Thumper Club Forum

Club House => Chatter => Topic started by: timbo on April 05, 2017, 10:55:55 PM

Title: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: timbo on April 05, 2017, 10:55:55 PM
My mate Geordie reckons the whole world is held together with Duc tape and Cable ties. Well, what about wire coat hangers......see pics.
Can you even still get wire coat hangers? Or are they now as rare as pipe cleaners and sticky backed plastic? Answers on a plain postcard, if you can still get one of them  :-\
And is it duct tape, or duc tape, or duck tape?
Also, please post any cheap and cheerful fixes on this thread, for all our mutual benefit  :)

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Title: Re: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: Moto63 on April 06, 2017, 07:18:56 AM
Morning Tim.... it's DUCK tape. It's a trade name bit like saying "I'm going to  Hoover up" when one might actually be using a vax or a dyson
Title: Re: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: SteveC#222 on April 06, 2017, 07:44:53 AM
Duct tape and cable ties make up 50% of my tool kit!!

I use to carry a length of thin fencing wire in the pannier of my Ural. I was going to a rally in Wiltshire once with a mate when the baffle in one of the silencers broke off.The bike ran like a pig, cutting out every time the revs dropped so we pulled into a petrol station and found the baffle was still inside the silencer but just rattling around. Between the fencing wire, cable ties and a chunk of wood hacked off an old pallet we found we managed to get it sort of secured sort of in place.  It looked awfully bodged but worked until I got back home after the weekend... but the face of the power ranger watching us in the garage forecourt was priceless.....I don't think you could have done that with his bike!!
Title: Re: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: iansoady on April 06, 2017, 09:42:42 AM
Morning Tim.... it's DUCK tape. It's a trade name bit like saying "I'm going to  Hoover up" when one might actually be using a vax or a dyson

NO. It's duct tape because it's used by HVAC fitters to seal up ducts. The people who've trademarked that name have just jumped on a bandwagon and exploited people's laziness - like those who say "I've texed him" when they mean "I've texted him".

You can also get gaffer tape, used by lighting riggers etc in theatres. This will stick to almost anything and is used to hold cables up so they don't dangle in the actors' faces.
Title: Re: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: timbo on April 06, 2017, 10:11:10 AM
That is what I thought. Duck tape is just a trade name. Thanks for clearing that up fellas  ;)
Title: Re: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: timbo on April 07, 2017, 08:28:42 PM
So I took the Enfield for its MOT the other day, and they failed it on the headlamp beam being way too high. This happens every single year, but I aways bluff it out. But my luck ran out this time, and even a meeting with the manager didn't swing it. You see, on my Bullet 500 T, the T means trials. The importer converted standards Bullets to trial type bullets, same as with Clubman style bullets. This must have affected the bikes geometry, causing the problem. There is no adjustment, as the headlamp on Bullets is in a fixed position in the casquette.
So what was the answer. Remove the bezel retaining clip completely, set the headlight correctly, and hold in that position with b##### DUCT tape  :-\
And that's a Pass! Then remove tape, and put it all back when you get home. What a farce   :-\
Title: Re: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: Steve Lake on April 07, 2017, 09:19:42 PM
Definitely DUCT tape,
'ere in norfik, everything is held together wiv baler twine.... your vehicle won't get passed the MOT unless there is evidence of a baler twine fix
Title: Re: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: themoudie on April 07, 2017, 09:51:52 PM
Aye Steve,

Sisal twine is better than polyprop, as it doesn't melt!  :(  Doesn't come undone when used as "Elijahs" either; same as the "Nicky Tams" up here!  ;)

Mind how you go, Bill

Title: Re: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: timbo on April 07, 2017, 10:13:27 PM
Great! Was hoping someone would mention baler twine. I've heard thats what you use to hold your trousers up, in the far east, ie Norfik  :)
I love blue rope. Is that polypropylene? There is no better feeling than sealing up the rough end, or cutting it, with a match/lighter/blow torch  :)
Title: Re: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: SteveC#222 on April 07, 2017, 10:23:50 PM
So I took the Enfield for its MOT the other day, and they failed it on the headlamp beam being way too high. This happens every single year, but I aways bluff it out.

