"Provincial Field Repair"!!

[redbloke1956]

I always find inspiration in the ditch.
#1. Ran out of gas in my little pickup within sight of a service station. Grabbed the Jerry can out of the back and hitched to the station. Upon my return, having put some gas in the tank, found the doors locked and the keys dangling in the ignition. Walked up and down the ditch and found a Coke can. Cut it up with my Leatherperson and made a slim jim. Problem solved.
#2. 1974, Moving to Whitehorse, pulling a trailer with most of our worldly goods in it. The spring hanger on the trailer pulled right out of the frame halfway down Steamboat Mountain on the Alaska Highway. The damn frame was so rusty it was like cheese. I didn't have many tools then, and what I did have were odd sized, collected from here and there as needed. A weird collection is how you'd describe it.
Into the ditch, deep in thought, and some degree of depression. Aha! A bolt. And another one! Hmm. Rummage for nuts. Yes! Remembering the cheese like frame. Aha again! The remains of some channel steel, directional sign mounting for the use of! These sign posts are channels with flanges on either side, and perforated every couple of inches with a half-inch hole. Back to the weird toolbox. Or toolbox of the weird. Two drills bits of unknown size that "looked about right". No means of driving them. OK there's already a hole in the cheese. Ream it out with the smaller bit and vise grips. Aha! a tap. What size is that? big enough. Run that through. Then the bigger bit. Perfect! Position the spring hanger, position the hacksawed piece of sign post and CLAMP the hanger to the cheesy frame.
Lasted 500 miles into Whitehorse. Can't remember what I did with the feckin trailer. I haven't been sued, so I guess I told the next guy about the bodge. At least I hope so.

Brilliant Carl !!!

 

[clevtrev]

Back in the early eighties, I had a problem with weave, I tried various tyre pressures, in particular, travelling to a Dutch rally. All to no avail. a couple of months later I was invited to a vintage meet in Burford. Oxfordshire. A gent came up sat down alongside and started chatting about the bike, unusually he had never had one, not even a Black Widow, anyway, I mentioned the the wheels would come out without the use of tools, and proceeded to take out the back wheel as a demo. Come to re-assemble, I find I cannot get the axle through, surprise I now found out the cause of my weave. The frame was broken, at the junction of lug and tube, with the weight of the rear end hanging, (D type stand) there was a 1/4" step between tube and lug.
So with a jubilee clip from a nearby garage, this was used to wrap the joint. We then rode home (100 miles) at our normal speed. I was not worried at all, after all, it was a bit better than before, and I`d had a couple of thousand miles of practice. But really it was the chain holding it together.
I`m trying to put a picture on, but no go.
Edit......... That`s strange it`s there when I look now. The picture shows the crack, before the clip was slid into place.

 

[Phil Baker]

Now that was a good one, Vibrac! I remember riding a Vespa (sorry!) when the nipple came off at the throttle end by winding the cable around my hand and pulling appropriately!

 

[redbloke1956]

Back in the early eighties, I had a problem with weave, I tried various tyre pressures, in particular, travelling to a Dutch rally. All to no avail. a couple of months later I was invited to a vintage meet in Burford. Oxfordshire. A gent came up sat down alongside and started chatting about the bike, unusually he had never had one, not even a Black Widow, anyway, I mentioned the the wheels would come out without the use of tools, and proceeded to take out the back wheel as a demo. Come to re-assemble, I find I cannot get the axle through, surprise I now found out the cause of my weave. The frame was broken, at the junction of lug and tube, with the weight of the rear end hanging, (D type stand) there was a 1/4" step between tube and lug.
So with a jubilee clip from a nearby garage, this was used to wrap the joint. We then rode home (100 miles) at our normal speed. I was not worried at all, after all, it was a bit better than before, and I`d had a couple of thousand miles of practice. But really it was the chain holding it together.
I`m trying to put a picture on, but no go.
Edit......... That`s strange it`s there when I look now. The picture shows the crack, before the clip was slid into place.

Brilliant Trevor, a real field repair that one!!