Fixing the bike at the roadside using barbed wire....

[t20racerman]

Hi all

Haven't posted on the forum for a while (have been, searched, read and cleared off with answers regularly enough though), so thought I'd share my latest bit of BSA related excitement...

Me and a couple of mates decided to do a tour of S Wales and so last week, we set off from my mates house in the Midlands for a 400 mile rideout. Great breakfast after about 100 miles, but then 30 miles later the BSa went pop-bang-pop-pop and ground to a halt.  

I thought the mag had gone kaput, or more likely the fibre gear had broken up, or slipped. After a bit of research at the roadside the fault was found - the rivet holding the points together had failed. So, could we fix it - you bet we could! The fence the bike was leaning against had barbed wire at the top, so we unfurled a barb, cut it to length and made a Z shaped bit to replace the rivet, and put it in as tight as we could with pliers to hold it all together. It was a bit of a bodge, but I hoped it would work to get us out from the middle of nowhere to a town or village where I could phone the recovery services and get picked up....


Anyway, kicked the bike over and it fired up and ran lovely. Ran it carefully for 5-6 mins to check all was OK, then back to thrashing it round the lanes! Managed to ride another 270 miles with it like that, getting home after 14 hours out and about. Fantastic day, and one of the attached pics shows the lovely Elan Valley that we rode through.

I'm sure we've all bodged our bikes to get home now and again, but this one really saved the day.  

Have fun out there!
Adrian

[muskrat]

 Good one Adrian. You would fit right in here in Oz with bodge skills like that.
Cheers

[duTch]

You were lucky there Adrian, usually there's bits of wire and general emergency fix-ups lying around- until you need it..!
   Mind you I can't imagine Musky finding somewhere to plug in that grinder that fits in with current 'work-safe practice'..?
 Not to say it can't be done (barbed wire to the overheads??)
cheers'

[cotterpinkid]

Nice one Adrian. I also spent a couple days in Wales in June on my Velocette. Like yourself I ran into trouble (with my engine shock absorber) and had to make use of fence wire - neccessity is the mother of invention.

Brian

[pedrochapala]

Hi all

Haven't posted on the forum for a while (have been, searched, read and cleared off with answers regularly enough though), so thought I'd share my latest bit of BSA related excitement...

Me and a couple of mates decided to do a tour of S Wales and so last week, we set off from my mates house in the Midlands for a 400 mile rideout. Great breakfast after about 100 miles, but then 30 miles later the BSa went pop-bang-pop-pop and ground to a halt.  

I thought the mag had gone kaput, or more likely the fibre gear had broken up, or slipped. After a bit of research at the roadside the fault was found - the rivet holding the points together had failed. So, could we fix it - you bet we could! The fence the bike was leaning against had barbed wire at the top, so we unfurled a barb, cut it to length and made a Z shaped bit to replace the rivet, and put it in as tight as we could with pliers to hold it all together. It was a bit of a bodge, but I hoped it would work to get us out from the middle of nowhere to a town or village where I could phone the recovery services and get picked up....


Anyway, kicked the bike over and it fired up and ran lovely. Ran it carefully for 5-6 mins to check all was OK, then back to thrashing it round the lanes! Managed to ride another 270 miles with it like that, getting home after 14 hours out and about. Fantastic day, and one of the attached pics shows the lovely Elan Valley that we rode through.

I'm sure we've all bodged our bikes to get home now and again, but this one really saved the day.  

Have fun out there!
Adrian

the sign of a true mechanic amigo! always carry some baling wire in yer bag i say!

[LJ.]

... and this is what I find so satisfying about these older machines, that we are able to fix them when a problem arises. Something you cannot often do with  more modern machines. It always feels good having done something like this.