I always had a similar problem at MOT time with the Ural. As you probably know Tim, Urals have taper roller wheel bearings so you need to leave a tiny bit of play in the bearing to stop it overheating. Every year it would fail because there was some movement in the bearing so I had to slacken the wheel, tighten the bearing adjuster up so there was no play and then they were happy. 100 yards down the road you had to put the bike on the stand and adjust it back again before the bearing overheated, I tried to tell them several times but to no avail
Title: Re: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: timbo on April 07, 2017, 10:35:28 PM
I didn't know that, as unlike your good self, I havnt yet had a Ural/Dnepr on the road yet. Hopefully that will change this year. However, that nugget of knowledge is now lodged in my brain, forever, hopefully  :)
Title: Re: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: Andy M on April 08, 2017, 07:00:32 AM
....MOT ... What a farce   :-\

Did they sell you the duct tape or had you already bought a non-strident horn and e-marked tyre air?

Sorry, I'll get my coat and head for the rants section  :)

Andy
Title: Re: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: Half Ton on April 08, 2017, 07:34:27 AM
I have a wonderful MOT man to do my bikes,He is VERY fair even though he does a "proper job"on the safety etc.........have I mentioned that my brother is a bike MOT tester.. :)
Title: Re: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: Smithy on April 08, 2017, 07:44:20 AM
I remember back in the 80s taking my 1952 A10 Golden Flash and sidecar in for an MOT to a shop that dealt in modern bikes. Fortunately the old boy who ran the workshop was familiar with plunger suspension but he did call over the young mechanics to show them how to test it.

I also remember the face of the tester when I presented him with my self built JAWA/CZ bitsa trail bike for MOT and him asking 'exactly what is that?'

Mind you they both passed as I think they were less strict in those days.

Ian
Title: Re: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: guest2053 on April 08, 2017, 01:29:23 PM
People always say its called duct tape as HVAC fitters use it for ducting.. Thats just an argument people have seen other people say online and then repeat themselves.  The specialist tapes available for HVAC applications arent even the same as normal duck tape.  Although im sure some HVAC people use duck tape because, well, you can use it for anything cant you lol. Also calling it duct tape would imply it was meant for/could only be used for that type of application when its clearly a multi use product.

Duck tape was invented longer ago than you might think, and the first version of it was made from duck cloth with an adhesive added to one side, hence the name.  The name also ties in with the tapes waterproof properties (like a duck) and additionally has been a popular brand name of the tape, (see hoover/vacuum).
Title: Re: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: timbo on April 08, 2017, 08:38:01 PM
The plot thickens  ;)
Title: Re: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: guest2083 on April 09, 2017, 08:24:28 AM
So I took the Enfield for its MOT the other day, and they failed it on the headlamp beam being way too high. This happens every single year, but I aways bluff it out.

I always had a similar problem at MOT time with the Ural. As you probably know Tim, Urals have taper roller wheel bearings so you need to leave a tiny bit of play in the bearing to stop it overheating. Every year it would fail because there was some movement in the bearing so I had to slacken the wheel, tighten the bearing adjuster up so there was no play and then they were happy. 100 yards down the road you had to put the bike on the stand and adjust it back again before the bearing overheated, I tried to tell them several times but to no avail

How interesting to know, at Draganfly we sell taper roller wheel bearing seats to replace the cup and cone wheel bearings used in older Ariels and BSA's, from memory didn't Harley D use them as well? I think AJS and Matchless as well.  I guess these days on most of those old Brits it doesn't matter so much, as they're mainly pre 1960.  I think you just have to find an mot place, usually a smaller dealer, who understands these things though, worth their weight in gold.
Title: Re: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: guest2083 on April 09, 2017, 09:08:37 AM
Definitely DUCT tape,
'ere in norfik, everything is held together wiv baler twine.... your vehicle won't get passed the MOT unless there is evidence of a baler twine fix

None of that works well on exhausts though, here in Suffolk we're a bit more advanced in bodging I think. I've done a lot with thin metal ( cans and mop handles) teamed with quiksteel and jubilee clips. Wire comes in useful as well, and remember a bodge is just an engineering solution employing whatever tools and parts/resources are available, assuming that the correct parts etc are not available of course.
Title: Re: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: iansoady on April 09, 2017, 09:13:16 AM
remember a bodge is just an engineering solution employing whatever tools and parts/resources are available, assuming that the correct parts etc are not available of course.

Yes. There's a world of difference between a bodge and a botch......
Title: Re: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: guest2083 on April 09, 2017, 09:21:08 AM
remember a bodge is just an engineering solution employing whatever tools and parts/resources are available, assuming that the correct parts etc are not available of course.

