Important Disclaimer
Advice given in this section may or may not be accurate, safe or wise. Always use common sense and when in doubt assume that any advice given herein is incorrect and liable to end in terminal engine or part failure and possible injury or death. www.ratbike.org and its contributors can accept no responsibility for anything, anywhere, regardless of cause.
Roadside Throttle Cable Fix
Ended up at the side of the road the other day,
haven't got a full ratter yet. Throttle cable snapped
at 50mph in front... more
Smiler (UK)
Custom Seat
take some sheet metal and cut it to
size of old seat but with 1''-ish of overhang. Put
on bike and take a ball peen hammer and pound the
seat into shape while on the bike. Find an old
leather jacket or something of the sort for an
outer layer. Find some foamy stuff,... more
T.J. (USA)
Shiny Wires
Shower hose can be used to seal your wiring in a lovely shiny, twisty, Goodridge (Badridge) brake-line type tubing... free from skips and student housing, and its waterproof too!
Seanna - UK
Cheap Header Wrap
Pink insulation wrapped with $6 aluminum foil tape will save you $60 to $100 bux & does the same thing!!
Make sure to spray paint BBQ black when done, it will smoke at first but will settle in perfectly.
KMFDM
Throttle Cable Substitute
Strimmer/weed whacker line (such as Wilko's at £1.20 for like nine miles of it) makes a fine throttle cable replacement for most carbs.
On mine I just tie a knot in the carb slide end, using pliers to get it really tight, and then feed it through the cable outer and bung... more
On mine I just tie a knot in the carb slide end, using pliers to get it really tight, and then feed it through the cable outer and bung... more
Rex - UK
Wiring extra headlights
If you are using lights that draw more power than the original wiring was designed to cope with, you need to use thicker wires.A relay will allow you to use those thicker wires while retaining the original wiring on the bike.A relay is essentially an electrically controlled switch.... more
Scott - UK
Foam Grips
Want grips that shut out the vibes from your current heap-o-scrap....? Well then rip the thick black foam grips off of a child's scooter handles from the scrapyard. Seen the exact same ones in a bike shop going for a tenner!
Jim - UK
Don't throw that old Keihin carb away!
Have you ever picked up an old CB750 or bought carbs online, only to find that the cast in the bowl where the main jet screws in is FUBAR?
I stumbled onto a quick and easy way to fix that. Here is a list of the parts you will need: .45 cal ACP pistol,... more
I stumbled onto a quick and easy way to fix that. Here is a list of the parts you will need: .45 cal ACP pistol,... more
Max (USA)
Diagnosing Electrical Shorts Circuits
This was taught to me by my first employer and is extremely useful:
If you have a short that blows the fuse, it gets expensive and frustrating when the fuse keeps blowing. Remove the fuse and replace it with a headlamp bulb. When you get a short, instead of blowing the... more
If you have a short that blows the fuse, it gets expensive and frustrating when the fuse keeps blowing. Remove the fuse and replace it with a headlamp bulb. When you get a short, instead of blowing the... more
Diesel Graham
Switching to Synthetic Oil
Never switch an old engine to synthetic oil. It's OK to run synthetic right from the start, or after a full rebuild when all gaskets were replaced, but switching later will cause all sorts of problems outweighing whatever benefit you expected.
Most engines that have been... more
Most engines that have been... more
Eddie - Canada
Replacment Airfilter
Air Filter Screwed....? Just get a piece of gauze and use a hose clamp to fashion a free flowing air filter.
Daryl (Mad Max) - UK
Seating a difficult tyre bead
(Method 1) If you have a spare car tyre on a rim, pump that up as hard as it will go - then use that as a reservoir to rapidly inflate your bike tyre.
(Method 2) Fit tyre to bike and ride around the block at half-pressure - the tyre will usually seat itself.
(Method 2) Fit tyre to bike and ride around the block at half-pressure - the tyre will usually seat itself.
SneakyPete - UK
Measuring Piston Rings
To get an accurate gap reading, always measure the rings three times:
Take off the cylinders. Measure the space between the edge of the ring and the edge of the ring groove in the piston. check the manual for the maximum allowable space.
Take the rings off the pistons.... more
Take off the cylinders. Measure the space between the edge of the ring and the edge of the ring groove in the piston. check the manual for the maximum allowable space.
Take the rings off the pistons.... more
PHM - USA
Replacement Intake Rubbers
I had a CB750 '82 model that hated me. It was what I believe
was the only model made that had a curved intake tube things.
The fuel inlet holes on the block had a curved rubber tube to go
to the perfectly lined up carburetors. The rubber tube things (no
idea what they... more
RazzleDazzle - Canada
Tips for Easy Brake Bleeding
Here's my method that I've worked up over the years. It's 100%
guaranteed to get all the air out of your brake system. It's based
on the fact that air in the brake system doesn't want to go down.
It wants to go up, so that's what you should encourage it to do.
Step... more
Step... more
Fred
