"there's no way that should've worked"

[musclehead]

what is your best story of a roadside repair that you didn't think would hold up 'til you could limp it home. not restricted to just motorcycles.

I was over the road trucking and pulled into York NE, the big petro or TA I can't remember, and as I was parking this God awful shriek started up under the hood. there were hard copper lines that hooked up the compressor to the flex lines that ran to the tanks and the clamps that were rubber lined wore a good sized hole in the copper. I was at least fifty miles from an International dealer, no way I could make it that far leaking that much air. I didn't want to pay the shop rates at the truck stop, what's a driver to do?

I had some 'rescue tape' I wrapped it up with that and of course it still leaked (120psi) until I put a couple of hose clamps on it. I stopped at the next dealership bought the braided flexible lines and waited for it to pop. it lasted another 4500 miles until I got home 

[Jeff K]

A friend of mine went to canoe the Yukon river in Alaska. His car alternator went out in the middle of nowhere.I think it was a Subaru.  He carved new brushes for it from D cell flash light batteries. I met him in Kansas Months later and he STILL had not replaced them.

[crow]

Back in the day... , had a NICE, K modek 750/ 4 chopper.  It had a super small gas tank. Was riding from Lake co. Ill to Stevens Point Wisc and ran out of gas. I was with a pal, so all I had to do was get the gas from his tank to mine.  There wasn't an empty beer can along the road in either direction for as long as I cared to walk. (what are those odds!)   Then the idea struck me,  we disconected his fuel line at the petcock, and i filled my leather glove with gas, transfering it to my bike.  After five or so glovesfull, down the road we went.

[BigBod]

I was in Austria on my 1200 Goldwing Aspencade, alternator failed, as you know it's an engine out job to change...I was 1200 miles from home...pulled every fuse that I could, no lights at all or brake lights and other stuff and made it home with the help of my buddy who I was riding with, kept swapping batteries as mine went flat...we made it...

[Skinhead]

I was in Austria on my 1200 Goldwing Aspencade, alternator failed, as you know it's an engine out job to change...I was 1200 miles from home...pulled every fuse that I could, no lights at all or brake lights and other stuff and made it home with the help of my buddy who I was riding with, kept swapping batteries as mine went flat...we made it...

Did the same thing from Gettysburg, Pa to Detroit, MI.  It only works that far if you have another bike traveling with you.   

[musclehead]

those are some good ones. new brushes from a "D" cell batt.  wow 

[POPS 57]

Back in the day... , had a NICE, K modek 750/ 4 chopper.  It had a super small gas tank. Was riding from Lake co. Ill to Stevens Point Wisc and ran out of gas. I was with a pal, so all I had to do was get the gas from his tank to mine.  There wasn't an empty beer can along the road in either direction for as long as I cared to walk. (what are those odds!)   Then the idea struck me,  we disconected his fuel line at the petcock, and i filled my leather glove with gas, transfering it to my bike.  After five or so glovesfull, down the road we went.

Here in Minnesota what you were looking for on the side of the road. We call Indian artifact's.   

[bigguy]

This goes way back, before my time.
My wife was born to elderly parents. Two of her siblings were grown and married by the time of her birth. Trading family stories, it came to light that my father-in-law bought his first car (either a T-model or an A-model, not sure which) from my maternal grandfather. By the time my father-in-law decided to sell it, the gas tank had rotted out. They drove it to the auction in DeWitt Arkansas from Tichnor (about 14 miles) with my brother-in-law sitting on the fender with a bottle of gas, pouring it into the carburetor.

[bigguy]

My dad had a little 3 horse Evinrude outboard motor that he loved for frog hunting. Somehow the sound of that motor idling seemed to just hypnotize the frogs. Unfortunately it eventually threw a rod right through the case. I don't remember whether he couldn't get parts for it, our we just couldn't afford them at that time. In any case, he used epoxy to put it back together.He said he didn't expect it to work, but had nothing to lose by trying. It ran for another couple of years. We affectionately called it "Old Poxy."

