Clutch lever departing bike

[Timmay]

Well, I was accelerating hard up Eskdale Rd yesterday morning to get to a lecture before it was too late. My clutch lever decided to unbolt itself and go walkies around, and almost off the handle bar.

AAAAAArrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh

I managed to stall to a stop safely enough and proceeded to fix it on the side of the road. Luckily I carry spare nuts and bolts of the common sizes used on my bike as one of the U clamp bolts must have been about 1km back down the road somewhere. Then yesterday afternoon I went to the friendly guys at the bolt shop and got stainless cap screws and split washers to hopefully stop it from happening again. I have a policy of replacing anything rusty with stainless when I work on my bike. Saves much time later and costs very little.

My question is: What is the most complex thing you have fixed on the side of the road(with tools you carry) and what is the simplest thing you have not been able to fix?

[nodrog:Me]

What is the most complex thing you have fixed on the side of the road(with tools you carry)

i made a manual throttle cable out of about 20 cable ties once, that was fun

and what is the simplest thing you have not been able to fix?

my broken mate that decided to try tunneling through a bank, instead of going around it.

[quallman1234]

Could easily replace a pistion in a 2 stroke on the side of the road if u had too.

All you would need is.

10 mm ring spaner
12 mm ring spaner
Circlip plies or small finger's or something like two sticks
Water to refill the radiator (unless it was aircooled!)

[Timmay]

ahhhh, but do you carry a spare piston and circlip pliers with you?

[Katman]

I had a courier friend in London who broke his drive chain in the middle of nowhere. Lucky he had sufficient tools to 'borrow' 30mm of a farmer's #8 wire fence to be able to tie it back together and get to where he was going.

[quallman1234]

ahhhh, but do you carry a spare piston and circlip pliers with you?

actually i almost did the other night on a ride. The tiny nose piler things would work!

[onearmedbandit]

Had a throttle cable snap on me on my '85 GSXR750, rode the rest of the journey with my hand resting on the bank of carbs operating the throttle assembly.

And the simplest one? Out on the thou a couple of months back when she just died completely, still had ignition lights but no spark to the engine. Spent ages texting and calling trying to get a wiring diagram for the immobliser but to no avail. Got a friends father to come and pick me and the bike up to go back to town. Took the seat off at home (didn't have the right tools with me on the road) and found the earth connection for the ecu had come off the battery.

[Ixion]

Could easily replace a pistion in a 2 stroke on the side of the road if u had too.

All you would need is.

10 mm ring spaner
12 mm ring spaner
Circlip plies or small finger's or something like two sticks
Water to refill the radiator (unless it was aircooled!)

I've replaced a piston by the roadside. And a gearbox.

Mr Motu replaced the valves on a four stroke by the roadside.

How else y' going to get home? Not much choice when something breaks hundreds of miles from home, is there?

[CB ARGH]

I've only done off roading, hit a big fucking rock, and it tore the left foot peg right off the frame, that scared the crap out of me (note I had my feet in the air when I hit the rock to stop me from loosing a foot).

God I had a sore leg after that ride back to the car (was on a 23km trial forest ride).

[Chickadee]

My brake lever fell off when out for a ride near Kaiaua, luckily it was just approaching a round about and came off in my hand (I'd already slowed sufficiently when the bugger just came off in my hand).

I'm shit at these things but luckily hubby was only a phone call away. I think I'll develop my handygirl skills in time and carry spares and tools of little important bike bits. Loosing ya brake lever could be deadly at other times.

[vagrant]

My brake caliper fell off my CBX750 on its shake down ride after a rebuild.

I'd ridden around the block slowly, no worries, so headed for the gas station to get some more brake fluid to finish bleeding the rear brake.
Coming into town I heard a small bang, so slowed and started to gently brake. I only got one squeeze before the lever came back to the bars.
Bugger. NO brakes now.
Used the gears and coasted to a stop.
LH brake caliper was dangling and knocking on the front spokes. Could have been real nasty.
The mounting bolts were nowhere to be found. One of the pistons had come out far enough to allow brake fluid to leak out.
I pushed it the rest of the way to the servo. They didn't have any bolts but did have loads of washers. I pulled out the bolts mounting the mufflers to the frame and used a stack of washers to pack them out and refitted the caliper. Bolts done up tight this time.

Got my brake fluid and redid the bleeds. Got home about 2 hours late.
My mate who was helping me with final assembly was wondering where I got too.

Moral of the story. Check tighten every bolt after maintenance, twice. Especially if a "helper" did them up!!!!
Finish the whole job before you ride it.
A few tools make the difference between quick fix and a long walk.