We've all seen them before...

[Nick_R_23]

You know what Im talking about, those little 'fixes' that come on bikes you just picked up. Stuff that the previous owner did that you just sigh and roll your eyes at, and pray you can fix right without spending any more cash. Whether its vise grips for shifter/brake pedals, engine cases with more JB weld then the original case, or a headlight from a 78 chevy held on by zip ties, I know everybodys come across them before.

I picked up a Chinese 150cc dirtbike the other day, one of those ones you can get at the auto parts stores for a few hundred bux. They were asking 50$, and since it had a knock off 200x engine, I figured Id just keep it going as a bike for as long as I could, and when it absolutely couldnt hold itself together anymore, Id pull the engine and have a spare 200x motor for 50$. I couldnt lose.

This just happened to be another one of those deals. Runs great just needs a new throttle cable. So I got there, looked it over, and bought it...and here it comes...'Oh yeah I forgot to tell you, the chain pops off sometimes, and the shifter broke off, and the petcock has wood screws holding it in, so keep an eye on that.' I thought, whatever, easy stuff and didnt think too much about it. So I get it home, unloaded, and thawed out in the garage. I sprayed some starting fluid in it to see how well it ran, but got nothing. After a few seconds of fiddling, it has NO SPARK!!

After a quick run down of the CDI and coil, I decided to check the stator. Off comes and cover...and...DAYUM!! That sucker was so packed full of dirt I dont know how it still turned over. I sat there and picked out all the dirt (literally filled a coffee can, I dont know how it all fit in there!!) and got it all cleaned out. Sweet, Im getting spark now but how'd all that dirt get in there? Think back to the chain. It had a TWIST in it, I have no idea how I missed that before. Coming off so many times, it cracked the case divider between the sprocket and stator. Bad. Seeing as it was a no name chinese bike, I didnt know where I could pick up a replacement. So at 3 A.M., after being blasted with dirt, and downing a few Rockstars, it hits me......









Thats right, a beautiful repair thanks to a lonely discarded tuna can and some JB Weld!! Its pretty strong and seals it off perfectly, and still clears everything.

Sorry for the novel but I thought some of you guys on here would get a laugh out of that.

Anyone else care to post up similar repair jobs and stories/pics of stuff like this you've found on bikes, either you or someone else did? I know Ive seen more then my share of them!!

-Nick

[The Goat]

my rear shock on my 200x was held on with two huge industrial zip ties when I bought it.

[Gearheadtom]

This is the piston out of my first trike, a Honda 200e. The bits of piston ring that was the top ring were gone when I bought it, so somebody had taken it apart to get out the bits of broken ring, and put it back together with only one compresion ring and an oil ring.

[big schott]

I like my latest one. Sombody bored out the jug and put in the original size piston.
[IMG][/IMG]

It only rattled "ALOT"

[kokmatt]

in the tri-z i got the crank seals were all siliconed up.

[The Goat]

...I actually did that. Well, I ordered a piston, and the shop just bored my jug to the next size and neglected to tell me I had ordered a different size.

funny part is...that 200x with different gearing ran over 70 mph and was faster than my poorly tuned 350x. lol.

I kept it pinned until I broke a valve spring....only then to open it and find the irregular wear of the piston.

[big schott]

...only then to open it and find the irregular wear of the piston.

They do wear a little "ovelish" but it did run. Fast, but alot of noise!! and the piston was cracked all the way around the ring-pin(on both sides )

[rdlsz24]

I bought a 125m that had the left side case cracked from the chain flying off. The po had taken out the low gear since the case was cracked there and JB welded to fix the oil leak. He used a left side gasket made out of a cereal box lol.

My 185s came with a round truck offroad light as a headlight and the seat zip-tied to the rear fenders because the seat pan had rusted to nothing.

Rob

[fabiodriven]

"Here's your 86 Tecate 500 roller. Don't worry about the engine cases I JB welded together after taking it out with the chain, the custom pipe that doesn't fit, the blown 85 Tecate shock that 'just needs a recharge', the oblonged boltholes EVERYWHERE, the standard hardware instead of metric, the bolts broken in every hole, and the backwards installed powervalves." (That's just the beginning)

[oscarmayer]

your making me cry stop it!!! please i can;t take it!! no more!! the pain!!! my eyes!! arrggghhh!!!!!!!!!!

[honda250sx]

Cue the A-Team music....

I love it when a plan comes together.

I must say Nick that is IMPROVISION at its FINEST. RUN IT!

[TriMotoMan]

My tri moto came with a honda atc 110 front hub and axle assembly, i bought a new 110 assembly and still run it even with my 175 forks

[Shawn72]

I guess I'm lucky. My only "fix" was having the shift lever welded on my 110 because it was stripped. Damn glad I never broke it.

[aldochina]

This was a nice fix I dicovered on my 350x, thats the way to seal up a leaky valve

[Gearheadtom]

When I bought my first trike, a Honda 200e, other than the problem with the piston (Above^) it also wouldn't pump oil to the top end. So I got a used 200m bottom end which had the shifter and sprocket welded on.