[wiggydotcom]

A friend of mine went to canoe the Yukon river in Alaska. His car alternator went out in the middle of nowhere.I think it was a Subaru.  He carved new brushes for it from D cell flash light batteries. I met him in Kansas Months later and he STILL had not replaced them.

Was his name MacGyver by any chance?

[musclehead]

A friend of mine went to canoe the Yukon river in Alaska. His car alternator went out in the middle of nowhere.I think it was a Subaru.  He carved new brushes for it from D cell flash light batteries. I met him in Kansas Months later and he STILL had not replaced them.

Was his name MacGyver by any chance?

I should've used "MacGyver" in the title of the thread

[Patrick]

what is your best story of a roadside repair that you didn't think would hold up 'til you could limp it home. not restricted to just motorcycles.

I was over the road trucking and pulled into York NE, the big petro or TA I can't remember, and as I was parking this God awful shriek started up under the hood. there were hard copper lines that hooked up the compressor to the flex lines that ran to the tanks and the clamps that were rubber lined wore a good sized hole in the copper. I was at least fifty miles from an International dealer, no way I could make it that far leaking that much air. I didn't want to pay the shop rates at the truck stop, what's a driver to do?

I had some 'rescue tape' I wrapped it up with that and of course it still leaked (120psi) until I put a couple of hose clamps on it. I stopped at the next dealership bought the braided flexible lines and waited for it to pop. it lasted another 4500 miles until I got home 

Must be you didn't have any wrinkles in your 'rescue tape' !    Its surprising how long some of these 'McGyver' fixes last.  After performing service calls for 50 years, some quick fixes get pretty creative. You could have also dropped the air pressure 20# and the brakes still would have worked fine.

[solo1]

A long time ago I was riding in my Dad's 1927 Chyrsler.  That car would unexpectedly quit and then restart.

It did it for us.  Dad got it started again and then listened in the engine compartment.  A hissing sound that he heard gave him a way to fix it.  We managed to get it to a filling station (yeah, that's what they were called).  he bought a pack of Wrigleys Spearment gum (5 Cents) and used the gum and friction tape (electrical tape now) to patch a hole in the vacuum tank.  No fuel pump on this car, just a vacuum tank to suck the gas into the carb.

He ran the Chrysler for another 4 years and the patch never let him down.

[Valkorado]

There was a post some time back asking what we like to pack for roadside repairs, and I mentioned that I include an emergency brake/throttle cable repair kit.  Here's why.

Many years back a friend and I rode our bikes to a One World Music Festival in Telluride.  Rolling into town for the weekend event, eyes were upon us form all directions.  I distinctly remember checking out a couple fine ladies on a corner bench as I came upon the first stop light and began the deceleration process.  I pulled the clutch and heard a disheartening -snap- as the lever went to the grip without resistance.  I was no longer feeling cool.  

After wrestling the Shadow to a side street parking space, I analyzed the situation.  Seeing that the ball had rusted right off the cable and popped off at the lever, I was immediately feeling much less enthused about a party weekend.  I inquired with some locals, and discovered there was no motorcycle shop in the area.  Hmmm.  

I tore into my tool kit trying to think of anything that could save my weekend, and my wallet from having my bike towed a long way home.  The cable wire was visible, just under the metal clasp.  Lo and behold I did pack two cheap Chinese made mini vice grips, one needle nosed and the other standard.  After loosening the cable from the other side, I was able to get the needle nosed grips wedged into the clasp just enough to grab the cable and spaghetti it out a bit.  I used the other grip to clamp the cable, and was able to pull and stretch it through and around the lever cutouts, leaving the grips dangling below.  Seemed solid enough.  At least I was able to focus on the finer things again -- notably chasing girls, drinking beer and dancing to live muisic.

The ride back home was admittedly unnerving, as the constant thought of losing my clutch on mountain roads was not pleasant.  Thankfully, the grip held and kept me going back and forth to work until I was able to replace it the following weekend.  And yes, I still carry mini vice grips.

[.]

My first car was a 1966 Mercury Montclair with the big 390ci engine and four barrel carburetor. On a trip home to North Louisiana from the middle part of the state the points gave out in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night (which is where and when points always gave out back in the day). I drove 120 miles home by stopping every 20 miles or so and filing the points down with an old fingernail file I dug out of the seat cushions. To this day it still amazes me that I made it home that night.

