First break down!

[Jagermiss]

Just thought I'd share the fun I had on Saturday.
I'm fairly new to riding, but was on the way back from uni when my bike decided to cut out on me. I'd nearly made it home too! Happy to say that another biker pulled over and tried to help, couldn't fix the bike but certainly stopped the stress (and sent me to the pub)

Obviously this has made me realise how much of the serious stuff I need to learn, so I was wondering how other people dealt with break downs in the middle of nowhere, where to learn the basics, and to show my appreciation to this stranger

[Az]

[P.addy]

Call Dad and cry down the phone.

[sabian92]

Have a mate/parent/partner with a van and straps

[Rogerborg]

Multi-tool and Auto Aid (covers motorcycle over 150cc).
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[-Matt-]

My first few breakdown call outs were for flat batteries in one place or another due to being too thick to buy a battery charger/understand battery drain.

Lucky enough to avoid anything else so far - as for learning about basics - youtube, workshop forum and if its got enough of a following specific forums for your bike.

Endless libary of information/mocking/realising how little you know

[Teflon-Mike]

Ah, yes! Breakdowns....
Well, back in the midst of time, we rode two-strokes.... some may remember them; many with great fondness and recollection of high speeds, high revs and crazy power bands.
Nip-Nips. Made by Nips, to Nip up, seize up, and shit molten pistons out of shiney spannies!
The Nip-Nip pilot rode with outstretched fingers, rather than clenched fist; poised to feather the clutch and throttle when the motor bogged, or haul in the clutch when the Nipup happened, before the back wheel locked and the bike wildly fishtailed into the nearest hedge.
Ah! Hedges! And Bensons. But Hedges. Commonly hawthorn, and hiding a ditch. The natural habitat of the Nip-Nip being winding unclassified country roads, where their light weight and ferocious acceleration could be exploited, and the application of short bursts of power between corners, gave some respite to the piston, which on a fast straight duel carriageway, would quickly grow bigger then the hole it was rattling up and down in.
Of course, this was in the dark-ages, before 'Face-Book' enabled under chin lighting devices, and 'Calling Dad' demanded finding a red, cast iron, public urinal that took 2p pieces, and hoping the telephone hadn't been vandalised. Which would probably result in a hyena like laugh, followed by "Well... you better leave it there, and catch bus, then hadn't you! I've put car away now, and I'm not getting it back out the garage now, in dark! Don't wake y'mum up when you come in slamming back door; Some of us have to go to work in morning!"
Parents! No sympathy. No empathy! And even less of a clue! Bludy old fogies! BUS?! Where the heck am I going to find one of them round here?! And even if I DID! What would I use for bus-fare! I had to buy half a half a pint of two-stroke! Cost as much as the petrol! I'm broke! And so's bike NOW! Leave it HERE?!?! Like it would still be here, when I come back for it! Where is HERE, anyway?
And so, would start the walk of ignominy; pushing the bike back home; heaving it up hills, and sort of hopping on side-saddle to coast down them.
Fix it?
Well! We KNEW what was wrong. Forlorn optimism would see us half heartedly prodding the kick-starter, trying to convince ourselves it PROBABLY was just an oiled up plug... yeah!, bought two stroke oil, didn't I? Probably put too much in the petrol! Then a few more yards down the road, trying again... Fuggit! Bores probably scored to bludgery anyway. If it'll JUST start... get me home... cant make it much worse than it is already... a few more steps... If I'm lucky, some new rings, and I might be able to clean the bore up with some wet and dry..... the sweat soaked fringe how drying, the sweat sodden crash helmet now cutting unto elbow... a few more paces... BLUDY PARENTS! If old codger had only loaned me the £80 so I could have got that 'elcie' instead of this shit heap... water-cooling, stop then getting so hot, so they don't nip up so quick... but NOoooo! "We're not giving you money so you can buy something to help kill yourself!" Bludy hypocrite! Super-Dream in fucking deed! Yeah! shows how stuck in the dark ages he is! Propper motorbike indeed! Four-stroke! Two cylinders. 'Sturdy'! Yeah! Like when maybe goose-stepping was popular European pass-time! Parents! What do they bludy know ANYWAY!
It was ALWAYS their fault.. somehow.
From the engine siezing, to running off the road 'cos you couldn't see where you were going... it was y'Dad's fault... somehow!
So, we pushed.
And in the morning, we'd stand in the que at the bus-stop... after begging the bus-fare off mum, and having to promice to move the bike so Dad didn't trip over it when he came in, and have something else to moan about, and do the washing up for the week... hoping 'Peter-effing-Perfect' with his bus-pass and parker pen, wasn't going to pipe up behind his sarcastic sneer "Bike Broke again, eh?"
"No! No! I took the barel off to 'port' it... but didn't get it finished. Bludy Dad unplugged extension cord in the kitchen, told me the neighbours would be complaining about the noise and made me come in! Bludy parents, eh?!" Hah! Retort! Why didn't I think of that first! "Take it y'Mum need HER car to go shopping today then, eh? That why your on bus?" Yeah! That'll wipe smarm of your face!
Free period in the college library, hunting to see if they had a book on repairing motorbikes... but all you can find is something printed in the 1940's, in threadbare cotton cover, entitled 'Tuning the two-stroke for Speed' and talking about how to modify lawn mower engines to fit on a home made go-kart! Interesting bit about increasing primary compression though...


