Your own kiwi ingenuity moment

[Motu]

We had to dig deep to get a bike home once.We were heading to Taranaki one Xmas Eve,one bike,one car....and my VW blew up in Ohaupo....so two of us hitched,and the bike would catch up while we thumbed our next ride.Late in the afternoon pouring with rain in the Awakino Gorge we saw our friend and his bike in one of the corners...he had obviously had a crash.We turned to look at him and said ''hey,that's ****!'' The driver hit the brakes and said ''Do you know that guy?''....''No!'' we both replied in unison.No way we wanted to be dumped off in the middle of nowhere with a broken bike! Mateship can only go so far.

But we all ended up in town together,a big trip with lots of experiences for each of us.A few days later us 2 bikeless riders decided to take the 1953 Thunderbird for a ride...me as pillion as my license was safely held by the authorities.About 15km out of town we stopped for a drink.....lying on the ground we noticed the rear tyre (Model A car tyre) was covered in oil.And a further look we could see gears,the bottom of the gearbox had fallen out! We took it back home and told the owner he had busted his bike....like,it was nothing to do with us eh?

It must of cracked the gearbox as his bike slammed into the bank when he dumped it in the Gorge.The only other damage had been a broken left footpeg,but you could ride it with your foot on top of the chaincase.Using only a few tools like screwdrivers,plies and Cresents we found in a shed we pulled out the gearbox and figured out what we could do.

We went to Dalgety's and got some Ados and Sellys Spreadsole.Using the tin file from the Spreadsole we shaped a metal patch over the hole,then with some denim torn from a DJ and some matchsticks we soaked the lot with Ados and made a pretty tough covering.Next day when it was dry we covered over all that with the Spreadsole,it looked like a pretty good patch.Next we went to the service station and got some EP90,a can of Bardhol and a tin of grease.Back at base we used a camp stove to melt the grease and mix in Bardohl and gear oil....and then feed it into the gearbox.Then we put it all back together with our minimum tool kit.

A couple of weeks later the bike rode back to Auckland,no problems.We came back by bus,standing from New Plymouth to Mokau until someone vacated a seat.It was a couple of months before we replaced the gearbox of the Triumph,and it was in daily use.....looking inside it was all good,the grease was all there doing it's job.

[scumdog]

Not my effort BUT at the Remarkables Rally a few years ago a chap turned up with a three cylinder Jappa...'zuki I suspect.

Put it into the burn-out contest and all after riding down from the West Coast. (PROPER West Coast - like from the South Island eh)..
Thing was, it was actually a FOUR cylinder bike but had blown out a lung on the way down the 'coast, bits of rod, piston and cylinder everywhere.

So he got a Coca Cola tin, flattened it out, drilled some holes into the crank-case and with a few self-tappers and some orange silicone-sealer he 'plugged' the gap in the crank-case.

The big-end of the fourth cylinder just kinda flailed around inside the patched up crank-case.

Got him there and no doubt got him home - his burn-out effort was a tad lame. (understandably so)

[The Pastor]

Had a 650 Triumph in my youth. The front tyre was worn (read no thread left!) but as money was not something I had heaps of I was hoping to get a few more K's outta it. Sadly it did not eventuate. And so a w/e when an hour from home, the tyre blew. I managed to stop without any more damage. But the tube was a goner.

So what to do... Took wheel off, and tyre off. Then I took off my T-shirt, the sweater and my longjohns (yep, was cold riding in jeans) and tucked them nicely in to the tyre. Tyre back on, wheel back on and off I went. Apart from some serious vibration and a fraction of jumping all went well.

I used the bike for about 2 weeks like it was before I had enough money to buy the new tyre and tube. Only to work and back.

Howd u support the bike with the wheel off?

[Conquiztador]

Howd u support the bike with the wheel off?

Clearly not someone used to an old Triumph.

There was no plastic bits to worry about. Just drop her on her side in the grass. Axle out, leave brake on and wheel is yours.

You have to remember that these were the days when you carried tools, and if you had somehow (no mobiles...) managed to ring a garage asking them to come and fix your tyre they would have, after laughing for 30 minutes, asked you what the hell you were doing riding a bike you could not fix your self...

