odd and old time fixes and tricks. Lets hear 'em

[keister]

I like to give my screwdrivers a good tap with another screwdriver before trying to back out a screw. This sets it in place and guards against sripping Philips heads.

Clean chrome plated pieces like throttle housing, grab bar, and handlebars with SOS pads. Removes rust and pitting shines them up like new.

[chrisand4]

My friends dad told use to do this. We both had 2 stokes and had accumulated a box full of fowled plugs. So he told use to take em to his machine shop and use the small bead-blaster on all of them. It worked great and we had about 12-13 more plugs to use. As I side note though, I would only do it once, after you get that 1 extra use it's time to chunk em and buy a new plug! Also, when you're on the trail, some carb-cleaner, a wire brush, and a thin piece of sand paper, and some type of rag or cleaning cloth will usually clean a plug right up!

[Daniel 250es]

One of the things I learned for a clean bike is to use wd-40. I buy it by the gallon alot cheaper that way. After a powerwash I spray everything real well with wd-40 (especially metal parts) then I do a quik wipe down. This really helps with rust and looks.

[tricolour]

in a lot of cases, tightening a fastener a bit before trying to loosen it when it's stuck usually does the trick.
use an oil filter wrench on the flywheel to hold it still when removing the nut. or you could use rope in cylinder. all you need to do is just feed in enough so it compresses and stops as the piston goes to TDC.
how about using a matchbook to set points?
PB Blaster is better than wd40.
I've also heard if you're out in the scrub and get a flat tire, pop the bead and stuff things like grass,weeds, vines and leaves into the tire and then reseat the bead.
if you're trying to get an old motor started that's been setting a while, trying priming it with 1 part gas to 10 parts oil in an oilcan and squirt through spark plug hole.
using anti-seize on fasteners makes them MUCH easier to turn.

[200XMichigan]

I spray down a lot of the bolts that often get stripped/broken with PB Blaster right when I get something. Then do it every once in a while after than. Once I needed to replace my exhaust gasket on my 200X the bolts had been heat cycled with PB Blaster for over a month. They came out easy as pie.

I'll have to try pledge 200X plastics.

[atc350xer]

It's not cheap these days, so when I drain my tank, I use a coffee filter inside a funnel for the particles that you KNOW are in there... works great.

[200XMichigan]

Saving Gas Part 2:

When I get a new toy with questionable gas I drain it and if its not too bad I run it mixed with good gas in the lawn mower. Never had a problem with it, the mower was free and I hate having old gas sitting around. Lawn mowers will run on gas I wouldn't think of keeping in my trike or bike.

[muddog]

Saving Gas Part 2:

When I get a new toy with questionable gas I drain it and if its not too bad I run it mixed with good gas in the lawn mower. Never had a problem with it, the mower was free and I hate having old gas sitting around. Lawn mowers will run on gas I wouldn't think of keeping in my trike or bike.

lawnmowers will run on almost anything and take more abuse than you can dish out

[Grizzlypeg]

Except mine is a son of a B to start when it has stale gas in it. I'd rather filter it and pour it diluted into my truck's gas tank, where it mixes with gallons of fresh gas.

My tip for removing a stuck bolt is to heat it up, then quench it with spray penetrating oil. If the head broke off, put a nut on it and weld it in place, then spray the threads with penetrating oil.

I also like to use anti seize on all bolts going into aluminum. I'd like to think it will save problems the next time I take it apart.

[NINJA]

You know how carb dip swells carburetor o-rings? If you have stubborn dry hardened airbox or carb boots, you know what a struggle it is to get them back on your carb. Soak them in a can of carb dip overnight, it will not only soften them but expand them also. I discovered this by accident. Works like a charm! This also works on the 250R airbox boots when fitting a larger 38-39 mm carb.

Ever break off a tap or extracter? Good luck drilling it out. Instead use freezing wart remover on it and rap on it with a punch or chisel. Most of the time it will shatter like glass and you can pick the pieces out with a pick and a magnet. If that doesn't work, heat it up redhot with an acetylene torch then freeze and hit it.

In a pinch and can't get a new metal head gasket in time? Clean up the old gasket with carb cleaner and coat both sides with Permatex Copper Spray-a-gasket. Allow to dry till tacky, reinstall and torque head to spec. I've had this save my ass quite a few times. I'm not endorsing this as a permanent fix.

[daniel_250r]

i use a propane torch and heat my fowled plugs up till red hot, the carbon just burns off and you are left with a clean plug. probalby common knowledge to a few. also when i am working on lets say a clutch cover or stator cover i do not even drain the oil i just stand the trike up on its side and work with the cover pointing straight up

[Grizzlypeg]

Stick a clear hose in the carb drain, extend the line upwards. When you crack open the drain screw, the gas in the line will rise to show you the level of the gas in the float bowl. This can help in diagnosing some problems with float level.

On old points machines, stick a thin strip of cigarette paper inbetween the points. Rotate the crank until the paper just pulls free, and check your timing marks. That is when the spark would fire. Gets you real close when putting in new points.

[boosted96cobra]

Some I have done:
In car that has the pilot bearing in the crank, take a bar of soap and a knife and cut it in little peices and stuff the soap in the hole in the bearing. Fill it up then take a socket that barelt fits in the hole and it in. If it doesn't pop out the first time fill it with more soap, the bearing will pop right out.
To bleed brakes I always use a vacum pump. My tecate wouldn't bleen any other way. At the dunes my wife broke my pump so in a pinch I used a sprayer out of a spray bottle and a small piece of 200x fuel line. Just put the hose on the sprayer and the bleeder, open the bleeder and pump till you don't see any air bubbles.
Had smaller pin hole leaks in a radiator once in the mountains, emptied the tabacco out of a couple cigs and it filled the hole and got us home.

Heard about:
Old dented pipes, cap off one end, fill with water and cap the other end and throw it in the deep freeze.
Severe rod knock out in bfe, they pulled the oil pan and undid the rod bolts, then pulled the head and pulled the piston and rod out, then capped off the cylinder with a peice of pop can they cut out. Ran enough on the other cylinders to get it home and kept the oil pressure up.

I have also used copper spray on metal gaskets, worked great. I usually end up drilling alot of bolt heads, but I have never got an easy out to work.
I have a welder so I usually find a way to weld something on I can turn, like a bolt head or a bolt or something. With the better way of turning it and the heat they usually come right out.

I have had a couple top ends that were kinda hard to get the jug on while holding the rings closed, so I put one "c" clip in the put the piston in the bore and put the wrist pin and last "c" clip in last.

[NINJA]

All of those are excellent tips Sage. You can also use grease instead of soap, since it doesn't compress.

[boosted96cobra]

Ya man done the grease before. It was messy and didn't smell as good as the soap. I have greased out the piston in a brake caliper, think I seen DC on here do it, before that I had used air compressor, but that worked like 60% of the time.