What was the question again? Breakdowns? Oh yeah!

Well, adversity is the making of man; necessity the mother of invention. Charecter-Building... finding yourself in the crap... and, learning its NOT the end of the world.

Next? Build enough 'charecter'... and you learn that one way or another, bikes demand spanners, and those two 'Halfords Bicycle Combination spanners' you got when you were 14 for taking the wheels of your push-bike to fix a puncture REALLY aren't up to the job.

You then start to learn that what you dont do in the first place, you have to do three times over, in the third... after jumping on barely rideable bike, thrashing knackers off it, and breaking it twice as quick.

And you come to realise that 'Reliability' isn't found in the bike... doesn't matter if its a tough as nails MZ or a fragile as fuck Kwaker... they ALL break.

What stops them breaking is putting in the spannering BEFORE they break, by way of maintenence... then NOT thrashing the knackers off them.

Next lesson is 'The Price of Power'. Performance COSTS. And having a bike that WORKS and you can afford to maintain, and keep on the road, tends to be a lot more use, and a lot more fun, than something that has better mag-stats and bar-room bragging rights... outside without a patrol tank and bits of engine exposed to the rain, cos its broke again, and you cant afford the bit it needs.

A lesson, I have to admit, I learned relatively quickly as a teenager, as much by example as experience; being the kid with the tool-box, and all my mates expecting me to work magic on their broke bikes!

But one I had to watch, patiently being learned by my eldest... (yes, now all MY fault, now I'm the 'Dad').... through his Uni years, turning up every Christmas with some old wreck he'd bought with his Student loan in October, hoping I could fix his worn out tyres, down to the brake backing pads and stretched to buggery chain, with no more than a puncture repair kit and an old baked bean tin!

First rule of racing, to finish first, first you must finish. You get no glory being fastest bike into the pits!

So the first way to deal with being stranded in the middle of no-where.... is to avoid being stranded in the middle of no-where!

Choose bike that is within your means to maintain.... and maintain it.

Time spent, doing basic checks, like the oil, cleaning the spark-plug, tensioning the chain, BEFORE you head off on a journey, much better spent than time sat at the side of the road swearing at the bludy thing!

Money spent, replacing a worn out chain, before its so stretched it snaps and smashes the crank-cases and wrecks the engine, or thows itself off and wraps around the rear wheel, is ultimately a lot cheaper than trying to eek out a few extra miles, risking expensive damage or worse.

Look after your bike... it'll look after you.

So, maintenence done; checks done; on the road. Dont rag the arse off it. Roads not a race track. You are going some-where. Object is to get there. Not set a lap-record.

Faster you try go, more strain you are going to put on the bike, more strain, more force, more load, quicker stuff breaks.

Dont over stress the bike. Or you!

