuity and the newbie that pushes his bike 2km to the gas station to find its closed for renovations. D'OH!
I can say ive run out of gas once or twice before and its not nice.
How old is old though? i have an 88 Kwaka is taht old enough?
Or my 84 RD350 is that old enough?
:P
DN

[Hitcher]

And then there's the cellphone...

[sels1]

And then there's the cellphone...

handy - but only when you are in an area with coverage!

[dhunt]

handy - but only when you are in an area with coverage!
Very true and it seems all the best roads don't have coverage or maybe that's why they are good roads.

I carry a spare chain link around with me and a couple links for the above mentioned chain problems. But no tools :doh: Need to collect some but that's the advantage of riding with someone else :niceone:

[FlyingDutchMan]

I had to use the #8 fencing wire trick because the rear exhaust bolt fell out (might of had something to do with not doing it up). Except I had no #8 wire - I had to cut a piece of barbed wire off a fence (it was a dangly bit). Once I got the barbs out, it worked well!

[jrandom]

Riding a bike that you can push up hills for several kilometers is never a bad starting point... :crazy:

I recommend the FXR150 for that.

[Jackrat]

Back in the dark days of Mr lucas I always had solder and cigarette lighter,spare bulbs,couple of lengths of wire,spare nuts an bolts,gasket cement,half a liter of oil ect ect,the bloody list just goes on.
Now I have a Jap bike that if it stops,it's fucked.
I just ring home an get the 4x4 an trailer on it's way.
As for cell phone coverage,it doesn't matter,you just go to the closest house an use their phone.They want you out of their naibourhood as soon as,so you never get turned down.
BTW you can't carry petrol in a condom.

[XTC]

Most important of all.... Preventative maintenance is still your best way of avoiding alot of hassles out on the road. Remember sprockets that have teeth are a good idea:)

[Groins_NZ]

A tyre repair kit saved me a lot of hassle about a month ago. I used the external plug type with two CO2 canisters (although one canister was meant to do the job according to the instructions I had to use both in order to get a decent amount of air in the tyre). :niceone:

[Motu]

Riding old and worn out bikes,British and Japanese,most of my life,I'm an old hand at being stranded on the side of the road wondering WTF to do,although the last few years I have just used a cell phone.

THE most important thing to have is a complete knowledge of how your bike works and a knowledge of every nut and bolt of the thing - knowing how to program a computer is worth sweet FA on the side of the road with a bike that doesn't go.

I've had to get my bike out of some tough spots over the years - dragging my Rickman out of knee deep black mud in Aotea Harbour with the tide comeing in,finding I can't pick up the XLV750 on an isolated back road and finding a handy 2 metre half round to lever it up....character building stuff,scary WTF and I doing here at the time,but it's neat to have done them.

[Ms Piggy]

And then there's duct tape, handy in desperate situations as a temporary solution I'm sure.

[FROSTY]

Riding old and worn out bikes,British and Japanese,most of my life,I'm an old hand at being stranded on the side of the road wondering WTF to do,although the last few years I have just used a cell phone.

THE most important thing to have is a complete knowledge of how your bike works and a knowledge of every nut and bolt of the thing - knowing how to program a computer is worth sweet FA on the side of the road with a bike that doesn't go.

I've had to get my bike out of some tough spots over the years - dragging my Rickman out of knee deep black mud in Aotea Harbour with the tide comeing in,finding I can't pick up the XLV750 on an isolated back road and finding a handy 2 metre half round to lever it up....character building stuff,scary WTF and I doing here at the time,but it's neat to have done them.
Good Onya Motu ya put it so well.
I'm like you with the XJ900 --I know the darn things so well I know exactly whats going on or going wrong as the case may be.