Yes. There's a world of difference between a bodge and a botch......

Oh yes, although a botch can be classed as an unsuccessful bodge.
Title: Re: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: Steve Lake on April 12, 2017, 08:17:26 AM
here in Suffolk we're a bit more advanced in bodging I think. I've done a lot with thin metal ( cans and mop handles) teamed with quiksteel and jubilee clips. Wire comes in useful as well,

In Norfolk that is considered a professional engineering solution
Title: Re: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: guest2083 on April 12, 2017, 08:24:08 AM
here in Suffolk we're a bit more advanced in bodging I think. I've done a lot with thin metal ( cans and mop handles) teamed with quiksteel and jubilee clips. Wire comes in useful as well,

In Norfolk that is considered a professional engineering solution

I should have guessed, anything using tools would be.
Title: Re: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: Steve Lake on April 12, 2017, 01:58:09 PM
Tools!!!???..... you actually use TOOLS?.... that's cheating in my book  :D
Title: Re: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: Steve Lake on April 12, 2017, 02:05:27 PM
Anyway... we seem to have done the Duck/Duct issue to death now.... so maybe we should move on to 'Bodging' / 'Bodger' / 'Bodge'
As I understand it Bodgers were itinerant wood workers, usually working and living in forests and large areas of woodland, using a hand (or foot) driven lathe, making chairs, rakes, in fact anything requiring turned wood.....
and were fairly skilled people....

I may of course be wrong ....
Title: Re: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: timbo on April 12, 2017, 03:10:04 PM
No, you are right mate. Bodgers traditionally made chair legs on pole lathes. Mainly in the sweet chestnut woodlands on the south of england I think  ;)
Title: Re: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: guest2083 on April 12, 2017, 03:29:07 PM
Tools!!!???..... you actually use TOOLS?.... that's cheating in my book  :D

Maybe, us south folk always were a little tricky I believe.
Title: Re: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: Andy M on April 12, 2017, 08:17:05 PM
'Bodger' / 'Bodge' ....

Anything to do with Agricultural trailers or machinery in my experience. For example, the expertly carved lolly stick (with joke) used to jam closed the compressor safety valve on a combine harvester. The blackened lump of steel we thought might have once been a piston exited through the engine cover  :-\

Andy

Title: Re: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: BrendanO on April 13, 2017, 08:57:55 AM
Back to the OP, I last week fixed a friends toilet flush with a piece of coathanger wire. The said piece we found inside the lid, the leftover from the coathanger we cut up TEN YEARS AGO to do an earlier repair on same toilet! Previous repair had finally rusted and failed.

Still, TWO repairs from 1 coathanger, and hopefully it will be good for another decade!


I have florists wire coiled in secret place on the CX, after we used some to hold up a mate's Fiat Punto exhaust. You never know...
Title: Re: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: timbo on April 13, 2017, 12:00:44 PM
Keep them coming fellas, let's see how long we can keep this thread going  :)
Ten years ago I was riding the Dommie over to England. At Belfast docks, she wouldn't find gears, the splines and previous repairs on the gear change had finally give up the ghost. Got of at Stranraer, pulled into an old style garage, luggage off, battery disconnected, and bike on its side, and the guy tack welded the lever onto the shed. He refused payment, and of course its still the same to this day  ;)
Title: Re: Duc tape and Cable Ties
Post by: johnr on April 18, 2017, 07:58:53 AM
So I took the Enfield for its MOT the other day, and they failed it on the headlamp beam being way too high. This happens every single year, but I aways bluff it out.

I always had a similar problem at MOT time with the Ural. As you probably know Tim, Urals have taper roller wheel bearings so you need to leave a tiny bit of play in the bearing to stop it overheating. Every year it would fail because there was some movement in the bearing so I had to slacken the wheel, tighten the bearing adjuster up so there was no play and then they were happy. 100 yards down the road you had to put the bike on the stand and adjust it back again before the bearing overheated, I tried to tell them several times but to no avail

1970s airhead beemer boxers had taper roller bearings on the wheels too, handy if you planned to hang a chair on them as the taper bearings can cope with lateral forces better than normal rollers, but bmw must have perfected them because they could be adjusted to give zero lateral movement of the whel without risk of overheating the bearings.