USEFUL TIPS TO SHARE FOR GARAGE OR TRAIL?.

[GreaseGorilla]

I have a tube of KY gel in my kit hmy: to use as tire lube........Honest!!

Oh & some monster cable ties.

While talking dirty, a condom makes a great emergency water carrier for those of you who ride water cooled machines, weighs nothing, and takes up no space at all, also make sure you have a First Aid kit handy, as your Mrs will never believe why you are carrying them! hmy:

dont forget when you fill the condom csrry it in a sock, holds more, wont burst.

[Mike54]

GG's tip about having a brew when there is a problem is one of the best ones B)

If you're in a hot country and have been riding all day and your beer is warm, take a towel or dirty t-shirt or whatever, soak it in water and wrap it fully and tightly round the beer. Put the parcel in a windy place and in about half an hour your beer will be cool. The stronger the wind, the cooler the beer. Also works with water of course :laugh:

[GreaseGorilla]

I know I dont always so i break my own advice..........but try always to ride with a ride buddy when riding trails a long way from civilization, espescially where no cellphone coverage.
OR buy a SPOT GPS LOCATOR, buy the insurance, and then if you bust your pelvis and have to take a helicopter ride from the moddle of god knows where you wont get a huge bill!

[Nickj]

if stuck on a trail, with a puncture or other prob, if you have the gear, stop and have a brew and a smoke if that is your thing,.......problems seem halved after a cuppa and gives your brain time to mull over what your gonna do. panic or stress will make you bugger up big time, slow, methodical, calm is the way.

Recently on a ride to the Australian High Country I had a strange noise coming from my clutch and this was the 1st tip that came to mind , instead of racing around pulling the bike apart I took my time and we methodically diagnosed the problem. It happened to be an exploded oil pump gear which had found it's way into the clutch release shaft and made the bearing squeal.

Although the problem was terminal for this ride a couple of the blokes I was with commented on how calmly I handled the situation and it was only from reading this tip , so all credit to GG you saved me from looking like a stress head and the result was being offered a load BMW F800GS to complete the ride

Thanks mate !!


Nick

[ross dean]

I was asked to post this here so ...

I got this off the recent Black Desert Training emailed circular and found it useful enough to post:

Mechanics tip of the month: Tyre pressures

You can have the best bike, if the tyre pressures are wrong for the conditions the bike will not handle correctly:

For the average enduro bike in wet muddy conditions use 12 rear and 14 front
For dry and fast stony conditions eg fire roads and long rocky trails use 16 rear 18 front
For technical rocky conditions use 10 rear 14 front
For off road Adventure bikes use 20 in the front and rear with Michelin desert tyres.

It's worth buying the old fashioned pencil shaped pressure gauge so you can carry it in your bumbag, (also carry a good quality mountain bike pump and if you only have room to carry one tube, carry a front as you can also use it for the back too).
For enduro riding we use heavy duty Michelin tubes.

Tyres, we would recommend, Michelin AC10 front and rear. If racing consider a front MS intermediate and for soft grassy terrain use an enduro comp - all road legal.

Mooses:
In the desert you need a hard moose, in a technical extreme enduro use a worn moose which is quite soft as it helps tyres mold around obstacles. A standard moose is pretty good for all other terrain. Mooses can be difficult to put on when you first start. We will cover fitting tyres with tubes and mooses in the next couple of months - we will try and do video clips so show you in more details.

[mark1150]

Doctor I have a headache!
The title is shamelessly nicked from the Monty Python sketch...
Anyway, I can't be alone in having the edges of a good day out on the trails or the road for that matter blunted by a headache.
You know the scenario it's hot you've not hydrated*** or for some other cause you have the ache.
I always carry my favoured remedy, and enough water to take them with with me; a half hour later I'm back up to full concentration, and the best bit is they'll fit anywhere and weigh next to nothing.




*** Thanks to my fellow EABers, they have shown me the path to true trail happiness and I now use a camel back; a much over looked piece of kit.

[Tramp]

The humble toothbrush..

Abused day in day out then thrown away..but wait it still has multipull uses..

cleaning dirty chains
oiling clean chains
polishing those hard to get to places
very handy for oiling the spokes and nipples

much more useful than a small paintbrush...

and last but not least "scratching that itch that cant be reached" :laugh: :laugh:

[Juvecu]

A small counter top dishwasher makes an excellent parts washer. Just don't use the one in the house You can pick one up cheaply on Gumtree or such.

[Vindaloo]

I've unashamedly lifted this from a link on the KTM Forum ... http://www.ktmadventure.co.za/ktm-rally ... tips6.html

Cheap homemade measuring device, very useful for helping align the rear wheel if your alignment notches are difficult to read off accurately ...







I'm off to mess about with a coat hanger and a cable tie ... :cheer:

[PaulinBont]

Out on the trail:If you get a puncture and the hole is too big to repair (or you don't have a repair kit with you ) break the seal and stuff as much grass/leaves into the rim as you can.Once packed out, it'll allow you dive out to civilisation (albeit at a few miles per hour)