77: Bodge Repairs and Rocky Mountain Oysters

Image: Kseniia Ilinyk

ARR RAW round-table discussions with motorcycle adventure travellers - featuring Grant Johnson, Sam Manicom, Shirley Hardy-Rix, Brian Rix, Michelle Lamphere and Jim Martin.

RAW LISTENER QUESTIONS: Have a question for the RAW panel? Send it to us here.

Listener Questions:

Stephen Nash: What's the best bodge repair any of the panel have ever done?
On the HUMM 2010 I made an indicator lens out of the bottom edge of a plastic water bottle that was in a bin. It was still on the bike when I sold it months later. On my current 9 week jaunt around Europe. We met a friend in France and after pulling over to check directions his bike wouldn't start. It was very hot with no shade so we wanted a quick solution. We suspected it was the clutch switch that had failed ( clutch has to be pulled in to start the bike Suzuki v-strom 650) but to check we needed to short it. Looking around the floor my friend spotted a little twist-tie as used on new cables or freezer bags. He stripped the plastic off doubled over the wire. Pulled the connector and shorted the connection. The bike started. We sealed it up with some electrical tape and duct tape and 4 weeks later it's still going strong. 

Stephen Nash: When traveling you often expect to have some bad eating experiences but, what's the best tasting thing the panel has eaten that they expected would be awful?
 I was served a traditional Slovakian dish (Sheeps whey I think) that I thought was going to be revolting but had to eat out of politeness. I ended up having seconds.

Bodge Tools and Equipment List:

  • Jb weld

  • Bailing wire

  • Cable ties

  • Jubilee clips gear clamp

  • Electrical tape

  • 24” Electrical wire

  • Heatshrink

  • Folded muffler tape

  • Duct tape

  • Cough drop tin of spare nuts, washers, split pins etc.

  • Tin foil - folded up and tucked in to the kit

  • Two large truck tire repair patches

  • Old chapstick - filled with grease

  • Tiny square sandpaper

  • Clear tape

  • Gaffer tape

  • Cable repair kit - Oxford

  • Condom - ask Brian

Grant Johnson: This is the ORIGINAL cable repair kit, I still have after many many years. Venhill is old time quality British made: Amazon

Music: "Turbo Tornado" by Admiral Bob 2016 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) ccmixter.org/files/admiralbob77/54272 "DIRT ROAD TRAVELER" Jason Shaw Creative Commons Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com
Posted on June 24, 2022 by Elizabeth Martin and filed under ARR RAW and tagged RAW bodge repairs food Sam Manicom Shirley Hardy-Rix Brian Rix michelle lamphere grant johnson 2022.