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McGyver award POLL CLOSED -- RESULTS HERE

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rodekyll:
Here are the nominees for this year's McGyver award.  I wish someone would come up with a better name.  The criteria were that it had to have happened in 2014, occurred on a bike trip, and required using wit and creativity to solve the problem.  Extra points were awarded for a well told story.  I'll relist them here so you don't have to link back to the original topic.

Only one vote per customer, please.  Voting ends on the 20th.  Right now the award is an  ;-T  ;-T  ;-T and our undying admiration.     Feel free to make comments and suggestions to make this better.  

1:  Delrod

Fubar had ridden all the way from Nebraska , a distance of about 500 miles on his battery , pouring down rain , high winds , boojums and goblins everywhere . Now , for those who don't know , this years Okie deal was a miserable soggy mess . 9 inches of rain in 36 hours , and Fubes was a bit discouraged . We parked his R 90 under the pavillion and began the brainstorming . Hmm , no obvious problems , things check out OK . We take a break to cook dinner , return the the bike , scratch our heads , give up , try to get some sleep . Next morning early , Inator  am walking to the coffee pot , and a smiling Doug greets me with "I fixed the bike last night" . Tom (Fubar) was telling us what was wrong with it , we were just not hearing it . The alternator connections had the insulators on the wrong side . Sounds simple enough , but it took Doug to catch it . We ran an extra lead , bingo , juice . The Fubes got to run his headlight going home  Grin  

  Dusty

2:     Bisbonian

Riding down in Mexico earlier this year on my 1200 Sport, at speeds that were probably not legal there and definitely not legal here.

Grass on both sides of the road, probably 6 feet high and very thick. I can around a corner to find a deep pothole that ran the width of the road. Leaned over in the corner would be a disaster so I straightened up as much as I could and raised up off the seat to try to reduce the impact. The bike squirmed underneath me but didn't get out of control.

I slowed and took stock. I noticed a vibration. I adjusted my speed and wondered if the tire had come apart on me. Finally I pulled over to the side of the road to check things out. Initially I was very pleased as I couldn't find a bad spot on the tire. However as I spun the wheel while on the center stand I could feel a place where the wheel stopped. I looked harder and noticed that the wheel was bent.

The wheel was bent in two directions, not only was the rim contacting the side of the swing arm, but it as also hitting the heads of the bolts that hold the CARC on.

I have a friend who lives about 60 miles from where I was. Praising my own forethought I pilled out my Mexican cell phone and started dialing, only to realize that I was in the boondocks and had no signal.

I took stock of the situation and thought about trying to hitch a ride with a passerby driving a truck. However I had purposely taken the route less traveled to avoid any traffic. I was sure that any car that came by would have some rudimentary tools to keep their own car running, a hammer would get me going if only the game of charades that my poor Spanish would require could be worked out.

As I sat there, I realized that I was surrounded by hammers, in the form of nice cobble-sized stones. I chose a rock that fit my hand well, removed the right side pannier and went to work. I remember the days when I would wrap masking tape around the rim to keep from scratching it, that went out the window as my caveman efforts indelibly scarred the surface. After a good bit of time, I was finally able to spinn the wheel without it hitting anything.

I put everything back together and continued on my way. I told myself that I would keep the speed down the rest of the way but it got the better of me.

I got to my destination and took the wheel off, it was pretty beat up. I decided to take it to the llantera the next day to get a better job of straightening done. I explained what I needed to have done (pointed and mimicked a hammer) and the guy went to town with his large hammer. The wheel kept looking better and better, I finally decided it was good enough and said so but the tire guy thought he could do better. He took one more swing and I watched as a crack opened up in the wheel.

In the end I decided to catch a different ride home and then came up with a used wheel which I brought down a week later.

The next trip down I hit a rock and bent the front wheel. Not that lucky this year.


3:  Green1000s

After crashing the bike on my way to Ohio rally, I bent the front rim, aluminum panniers, exhaust, wiped out blinkers with a 1/2 dozen other items. With help of 2 locals and a 2x4 we (read: they) beat the crap of the front rim and straightened the front tubes...sort or...
Without blinkers and wastly wobbling front rim that interrestingly remained together at 45MPH, I rode the remaining 300 miles home with a busted shoulder and few other injuries.
First night hotel had excellent health care in form of a bar across the street with some decent vodka in larger quantities...

Does that count?
 

4:   Charlie b:

Mine was wierd but simple.  On trip through Utah bottomed out front fork on a pothole.  It stuck there.  Rode 60mi with no front springs (and worried about bending fork tubes).

At campground pulled the front fork tubes.  Brother and I had to lift the bike up onto a platform of 2x6's.  Yes, I had tools.

Left fork spring seat was jammed up.  Was trying to figure out how to fix it with disassembling the cartridge under full spring tension!  Got a piece of 2x4 and hit it a few times (keeping my fingers out of the way!).  Voila!  Everything back to normal.



So, I could claim to have fixed my bike with a 2x4  Smiley

5:  Mtiberio

Bob had new timing gears at the track, and they made a horrible rattly noise. Pulled the timing cover at the track, and the crank nut was loose, and the crank key had wallered out the key slot in the gear. I suggested we glue safety wire in the slot to built it up. It held, and the gear was tight and he finished the weekend.

oldbike54:
Good grief people , this ain't North Korea , vote  ???

  Dusty

rocker59:
I just cast my vote Dusty.

I'm going to sticky this for a short time, to keep it on the front page.

dlapierre:
I like the name. I wouldn't change the name of the award. I admire the McGuyver approach and always liked the TV show. I am a disciple of the McGuyver way of doing stuff here on the farm. A welder, a piece of wood, wire, baling twine, whatever it takes to make stuff work.

betres:
mcgyver makes the most sense no matter how you parse it........ but if you feel a need to change it for whatever reason  then i suggest to relate it to an icon , a phrase that connects men of all brands and countries.....an icon that says
"we know it, we've seen it, and we all can relate" because we all have been "had/abused/tatooed and led to ruin".........call it the piccolo player award.......ten four.

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