[PAVALKER]

A friend of mine went to canoe the Yukon river in Alaska. His car alternator went out in the middle of nowhere.I think it was a Subaru.  He carved new brushes for it from D cell flash light batteries. I met him in Kansas Months later and he STILL had not replaced them.

I don't think this has been topped yet......    and I now have the urge to get a few old batteries and open em up and check em out.

[Jeff K]

A friend of mine went to canoe the Yukon river in Alaska. His car alternator went out in the middle of nowhere.I think it was a Subaru.  He carved new brushes for it from D cell flash light batteries. I met him in Kansas Months later and he STILL had not replaced them.

I don't think this has been topped yet......    and I now have the urge to get a few old batteries and open em up and check em out.

There is a thick carbon rod right down the center of them. I used to tear them apart when I was a kid to get the carbon rods for making "telephones". If you balance a carbon rod on two razors, it turns into a microphone.  ???

After he told me the story I wondered if it would have ever came to my mind if I was stranded. I knew there were carbon rods in batteries, but I don't know if it would have dawned on me to use them.

[PAVALKER]

A friend of mine went to canoe the Yukon river in Alaska. His car alternator went out in the middle of nowhere.I think it was a Subaru.  He carved new brushes for it from D cell flash light batteries. I met him in Kansas Months later and he STILL had not replaced them.

I don't think this has been topped yet......    and I now have the urge to get a few old batteries and open em up and check em out.

There is a thick carbon rod right down the center of them. I used to tear them apart when I was a kid to get the carbon rods for making "telephones". If you balance a carbon rod on two razors, it turns into a microphone.  ???

After he told me the story I wondered if it would have ever came to my mind if I was stranded. I knew there were carbon rods in batteries, but I don't know if it would have dawned on me to use them.

Yea, I need to start tearing and taking things apart so I can remember which battery has what size rod, or the like so I can hopefully remember where important stuff like that is when I need it.     

[John Schmidt]

Back in the late 50's I was stationed at Pease AFB in Portsmouth, NH. At the time we had a '53 Olds I had just overhauled and it ran like a charm. On a trip back west on furlough, we were on the NY turnpike and suddenly started running hot....very quickly. I pulled over near a ditch full of water from a recent shower, thinking I could use it to refill the radiator. But when I raised the hood, my heart sank...ruptured upper hose. What really bugged me was it was new, replaced all the rubber when I put the engine back together. About that time a trooper stopped to see what the trouble was, and after one look told me I had no option but to let him call a wrecker which he did while I listened. I asked about how long before his arrival and was told roughly 45 minutes...if that was OK. Yeah...sure. So the LEO takes off, wishing me well, and I'm seeing $$$ signs flashing before my eyes. Then I remembered my little tool box in the trunk where I always carried some hose clamps, elec. tape which as Solo1 said was called friction tape back then, muffler putty, odds and ends of wire and fasteners. And....a half gallon jug of potable water in case our baby girl needed some. I waited until the LEO was out of sight, got out my "stuff" and went about patching the rupture which was very localized, thank goodness. I knew it was many miles ahead to the next exit but recalled only about a mile back to the previous one. So after wrapping the hose real good and using five hose clamps and twisting some wires around it for security, I refilled the radiator and we crossed the median and headed back past the last exit. I then crossed back over the median so we would be traveling in the correct direction according to our toll ticket when we exited. About three miles up the road from the exit was a small town where I was able to replace the hose, and bought a couple spares and more tape. Refilled the water jug and headed west again. While at the filling station, I mentioned to the old gent running it how the trooper had called the wrecker. He told me it was a racket and knew both the trooper and the guy on the wrecker. Said I saved myself at least $200, maybe more. He suggested a good highway that ran parrallel to the turnpike for a long way and would be a good idea to use it to prevent meeting up with the trooper in question. I followed his suggestion, got back on about 75 miles further west, and saved myself a nice chunk of money.

[solo1]

When I was in Korea in 1953 I drove a 2 1/2 ton truck commonly known as a duece and a half.