[Jackrat]

This is how it happened today.
Ok,I always have three ring/open enders,10mm,12mm,14mm, a magnetic screw driver with six head sizes,a pair of pliers,roll of electrical tape,and half a dozen fuses,10,15 and 20 amp.
I go nowhere without these things because I've needed them all in the past.
So I get about 10kms from home an bike stops dead.
As I flick it into neutral I see the neutral light don't come on,Oh no this feels very familar.
Check battery,sweet heaps of power,but still nothing at the ignition switch or indercators/stop light/ect.
Check fuses,MAIN FUSE BLOWN,bugger!!!
Replace fuse,turn key an watch as fuse goes POP,bugger again!!!
Look over what I can see of wiring loom,scatch bald spot an swear some more.
Out with the head light an poke about in the maze of wires in the shell.
Everything looks ok, apart from the rubber grommet where the main bunch of wires enter the back of the shell has poped out.
Check wires an instantly spot one with burn flash marks on it.
I would say "praise the lord" but Zed might be listening so I'll take the credit myself this time.
Tape up exposed wire,put grommet back in place,replace fuse again,note neutral light back on,put head light back in,kick it over,smile heaps an head for home.
As soon as I get home I take two new 20 amp fuses an put them in the coin pocket of my jacket.
Not much of a ride but I still feel good about it.

[SPORK]

I wish I did a course in that! Us young fellas need to know some more mechanics and everthingelseics as well.

[カワサキキド]

Don't forget the cable ties!

[Kwaka-Kid]

finding I can't pick up the XLV750 on an isolated back road and finding a handy 2 metre half round to lever it up...

The XLV750 is a light bike is it not? Although there could be things going hard against u in the situation.. but while we are on this...

my old man wouldnt let me ride a bike i couldnt pickup, well at least thats what he said when i got the 125 and learned ways to haul it up when i was little(er). this rule was actually defeated when i got the XR250A, however it came back into practise with street bikes. He lay my GPZ750 on its side when i first got it to make sure i could pick it up or at least there and then run thru what i could grab onto (lucky it had tail grabber things). And then again with the mighty GS1000, now THAT was the biggest heave ive done, and though i could pick it back up on a concrete garage floor im not sure it would be the same in a slippery grassy area-but who knows, its amazing what shock does to your strength.

But anyways, I know the mighty NC30/35's inside out and back to front-should anyone have questions.

:yeah: Main thing i found for you students with little money is if you get a puncture in your rear tyre just get mum to come to you in her corolla, then take the space saver out of it... It only takes 30 seconds to do a wheel change on a Viffer400 and those space savers are not all to bad to ride on! I think im about to put one on mine after this weekends riding and forgetting about having to make it thru the week with no tread front mostly but centre of rear too... ah well, let us all pray for sunny weather! slicks rock!:banana:

[Motu]

Good one Jack - the Joe Lucas...Prince of Darkness training school comes to the rescue again.

Just a point if you want to have a test lamp aboard - don't take an LED test lamp because they are nice and small (I have a cordless job,you earth it through your body) They draw no current,so you can be missled on diagnosis...like me.One day the XS1 did it's usual dropping out one cyl - the led tester across the points shows a circuit...but still no spark.The points are just dirty,but a bulb type circuit tester would of picked that up straight away...not a couple of days of frustration later.

[justsomeguy]

Thanks for all the info........

As the other fella said...... if there was some course we could do......... it would be quicker learnin rather than waiting to get older and wiser.........

Ah well:spudguita

[scumdog]

Always carry a small crescent (good quality Swedish one), one of those double ended screwdrivers (one end plain, the other Phillips), a set of open ended spanners, a spark plug socket and a set of Allen keys.

Use to need them from time to time on the old H-D but now most of the time it's to help some other poor bugger.

[That Guy]

- Vice grips can make a good gear lever (might have to use your hand but at least you can still change gear).
- Concrete strainer on fences/power poles can make good wheel/forks straighteners.
- Carb Overflow or fuel tank vent hoses can replace torn fuel lines (if they'll fit).
- Urine in your radiator can get you home.
- Turn a swamped bike upside down, remove spark plug, and while in gear, turn the back wheel to get any water out of the engine; before you try to start it!

[Motu]

The XLV750 is a light bike is it not?

It's a dirt bike,weighs nothing at all,even a girl could carry one on her shoulders,but me? just a weakling I'm afraid.