[n0regret5]

when i laid my cbr250rr down, i was with two other bikers on mt messenger (at least 30mins ride from any kind of civilisation) and my gear lever was gone. had to reach down and manually shift with my hand once i was rolling..when i got to work i used some electrical tape and a handful of allen keys that i didn't use, taped it all up to the remaining piece of aluminium. thing lasted till the bike got written off 3 months later (some moron reversed into it on the street).

[Motu]

Christmas time was always a time of drama,and the old BSA tripped me up a few times.

One Xmas day heading up north to be with the family,I was cruising the B31 pretty hard...like 70mph.The top speed of a B31 is 70mph....but I had Goldstar cams,hi comp piston,tuned exhaust,big carb,all the stuff.Just a few km from my uncles place of course it seized....I managed to free it up just before I stopped.It had no compression,none at all.....but I just wound it up on the kickstarter and it came to life and we limped to my uncles place.

On Boxing Day I stripped it down (you only need one spanner and a screwdriver to pull the top end off a BSA single).Both top rings were shattered,piston seized and a valve jammed open...on a single! I bludged my mother's Mini and headed back to Auckland....at a mates place I found an old B33 (500cc) barrel and piston that had been lying around outside....covered in dirt and mason bee nests,but seemed to clean up ok.A set of new rings from Weston-Webb,and grabbing a spare 500cc cyl head from my vast supply of BSA parts at home I head back over the Bridge.

After putting it all back together,it...um,doesn't go - no compression! Then I remembered where this head came from...it'd been in a blow up,and maybe the valves were damaged.I pulled the head back off and the exhaust valve had a nick in it.I removed the valve (double valve springs,no spring compressor) and using a file dressed the valve up as best I could,and then with some valve grinding paste from the service station lapped it into a good seat.Reassembled and she was a good runner.

So I head back home,all running sweet,now with 500cc of low compression power.But in the Dome Valley the engine gets a vibration....this piston is going out.By retarding the ignition with the manual advance lever I can ease the vibration,but then it runs hotter.The climb to Windy Ridge really strained it,and I stop at the top for a rest....and then coast down the hill,but it won't restart at the bottom...it's toast.There are still sheds at the bottom of Windy Ridge,and over 35 years ago I pushed my bike into them and pulled the top end down again.The gudgeon pin has flogged out in the piston,obviously lying around in the dirt damaged this area,and I couldn't see it.

I walk out onto the road and immediately get a lift from a Ducati 750 GT into the city.Xmas time in NZ in those days the city was deserted,and I walk to Newmarket and then get a lift from a BSA Lightning....he wanted to take me home,but you don't do things like that.I get him to drop me 5km from home,then head off in the opposite direction until he is long gone.I've got no more BSA pistons at home,350 or 500cc - but I do have Triumph pistons! A 650 Triumph has the same 71mm bore as the B31,and the same gudgeon pin size too...although a lower compression height.I find a good matching Triumph piston for a B31 barrel,pick up a Triumph ring set and another good B31 head...and bludge a lift from a mate back up to my bike,tucked up in a shed not far from the road,Not even the people in the house know it's there - I've stripped the bike,got home,got more parts and am back putting it back together before they even get home.

The bike ran with that set up for some time.There is another BSA Xmas story or two if you have the time.....

[Griffin]

I think Im ingenuityless

[Conquiztador]

Love your stories Motu. The "never say die, anything can be sorted" attitude of the past. The good old days... The young ones of today could learna thing or two...( If nothing else, then to pack tools!!!)

My Royal Enfield Meteor Minior Sport 500 1962 had a problem. Everytime I would get up in revs she would starve and loose umph. Nothing I did fixed it. Played with ignition, sparks, carbies (shit did I take those off and clean them!!!). Nothing helped.

Then one day I had played with the timing, set it early. I kicked, but she did not want to start. So I kicked some more. And she backfired and caught on fire! Between the carbies and the motor was a rubber tube. I am not sure if this was standard, but as a young chap (Iwas 17) I just took her as she was and i did not really ask any questions. Anyhow, these rubber tubes burnt well (the petrol inside them would have helped...) I managed to kill the fire with rags and water and sand...