It was my duty to drive to Seoul every day with dispatches, pick up the mail, etc.  Now Seoul was about 45 miles away on rough dirt roads with the occasional honey bucket pulled by oxen which blocked the road.

We (the mailman and I) had just left the APO and had about 40 miles to go back to the outfit when the clutch stayed engaged and wouldn't disengage.  The mail guy was just wringing his hands, "Oh Sh##!!"

No problem. I drove those forty miles shifting the gears on the five speed NON synchronised tranny without a problem.  If I would've needed to shift the transfer case, i could've done that too.  When we had to stop I downshifted into 2nd high range and shut off the ignition coming to a jerky stop.

Here's what my truck (and I) looked like in 1953



To start, I used the starter while in 2nd gear and then double clutched my way back up into 4th or 5th.  If the engine was cold, I put the tranny in neutral first to warm up the engine, then shut off the engine while I shifted to 2nd and used the starter.. (I didn't use first because it was a granny gear and wasn't needed unless the truck was loaded.)

We made it back ok and the truck was then towed from our outfit to the maintenance depot for repair. No, No repairs were needed on the tranny, I didn't miss a gear!

Did I mention that my truck was a WWII vehicle that had been rebuilt twice.  Canvas top and doors, colder than a bitch in winter.

[Patrick]

When I was in Korea in 1953 I drove a 2 1/2 ton truck commonly known as a duece and a half.

It was my duty to drive to Seoul every day with dispatches, pick up the mail, etc.  Now Seoul was about 45 miles away on rough dirt roads with the occasional honey bucket pulled by oxen which blocked the road.

We (the mailman and I) had just left the APO and had about 40 miles to go back to the outfit when the clutch stayed engaged and wouldn't disengage.  The mail guy was just wringing his hands, "Oh Sh##!!"

No problem. I drove those forty miles shifting the gears on the five speed NON synchronised tranny without a problem.  If I would've needed to shift the transfer case, i could've done that too.  When we had to stop I downshifted into 2nd high range and shut off the ignition coming to a jerky stop.

Here's what my truck (and I) looked like in 1953



To start, I used the starter while in 2nd gear and then double clutched my way back up into 4th or 5th.  If the engine was cold, I put the tranny in neutral first to warm up the engine, then shut off the engine while I shifted to 2nd and used the starter.. (I didn't use first because it was a granny gear and wasn't needed unless the truck was loaded.)

We made it back ok and the truck was then towed from our outfit to the maintenance depot for repair. No, No repairs were needed on the tranny, I didn't miss a gear!

Did I mention that my truck was a WWII vehicle that had been rebuilt twice.  Canvas top and doors, colder than a bitch in winter.

That looks like a GMC to me, how come you didn't grab a Studebaker ?   

[sheets]

On a day ride with my bud who had recently sold his Valk for a Harley. We were well over a hundred miles from his place in the middle of nowhere between Etna and Orleans. The splines grooves on his shift lever got wallered (?) out somehow and he lost the ability to shift gears. I did have some four inch vice grips in my MacGyver kit. He rode back home late in the evening with those little vice grips clamped to the shift shaft. Just enough he could hook the toe of his boot on or reach down and shift by hand. I never bothered to razz him about selling the Valk.

Worked on a road crew for many years. I was tailing a newbie commercial driver who was getting some seat and stick time pulling a three axle equipment trailer behind a ten wheeler. We were miles from nowhere (Hwy 96 between Orleans and Happy Camp) late in the day... while turning around he managed to jackknife the combination to the point where a piece of hardware on the back of the truck pinched and cut the service air line that ran along the tongue of the trailer. Had a loader on the trailer that needed to be somewhere else, but we weren't going anywhere. Nothing available to make a fix. I looked at the ink pen I had in my pocket. I stripped the guts from the pen and jammed it into each end of the cut air line. Now we could release the brakes and get on down the roads. Stayed like that for a couple days before the field mechanic could get up to our remote location and make proper fix.   