Dont get into a rut of tunnel vision, over riding, staring deep into the distance, trying to be ahead of yourself. Enjoy being where you are; bring your focus back to that bit of road imedietly around you, take in the detail of your surroundings, and try and apreciate it. STOP, take a brake. Let the bike cool down. Touch the tyres. See how warm they are? Take a few moments to look around you. Have a fag. Have a drink. Have a bag of chips or just a boiled bludy sweet... but DONT try riding it all in one leg. Stop, take a break, clear your vision, let the ringing in your ears quieten; get the circulation back in your fingers, and your legs; walk out some cramps. Whatever... just DONT try doing to much in one go, putting stress and strain on both bike AND you.

Again, better to stop for a fag, and be able to get back on and carry on, and end up stopped in your tracks, fastest bike in pits!

There's absolutely no grantees, such approach and precaution will entirely eliminate the possibility of a breakdown... BUT, will enormously reduce the odds.

So, breakdown. Worst happened, at side of road, dead bike.

Can you fix it? Well, chances are that you cant. Some part or other will be broke, and need replacing. Yeah, carry basic spares or bodge-materials... but hey... if you think you need to carry spares or stuff to make fixes... you ENT done your maintenance properly!

Used to be common to get into cars and find spare fan-belts under the passenger seat. Follow the logic.
Driver goes into halfords and buys a spare fan belt, 'just in case' the old fan belt snaps. Puts it under the seat, SO, if it does snap, he might fix it at the side of the road; probably in the dark, in the pissing rain, and probably without the right sized spanners. WHY?
IF you are worried about the fan-belt snapping... dont stick it under the passenger seat! Lift the bonnet, fit it to the engine! That's only place it might do any damn good! and damn site easier to do that on your drive, on a nice day, in good day-light, with a mug of hot tea, and your full tool-kit to do the job, and have confidence 'new' fan-belt shouldn't snap!
Save repairs, do preventative maintenance!
If you think you need to carry spares... then you aren't doing enough maintenance! Stuff should be fitted BEFORE your journey, not during it!

There's not really all THAT much that can stop you in your tracks, that you might actually fix at the side of the road. And certainly not with limited tool-kit you might carry on a motorbike. Even less basic bodge-materials. Maybe if a bulb or a fuse blows, or a wire comes loose or something. But much else? You either should have known about it and sorted it before you left... or its pretty much buggered beyond botchery!

So, other than spare fuses, a roll of insulation tape and a multi-tool or similar... not much point -planning for a breakdown... beyond 'Recovery'.

AA/RAC... and now ubiquiteouse mobike phone.... job done.

I would offer more advice on recovery services, but I haven't had to rely on one for a long time. I was a long standing member of the AA, who covered the member, not the vehicle, which was useful; especially when I was a student... other students standards of maintenence and ambitiouse voyages crammed into an ancient Renault 4 with seventeen other students to go to some club thirty miles away, were likely to end on the end of a tow-rope.... So even as pissed up passnger AA card means I could call and get propper mechanic with propper tools to winch the shit-box onto the back of a waggon and take us home, rather than stand there whilst three girls moaned about the cold, and grumbled about oil, and three lads, all poked and prodded and offered 'expert opinion'.

But, about ten years ago, they started making mutterings about not recovering vehicles over twenty years old, or only recovering them if they were covered on thier own, and driving ancient Land-Rovers, and with 'green-flag' given away with my insurance policy; let the AA lapse.

So, only advice; Recovery Insurance=good... but check the small-print for what you are actually getting, make sure it IS useful to you.

Even IF you have family or freinds who might come to your rescue. For me... that's actually me. Or at least My O/H then me! Only really had one cause to effect recovery in last five years; and luckily Snowie was with me on another bike. Solution. Park up. Lock up, two-up. Go home, get car, come back get bike on trailer!

Depends what resources or facilities freinds and family have, and how far away from them you break down whether any-one might come get you and bike; by way of vans trailers or even cars with seats folded or removed! But even if they do, chances are they wont find it great source of entertainment, but a pain in the arse inconvenience... so better to have recovery cover.

Yeah.. now that bludy parent upon whom all is to blame... I have empathy with the "Well leave it bludy there and catch bus" comment! Back to eldest and his shit-heap sportsbikes he couldn't afford tyres for.... If you cant afford a fucking AA-Membership... you cant afford to run a bike like THAT....

