Your favorite Macgyver moments\tricks

[scmopar]

Originally Posted by Daamud

I had a set of Super Swamper tires seat fine, but the air inside would cool quicker than I could put air in, sucking the tire back off its bead.

Ended up pushing the rim to one side of the tire and filling the void on the other side with grease. Then just filled with air. It worked fairly well.

a ratchet strap arond the outside of the tire works good too also a tire tool twisted into the strap gets that little extra omp to get the bead to touch the rim

[grizzzly]

i know i have posted this before but



How to set a bead on a tire





One of the many problems with using starting fluid

[troidus]

Originally Posted by grizzzly

One of the many problems with using starting fluid

That's from the "If a little is good, more is better, and too much is just right" school of technology. You want it to pop, not burn. More air, less fuel.

[Idle]

Rubber splicing tape works well for damn near anything. To solve the issue of it unraveling you can glue the end with rubber cement. Or wrap a cut thin piece of gorrila tape on it. Or wrap it a little thinner at the end and roll it back on itself. You can wrap it to secure wires or cable and then roll it into an o-ring. Works well for securing my mirrors wrapped around the ball and socket. I pulled the boot back, wrapped it then put the boot back on.

The cheaper stuff (3m) sticks to itself better than scotch brand and doesn't unravel, but will tear if you stretch it too much.

[troidus]

Originally Posted by Idle

Rubber splicing tape works well for damn near anything. To solve the issue of it unraveling you can glue the end with rubber cement. Or wrap a cut thin piece of gorrila tape on it. Or wrap it a little thinner at the end and roll it back on itself. You can wrap it to secure wires or cable and then roll it into an o-ring. Works well for securing my mirrors wrapped around the ball and socket. I pulled the boot back, wrapped it then put the boot back on.

I forgot where I saw this, but apparently they use this method to repair tie rod ends in Bolivia.

[tgeliot]

Originally Posted by Idle

The cheaper stuff (3m) sticks to itself better than scotch brand and doesn't unravel, but will tear if you stretch it too much.

3M is Scotch. Same company.

[marchyman]

Originally Posted by tgeliot

3M is Scotch. Same company.

3M Scotch® 33+ is probably the best there is. It is also probably the most expensive. Good in the hot, the cold, indoors, outdoors, and doesn't leave any residue when removed. Learned that from my favorite electrician (dad).

[Idle]

Originally Posted by tgeliot

3M is Scotch. Same company.

Yea, I thought for a second after I wrote that.

The roll I have now says 3m on it. It's got a white backing and will tear if streched too much. You can't undo it a day later. It has to be cut off. The stuff with the blue backing (33+?) is better but needs to be wrapped so it doesn't unravel.



I could see a whole roll of it securing a tie rod to get you home. On Bolivia's "death road" maybe a roll and a half…

[Kenno]

Might add a couple here that got me (and someone else) out of the shit over the years, I have more but total recall is slipping.

Solution 1. Stuck in a dinghy 6 miles from the coast in choppy seas with a broken outboard gear selector- basic toolkit on board for the 10hp johnson just like a bike kit plus a broken hacksaw blade I have always had in my toolbag-open the gearbox,lift the gears out, measure spacer needed to hold the bevel gear against the pinion and set to work cutting the sparkplug spanner to the right length with the bit of hacksaw blade, install it over the prop shaft and bolt up the gearbox then start it in gear, whoops it's in reverse you dickhead! 6 miles home astern!

Solution 2. On my way to a gold prospecting patch between Port Hedland and Roebourne (Western Australia) and see a city type with his young son broken down in an alfaromeo, car had boiled and cooked the head, water leaked out of everywhere when we tried to top it up, no worries, off I go into the scrub on foot and return with some dried out kangaroo shit and grind it to dust into the radiator fill, bloke looks worried, it'll get you to the next town mate I say, give it a top of of water while running the engine and the leaks start to take up, off you go matey, saw him a week later still running around with the car until parts turned up, he never forgot the help, it was a 45 degree celsius day in the days before mobile phones.
Never thought this fix would have a place in a bike garage but it will get those pumpers home too, sheep shit is just as good.