[crow]

Thought of another.... How many times were you left in the car alone, while pop went in the hardware store for a..... and was told DONT TOUCH ANYTHING...  I figured out on our '67 plymouth Fury, that, if you pushed in the hazard button, pushed down the turn signal arm and put your foot on the brake, all at the same time, THE RADIO WOULD PLAY.  (no key needed)

[Valker]

OEM valve stem on the Valk, plastic keeper lost. Valve leaks at speed. Small rock between metal stem and wheel held with duct tape. No Leakey!

[Romeo]

I was in Austria on my 1200 Goldwing Aspencade, alternator failed, as you know it's an engine out job to change...I was 1200 miles from home...pulled every fuse that I could, no lights at all or brake lights and other stuff and made it home with the help of my buddy who I was riding with, kept swapping batteries as mine went flat...we made it...

Did the same thing from Gettysburg, Pa to Detroit, MI.  It only works that far if you have another bike traveling with you.   

and a couple of buddies willing to pushstart the bike with the dead battery in it.

[Romeo]

Back in '76, we were heading from Michigan out to Glacier National Park, in a motorhome my father-in-law had built from a motorhome chassis, a busted up travel trailer and hand laid fiberglass front and rear clips. Somewhere in eastern Montana, the accelerator cable broke. We just lifted the bonnet, which was between the two captains chairs up front, hooked a coat hanger to the carb, and I became the cruise control. I think when we got to Moscow, we found an autoparts store and bought a new cable.

[old2soon]

Don't remember what year or what model but my Ex F I L got a John Deere tractor for real cheap at an Alaska Highway Dept auction. The reason he got it so cheap was the fact that the cast iron engine block had a serious crack in it. His reasoning was it was on a flat surface and he could patch it. He started out by draining all the coolant that was left and taking a 4" grinder and smoothing the block as best he could. He got hold of some steel plate a half inch thick and cut it down some with an oxy aceytelene  torch ground the edges smooth drilled and tapped the block spread an epoxy on both surfaces and bolted it up. Told me he left it alone for 3 or 4 days in a heated garage. Filled it with anti freeze and put it to work. When I used the tractor sno blower combination there in Willow Alaska in the winter of 69 70 he told me it had been repaired 10 years ago. All you could see was that patch looked a little out of place but not much as he had painted it J D green.  He told me if he got ONE winter out of it he was ahead of the game.  RIDE SAFE.

[donaldcc]

on 5000 mi trip through NW 2 years ago my buddy's Triumph Thunderbird's throttle cable busted at grip when cheap ass plastic holder broke.  I had lots of tools and zip ties and we were able to reattach it to complete trip.  In fact he did not replace it until a few months ago because it was such a good fix.  

[The emperor has no clothes]

Don't remember what year or what model but my Ex F I L got a John Deere tractor for real cheap at an Alaska Highway Dept auction. The reason he got it so cheap was the fact that the cast iron engine block had a serious crack in it. His reasoning was it was on a flat surface and he could patch it. He started out by draining all the coolant that was left and taking a 4" grinder and smoothing the block as best he could. He got hold of some steel plate a half inch thick and cut it down some with an oxy aceytelene  torch ground the edges smooth drilled and tapped the block spread an epoxy on both surfaces and bolted it up. Told me he left it alone for 3 or 4 days in a heated garage. Filled it with anti freeze and put it to work. When I used the tractor sno blower combination there in Willow Alaska in the winter of 69 70 he told me it had been repaired 10 years ago. All you could see was that patch looked a little out of place but not much as he had painted it J D green.  He told me if he got ONE winter out of it he was ahead of the game.  RIDE SAFE.

Your ex FIL sounds like a true "sourdough". Met many mcgyvers in Alaska. You had to be pretty self sufficient . As a kid my dad and his friend bought a  WW2 weasel track rig for going hunting. The tracks were so old and rotten they would break pretty regular . We used cables ,etc. to repair them for years.

[MAD6Gun]

 Some guys here have probably had this happen. My brother, 98T and a couple of others were on our way to the Blue Gray ride in PA. We stopped at a gas station to get gas. Lothar (98T) rode over the raised covers that they use to fill the tanks and bottomed out breaking the pin that holds the kickstand spring. When this happens the kick stand will not stay up so the bike will not stay running. I tie strapped a bungee cords to the kickstand. When he stopped he would hook the bungee to his handle bars. When leaving, unhook the cord and hook it to the luggage rack. Worked until we got to Gettysburg and 3Wlonerider replaced the pin......