But the two tubes connecting the carbies to the cylinder were goners.

So what to do. I was away from home. And it was Sunday...

I figured I needed two tubes of some sort to connect the carbies to the cylinder. The carbies sat happily where they were as they were connected to the airfilter.

After some head scratching and walking around (I was at a youth centre) I came to the conclusion that my best option was a pushbike that seemed to belong to no-one (???), and in particular the front wheel. And more in detail the inner tube. It had one of those ballon tyres. So I took my knife (these were in the days when you could still carry one without being put in jail for anything over 50mm) and I cut a big hole in the tyre and pulled out the tube and cut it off. I then cut two pieces of it and fitted it in to the carbies and on to the cylinder. Can't remember what held it on, but I am almost certain that there was hoseclamps.

A few kicks (after adjusting the timing back!!!) and I was up and running. But now the starving was worse then ever. Idling was OK, but a little more and she would die. I figured that it could not be the sand or the fire as she started well. And as the only thing I had replaced were the rubber tubes then...

I looked at them when turning the throttle, and yes! They would clamp together of the sucking from the motor!!!

So by putting the old ones on fire I actually found out what my problem was.

I managed to limp home and I then replaced them with two alloy tubes and that probelm never eventuated again.

[Motu]

The "never say die, anything can be sorted" attitude of the past. The good old days... The young ones of today could learna thing or two...( If nothing else, then to pack tools!!!)

Yeah,they will start a thread moaning about standing room only on a bus to Auckland - but hanging on a rope as an SB Bedford goes over Mt Messenger still gives me a smile over 30 years later.

Not packing tools is a reason for another Xmas BSA story....Heading up to the Whanau Xmas day again on the B31 I was only on East Coast Bays Rd before trouble hit....a hell of a noise from the chaincase.Something is seriously wrong in there - there is a lump! Something is wanting to come out.I push it up behind a farmhouse (no one home,it's Xmas y'know).I have nearly everything to pull the chaincase,but for some reason I've fitted one bolt I don't have an Allen key for....it's countersunk and no way to get it out.

So I hitch again,and have to walk across the city from Ponsonby to the Eastern suburbs....it's a ghost town and I don't think I'm a passenger they want.No presents for me.Next day we head up with a mate on the rear of the Rickman Metisse,no pillion seat,no pillion pegs...and high pipes with no heat shields.With the cover off I see a clutch stud has fallen out.The pre unit BSA clutch was crap,cheap pressed steel with flat head nails for studs.I just remove the stud,and readjust the 6 spring clutch for even operation with 5 springs.

I took the bike away for the holidays,as far north as Doubtless Bay and back and I might off put another clutch in....can't remember such basic maintenance.The clutch was way over specced for the B31,as it was a 650 A10 clutch.....actually the whole bike was A10,I'd fitted the B31 engine.I was always looking for the very rare clutch hub that took the Triumph clutch....these days you'd just make one.

[Motu]

Ingenuity is finding a solution with what you have at hand.Garden hose for kick start rubbers,radiator hose for footpeg rubbers etc.When I got the Rickman Metisse it was a motocross bike,and had a 19in Velocete rear wheel with a huge sprocket,and another sprocket was not an option with that wheel.So I fitted a ''conical'' Triumph rear wheel....this meant I could fit a bigger Rocket III sprocket if I wanted to go off road.I cut both sprockets in half so I could change them without removing the rear wheel.

There was a problem though - the backing plate was at such an angle that on bumps the rear brake came on.I couldn't reposition the backing plate for a better angle....but a shorter lever would help,and cut the power too as it was too easy to lock.I spied the solution on a mates garage floor - the gear linkage on the side of a FJ Holden gearbox.It was a perfect fit on the brake cam and gave the right angle....it stayed there.

[pete376403]

One my dad told me, many years ago. When he was a young man, he owned an Ansaldo car. Driving one day in the backblocks, it ran a big end bearing. He drained the oil into a can (i guess it was customary to carry such things) removed the sump and scraped the remains of the bearing off the crank. He then wrapped a turn or two of a thick leather belt around the crank, bolted the rod back on , replaced the sump, filled up and drove off. He said that repair lasted a couple of months, until he was able to get new bearings.

