[Jo6pak]

MacGyvered- To use the seemingly useless trinkets and objects in your close vicinity together to accomplish an otherwise impossible task.

Several years ago, while on a solo tour in northern Minnesota, my clutch cable broke. I had just checked into a hotel and was on the way to find a steak and a beer when I grabbed a handful of lever and "snap!"
Limped it into a small hardware store parking lot, went in for a phone book and called the one local motorsports shop with little hope that they would be open at 5pm on a Saturday. Yep, closed til Tuesday morning.
Didn't have roadside assistance at the time, so after a 12 syllable curse word it was into the little hardware store to find a solution. Wandering the store, I found a potential "crazy enough it just may work" solution in a short piece of PVC pipe. And using my Leatherman and the electrical tape I had in my small tool kit...

Voila!
Cut PVC to suitable length using saw on Leatherman. Fit pipe over the clutch cable lever on transmission, and secure with electrical tape

Pull pipe towards bike to shift.

Bass-akwards jockey shift MacGyver successful enough to get me 300 miles back home the next day. Although, I've never been so happy to ride straight, flat roads with light traffic.

Jury-rigging, botch jobs, farmyard fixes; call them what you will.
Let's hear you best (or worst) field expedient motorcycle repairs using minimal tools and supplies.

 

[Eye_m_no_angel]

Good job!

Okay, I'm closing my eyes and trying to visualize riding like this.....

No, I don't think it'd work on a Harley.

 

[slumlord]

After dropping the bike off the centerstand I lost the chain adjuster block that the tensioning screw anchors against. Having the other one from the other side asa apattern helped, but still a small part from thick steel.

Fortunately,I had a new set of Dewalt drill bits with the pilot point that drills with little effort. Found a piece of steel the perfect thickness from an old rear chevy brake rotor. Cut that puppy to a little oversize and vice-gripped the two pieces together. ran the drill bit right along the sides of the surviving adjuster block taking care to locate the corners and critical spots where I could.

Still keeping the pieces clamped together, used a cutting wheel to connect the [drilled] dots as it were. Had it very close in 30 minutes and did the final fit right at the bike. It actually fits the bike a little tighter than the original piece.
Not a bad solution because the part in question is no longer available.

You can read about it in the Bonehead thread on this page

 

[joejinky]

This is why I carry a spare set of brake and clutch levers and a spare shift lever, and lots of other small parts in my luggage. After running 888-BikeTow for 13 years on So. CA., I saw so many things.

A big bike tipped over, and "helpful" bystanders helped the rider lift the bike up ... by the clutch lever.

A bike tipped over and snapped the brake lever when the handlebars hit a tree.

While eating a burger, some Bozo decided to mount a motorcycle for a photograph. Rather than straddling the seat, he put his foot onto the shift lever and attempted to stand on it to gain height.

I carry fuses, light bulbs, levers, and among many other things ... an oil drain plug.

A bike out in the CA. desert needed a tow when his drain plug fell out and he lost his oil. Fortunately the smoke warned him, and he shut his engine down before seizing the block.

People laugh at me for my "Oh Crap!" kit, but it has saved me from more than one tow!

Go to a tool supply house and find a couple of these drill stops that fit your brake and clutch cables. When the little lead ball pulls off, these work well as a "get me home" fix!

 

[slumlord]

This is 205,but

Had the threaded retaining screw that held the main jet needle in the diaphragm loosen and buggered the threads from bouncing around inside the carb. The effect was a floating needle no longer controlled by the diaphragm, a 100.00 part.

After a few days the idea came to get a tiny piece of vinyl tubing and use a threaded plug to expand and retain the tubing within the diaphragm housing. Years later,it still works and cost less than a dollar

 

[Jo6pak]

Good job!

Okay, I'm closing my eyes and trying to visualize riding like this.....

No, I don't think it'd work on a Harley.

Yeah, the riding position was a bit odd since my left leg had to be on the outside of the pipe while riding. Good thing I have long legs.
An emergency stop would have been "interesting" to say the least.