What's AA membership these days? Have to check the small-print to find out what you get for it, but banner on thier webby says 'From £34.99! Thirty five fucking quid! For FUCKS SAKE! Cost me more than that to fill the car with petrol to come get you! Where have you broken down this time anyway?... what, the next village? Well then, its only four miles, fucking push it! You can stare at those fancy anodised handlebars and ponder the how wonderful they are and how much more use of your money they were than the AA card, or a new clutch cable!

So, conclusion is; fist defence against breakdown is picking bike you can afford to maintain. Second; maintaining it. Third, treating it with some care and not thrashing the knackers off it. Last line of defence, when all else has failed; Recovery Insurance. Call the wrecker to come get you, let man in Day-glo faff with spanners at the side of the road!

Then blame Dad.... well... its tradition!
____________________
My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[wr6133]

I have this strapped to the front of my bike.
https://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/hh504/wr6133/LPIC4857_zps9f96f2e3.jpg
Fair to say if you can't fix a problem with that then the bike is proper fucked.

[GeorgeB.]

Jesus Tef, by the time the poor lad has finished reading that, bikes will have been developed that will run for 100+ years on a single charge.

As for me, I've only had one breakdown I could sort at the side of the road, which was a punctured rear tyre. Rang a mate with a van and he picked us up.
____________________
Current: '99 Fazer 600 | '99 Range Rover P38 4.6 HSE
Previous: Keeway TX125 | CBF 125 | CB400SF Project Big One
CBT 04/12/12 | Theory 03/12/13 | MOD 1 06/01/14 | MOD 2 13/01/14

[Jagermiss]

So since writing this, I've been told she needs a new engine
But my normal mechanic wants a look cos he doesn't think it sounds like she does.
With her being Chinese though, its gonna work out as either me buying a new 125, or passing my test and getting a 400, neither being cheap enough
Apparently I was running her without oil, but as I am fully aware I am a complete newbie at all this stuff, I had bought myself a Haynes, read through the service part, and checked the oil among other things before setting off. So either I've been completely moronic and not understood at all, or something else was wrong.

Thanks for the lecture mike. I now have AA cover, and am trying to learn the basic matianence things!
I do need a tool kit like these though! :s

And haha, lass thank you very much! Not lad!

[CaNsA]

[Ste]

[Teflon-Mike]

[CaNsA]

[Ste]

Word counting requires two clicks of the mouse.

[Hugh Farking Cant]

And on the other side of the universe;

Thanks Teff; that just took me back to 72 and a YR5; : cracking read.
____________________
Remember; Someone on here always has a blacker cat.

[Rogerborg]

[Jagermiss]

Shes a sukida SK 125 patriot, 62 plate.
And we're near Blackpool. I've signed up via phone as lappy didn't fit in the top box, hence the lack of profile
The guy has said the engine is a mess and needs replacing. He talks down to me a bit though cos I'm a chick :/ hence the lack of details.

[wr6133]

[BTTD]

Teff post = hilarious.

Seeing that genuinely made my day.

[i.p.phrealy]

[Jagermiss]

Been to the local bike meet and have bumped into my ain't whos oh has just got a busted 125 similar to mine. Forks are fucked on it so a combo would work!
Either way, the bikes going to another mechanic tomorrow anyway, the one who my mates all use (and who doesn't call me flower -.-). Hopefully he'll tell me it's an easy fix!
With regards to a new engine being £329, just gonna point out she cost me £330 in the first place.

[Jagermiss]

Guessing a massive oil leak would be obvious then?
We were in the middle of the 160 mile journey home

[Rogerborg]

You'd generally notice when your rear tyre started spinning independently of your road speed, shortly before you went knees-elbows-head down.

Again: who made this dire diagnosis, and on what basis? When you say the bike "cut out", did the engine (and therefore rear wheel) lock up or were there any ominous noises?

It's a very simple engine in the Sukida, there's not much to go wrong with it.

<Patronising mechanic voice>Got petrol in it, pet? Fuel tap's on, love? Didn't knock the kill switch, darlin'?</Patronising mechanic voice>
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[Jagermiss]

The wheel didn't lock up, we just sort of started gliding. I had music on so would have heard no noises unless they were loud. When I looked at it, the killswitch was flipped. There was certainly nothing weird enough to make me panic though.
The guys just the local mechanic! Lives next door to my nan, and you got it pretty much spot on there!! As said though, Neil's picking it up soon to look at.