[DarkLord]

Just a wee story from a few days ago..... not really kiwi ingenuity but something I'm proud of myself for doing

I had to replace the battery on my whoflung as it crapped out. One day I was just about to leave work and I turned the key on, hit the starter and the bike just died. All the electrical systems went off, so I turned it off, waited for a bit and tried again - same thing happened. Then, I would turn the key on and nothing happened at all.

I could have panicked and called the AA or something but instead I popped open the storage part of the bike, popped my seat off and looked at the battery as I suspected this was where the problem was. Sure enough, one of the screws on top of the battery was loose, so I pulled out my handy-dandy screwdriver and screwed it on tighter. Turned the key on - all systems GO and have never had a problem since.

[skidMark]

... Hmmm...


spark plug is undone...


...How the feck am i gunna get the sparkplugs outta that deep hole because the little rubber bit in my socket is too shit to grab it....

**shoves spark plug lead down hole, clip onto spark plug....pull out**

You can thank me later....

[cooneyr]

This is all good stuff. Definatly get a kick out of doing this sort of thing. Nothing to serious for the bike. Made a new speedo drive washer (takes the drive from the wheel to the gears inside the wheel spacer) for the XTZ.

Most interesting one (car related) was last summer on the road between St Arnuad and Nelson. Came across a couple of braless German girls (rather loose fitting tops as well - even the missus noticed.) with a mazda 121 that had overheated. Thought originally that it was just out of water but a couple of quick trips to the river proved that wrong. The thermostat bypass hose (or there abouts) was split and was leaking water. Only had a pocket knife with me and nothing I could repair the hose with when the missus pipes up and says why don't you use the radiator header tank overflow hows. Tried it for size, cut it to length, another trip to the river for water and away they go. Don't know how long it lasted for as overflow hose wasn't reinforced but didn't see them again on the way back to nelson later in the day.

Got an eyeful for being helpful that day - sometimes it is worth being a good Samaritan.

Cheers R

[Conquiztador]

Many years ago when living in Europe I had a 750 Bonny. Nice bike, but you would not travel anywhere without tools. Still don't do, no matter what I ride!

I was on way to travel round Europe going through Sweden. Long straights. Middle of them on side of road I see a lone bike and the rider. I stop. He has a Ducati (no idea what type, never been my cuppa, but was in early 80's so someone probably would know) and it was going nowhere. All locked up. He had no tools (and no idea!), only the riding gear and on the way to Denmark.

So I have a look. Clutch not working. So I drop the bike on its side and say: "Lets see what she has been eating". Take side cover off and found the whole clutch fallen in part. Plates, bearings, casing. All loose!

So I start from scratch (I have never looked in to a Ducati before, but figured a bike is a bike and a clutch is a clutch, so...). Take all bits out, put them on a clean rag and try to make sense of whats there. Can not remember anymore the details re the clutch, but somewhere in back of my brain I have a vague memory that somehow something was back-to-front compared to Triumph and HD. But could be wong.

Anyhow, as I have put everyting on the rag and studied it I think I have it all sussed. And so I reassemble. But there is nothing holding the big nut in place. No washer. He tells me that he had resently bought it and had been told that all was serviced and motor had been worked on and all was sweet (how many times I have heard that!!) Anyhow, no lock washer.

I have some cans of beer. Nice and warm... And this was long before alloy became the material they were made off, all hard steel. So we share a warm beer (no way was I gonna pour it out!!) and then I use my trusty knife and cut out a piece, make it to fit and use it as lock washer. As it is too soft to be as the real thing, I bend all sides.

Reassemble the clutch and all back together. As the bike was on its side we lost almost no oil. All back together and completed. That was 2 hour of clutch repair on side of road. He had no idea what to do and was no help.

Start motor and try the clutch. Sweet.

He wants to have my details so he can send me somerting and also come for visit when back. I give them to him, shake his hand and he takes off like he had the cops hunting him down. Thats when I started thinking...wonder if he had stolen it? I had not taken the rego No.

And that was the last I ever saw or heard of the guy.

I did feel good that I managed to fix the problem, but had this gut feeling...

Never looked inside a Ducati again.