Solution 3. Besides gear lever visegrips you can use them as a clutch lever as well, done it a few times in varying degrees of lever detachment, i get the mid or mini size grips.

iSaw (inmate) just did a dandy patchup for my destroyed xr600 clutch lever and perch using cable ties when I off'ed and broke my arm recently, it was so good I was going to keep riding with it in his honour but I bought a new outfit in the end.

[Kenno]

Originally Posted by Idle

Rubber splicing tape works well for damn near anything. To solve the issue of it unraveling you can glue the end with rubber cement. Or wrap a cut thin piece of gorrila tape on it. Or wrap it a little thinner at the end and roll it back on itself. You can wrap it to secure wires or cable and then roll it into an o-ring. Works well for securing my mirrors wrapped around the ball and socket. I pulled the boot back, wrapped it then put the boot back on.

The cheaper stuff (3m) sticks to itself better than scotch brand and doesn't unravel, but will tear if you stretch it too much.

Bloody oath, its good stuff for patching split or damaged radiator hoses after cleaning the outside with petrol(gas) and letting it dry before stretching in on.

[mike-s]

http://www.rescuetapeaustralia.com.au/
This stuff is brilliant, got three rolls of it here i bought at the sydney bike show a couple of years ago. Two of the rolls I can account for, i have no idea where #3 went (i won't use it "just in case" i need it when out and about.

I did a search to find the above URL and even found that the likes of jaycar stock it! Stuff is worth getting, if for no other reason as an insurance policy.

[crazydrummerdude]

Originally Posted by grizzzly

How to set a bead on a tire

My uncle, a dump-truck driver, showed me his trick. He attached a butter fly valve to an airtank, with a flat nozzle. Bring the tank up to pressure, hold the nozzle in the gap (but not where it would get pinched), flip the valve, and presto! No flames involved.

[tgeliot]

Originally Posted by Idle

Rubber splicing tape works well for damn near anything. To solve the issue of it unraveling you can glue the end with rubber cement. Or wrap a cut thin piece of gorrila tape on it. Or wrap it a little thinner at the end and roll it back on itself. You can wrap it to secure wires or cable and then roll it into an o-ring. Works well for securing my mirrors wrapped around the ball and socket. I pulled the boot back, wrapped it then put the boot back on.

The cheaper stuff (3m) sticks to itself better than scotch brand and doesn't unravel, but will tear if you stretch it too much.

So are we talking about the stuff I think of as just "black electrical tape" (albeit very high quality) or is this a whole different breed? If different, where do I buy it and exactly what should I ask or look for? Thanks!

[marchyman]

Originally Posted by tgeliot

So are we talking about the stuff I think of as just "black electrical tape" (albeit very high quality) or is this a whole different breed? If different, where do I buy it and exactly what should I ask or look for? Thanks!

I think he's talking about this stuff: http://www.rescuetape.com/

It's a Silicone tape that is self fusing. You cut off small sections and stretch it out till it becomes about 1/2 the width it started and do lots of overlap when wrapping something. Not the cheapest stuff. I think I paid about $20 for three rolls.

Aerostich will sell you 6 10' rolls of something similar for $24... they call it Miracle Tape. Or you can get their X-Treme Tape at $6/roll. The difference? The X-Treme tape is black. (there may be other differences ).

[troidus]

Originally Posted by tgeliot

So are we talking about the stuff I think of as just "black electrical tape" (albeit very high quality) or is this a whole different breed? If different, where do I buy it and exactly what should I ask or look for? Thanks!

Before modern electrical tape came along, there was rubber tape and fabric tape that were used together. Rubber tape was applied to the exposed conductor to insulate it, then fabric tape was applied on top of the rubber to hold it down and provide abrasion resistance. The fabric tape was sticky on both sides and may have been impregnated with tar or something like that.