[Tailgate Tommy]

When I was in Korea in 1953 I drove a 2 1/2 ton truck commonly known as a duece and a half.

It was my duty to drive to Seoul every day with dispatches, pick up the mail, etc.  Now Seoul was about 45 miles away on rough dirt roads with the occasional honey bucket pulled by oxen which blocked the road.

We (the mailman and I) had just left the APO and had about 40 miles to go back to the outfit when the clutch stayed engaged and wouldn't disengage.  The mail guy was just wringing his hands, "Oh Sh##!!"

No problem. I drove those forty miles shifting the gears on the five speed NON synchronised tranny without a problem.  If I would've needed to shift the transfer case, i could've done that too.  When we had to stop I downshifted into 2nd high range and shut off the ignition coming to a jerky stop.

Here's what my truck (and I) looked like in 1953



To start, I used the starter while in 2nd gear and then double clutched my way back up into 4th or 5th.  If the engine was cold, I put the tranny in neutral first to warm up the engine, then shut off the engine while I shifted to 2nd and used the starter.. (I didn't use first because it was a granny gear and wasn't needed unless the truck was loaded.)

We made it back ok and the truck was then towed from our outfit to the maintenance depot for repair. No, No repairs were needed on the tranny, I didn't miss a gear!

Did I mention that my truck was a WWII vehicle that had been rebuilt twice.  Canvas top and doors, colder than a bitch in winter.

Solo1 - my dad drove a duece and a half truck in the Korean conflict (he was very firm on not calling it a war). It was a tow truck if I'm remembering correctly. Thanks for bringing back fond memories of his stories.

[RP#62]

I used to have a dodge van that we put well over 200K miles on and I was going to get rid of it but my son said he wanted it to use as a fishing vehicle.  So one friday after work we loaded it up and left Pittsburgh heading to Ft Lauderdale.  I brought a couple of quarts of transmission fluid cause I knew it was starting to use a little fluid.  First day, no problem.  Topped off the tranny fluid and started on day 2.  Well, after a couple of hundred miles my wife said it felt like it was dropping out of gear so we pulled over and I added more fluid.  It progressively got worse, looked like it was blowing mist out of the rear seal and by the time we got to Cheryl's dad's house in Lake City that night, I was adding fluid every 50 miles.  So, I bought a case of fluid and I drilled a hole in the dog house in the recess below the ashtray and ran a hose down through the hole and connected it to the filler on the transmission.  Now we didn't have to stop anymore - anytime it started to drop out of gear I'd just pull the plug off the hose, get the funnel and fill it up.  In-flight servicing.  We went the length of florida that way.  We would just chuckle anytime we were being tailgated.

-RP

[Moonshot_1]

I used to have a dodge van that we put well over 200K miles on and I was going to get rid of it but my son said he wanted it to use as a fishing vehicle.  So one friday after work we loaded it up and left Pittsburgh heading to Ft Lauderdale.  I brought a couple of quarts of transmission fluid cause I knew it was starting to use a little fluid.  First day, no problem.  Topped off the tranny fluid and started on day 2.  Well, after a couple of hundred miles my wife said it felt like it was dropping out of gear so we pulled over and I added more fluid.  It progressively got worse, looked like it was blowing mist out of the rear seal and by the time we got to Cheryl's dad's house in Lake City that night, I was adding fluid every 50 miles.  So, I bought a case of fluid and I drilled a hole in the dog house in the recess below the ashtray and ran a hose down through the hole and connected it to the filler on the transmission.  Now we didn't have to stop anymore - anytime it started to drop out of gear I'd just pull the plug off the hose, get the funnel and fill it up.  In-flight servicing.  We went the length of florida that way.  We would just chuckle anytime we were being tailgated.

-RP

Man, they been talkin about dis Global Warmin and all this time its been you! Heard it done lubed up the earth so much they is now only 320 days in the year.