Your favorite Macgyver moments\tricks

[FixerDave]

not me but my father... I was too young to remember.

Take boat out into the ocean with friends, far, far from shore. Drink much beer while listening to BATTERY powered radio. Drink more beer, way too much beer. Finish last beer, start engine... the only engine, not even any paddles (won't discuss absence of life jackets) - whirr, click, click, click. Father now, he says, instantly sober - friends still drunk having a good time. Ponders issue... no traffic, no radio (the transmitter kind), currents not favourable to survival. No beer left anyway.

Remove all spark plugs but one - don't know how many cylinders but probably at least 4. No, this will not work on a thumper. Turn engine by hand to find compression stroke on remaining plugged bore. Advance just past compression. Hit starter. Whirr... PAT..... PAT..... PAT..... PAT.... insert second plug, not easy on an cylinder that's compressing, spewing explosive air-fuel mixture. Attach spark plug wire ZAP... ZAP... ZAP.... Drunk friends starting to wonder why you're acting so funny. PAT, PAT... PAT, PAT... repeat for remaining bores. Go get more beer.

My Dad... Only a hard-core mechanic would think of that.

Of course, a modern computer controlled engine would freak... It'd be "I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that."

David...

[disston]

Originally Posted by FixerDave

Whirr... PAT..... PAT..... PAT..... PAT.... insert second plug, not easy on an cylinder that's compressing, spewing explosive air-fuel mixture. Attach spark plug wire ZAP... ZAP... ZAP.... Drunk friends starting to wonder why you're acting so funny. PAT, PAT... PAT, PAT... repeat for remaining bores. Go get more beer.
David...

I've never heard this fix before. Your Dad had grease in his veins.

[mikesova]

I needed to balance my KLX wheels because I had the local shop install rimlocks, but they don't balance dirt tires. They say you can't balance knobbies...yeah, sure, whatever.

I looked around my garage this morning for a good way to do it and WHAM! it hit me. I ran to the hardware store and picked up a 4' section of 1/4" section of steel pipe.

voila!

[MWValley]

Originally Posted by mikesova

I needed to balance my KLX wheels because I had the local shop install rimlocks, but they don't balance dirt tires. They say you can't balance knobbies...yeah, sure, whatever.

I looked around my garage this morning for a good way to do it and WHAM! it hit me. I ran to the hardware store and picked up a 4' section of 1/4" section of steel pipe.

voila!

From the Department of Shameless Commerce:

That is pretty clever. It looks just like a giant balancing or truing stand.
But you could have poured two ounces of Dynabeads in the tube and you'd be done also. Actually you'd be better off because you'd have a dynamic balancing solution and not a fixed/static situation.

[tgeliot]

Oh boy, another Dynabeads debate!

[Wlfman]

I balance the wheel without tire and have never had to balance after new tires installed. Even on my sportbike...

[motomike14]

Last year, the rectifier on my CB750 went up in smoke due to a bad ground. On these bikes, they have the great big massive plastic "plugs" with numerous connectors in them. When the rectifier went, it decided to take down the female end of it.

Looking around, in order to replace the female end, I would have had to rewire half the bike. Not happening. Instead, went down to my local electrical store, bought 5 of the "female" connectors, used some new connectors, and viola, no more massive plastic plug.

[Gypsy_Writer]

This year I installed some panniers on my XT225 and had to build extension cords for the rear turn signals. The wires were short about 6 inches so I bought a cheap extension cord from the hardware store, cut it to the proper lengths, separated and stripped the ends, crimped on some male and female adapters, then plugged them into the old ends. Works great and a lot cheaper than looking for different turn signals!

[hilslamer]

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/05/23/man-stranded-in-desert-builds-motorcycle-out-of-his-broken-car/

Originally Posted by hilslamer

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/05/23/man-stranded-in-desert-builds-motorcycle-out-of-his-broken-car/

More here - I've just seen a new level of ingenuity and awesomeness

[stretch160]

Originally Posted by FixerDave

not me but my father... I was too young to remember.

Take boat out into the ocean with friends, far, far from shore. Drink much beer while listening to BATTERY powered radio. Drink more beer, way too much beer. Finish last beer, start engine... the only engine, not even any paddles (won't discuss absence of life jackets) - whirr, click, click, click. Father now, he says, instantly sober - friends still drunk having a good time. Ponders issue... no traffic, no radio (the transmitter kind), currents not favourable to survival. No beer left anyway.

Remove all spark plugs but one - don't know how many cylinders but probably at least 4. No, this will not work on a thumper. Turn engine by hand to find compression stroke on remaining plugged bore. Advance just past compression. Hit starter. Whirr... PAT..... PAT..... PAT..... PAT.... insert second plug, not easy on an cylinder that's compressing, spewing explosive air-fuel mixture. Attach spark plug wire ZAP... ZAP... ZAP.... Drunk friends starting to wonder why you're acting so funny. PAT, PAT... PAT, PAT... repeat for remaining bores. Go get more beer.

My Dad... Only a hard-core mechanic would think of that.

Of course, a modern computer controlled engine would freak... It'd be "I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that."

David...

3 loose spark plug wires going zap zap zap while forcing fuel vapor from 3 cylinders. How did dad not go boom burn scream.

[stretch160]

Originally Posted by MWValley

But you could have poured two ounces of Dynabeads in the tube and you'd be done also. Actually you'd be better off because you'd have a dynamic balancing solution and not a fixed/static situation.

I prefer pixie dust, it has the added benefit of making my bike fly. I know it works because the company that sells it said so.

[FixerDave]

Originally Posted by stretch160

3 loose spark plug wires going zap zap zap while forcing fuel vapor from 3 cylinders. How did dad not go boom burn scream.

Don't know, wondered that myself actually.


But, I do remember him washing his hands in a gallon of gas...



Just pouring it out over his hands onto the ground



while smoking...



Maybe gas was less flammable back then



But, seriously, no plug, not much vacuum to draw fuel in, so not that much going out either. And, yes, he was probably smoking while doing it... that went without saying back then.

David...

[wos]

If the plug wires weren't close enough to a ground path it wouldn't make a spark. Even if it did it would be far enough away to be of little consequence. The hardest part would be lining up the plug against the air rushing by without cross threading.
I have done similar on old two stroke bikes and crappy lawn mowers. Leave the plug loose in the head a turn or so and start cranking it over. Sucks enough air past to cause a flooded cylinder to fire and without the heat conduction path it burns the crap off the plug.

[Aviatordoc]

Here is a small tip.
To prevent keys (other keys) on your key ring from tearing up the paint/finish around your ignition switch as it happens when riding:
Cut a small length of heat shrink tube which fits the key (the cut edges of the key), heat it up a tad so it conforms to the shape of the cut edges of the key but is still removable as a sleeve. Works well. Just be careful and do not heat it a lot.