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Bodger Fix What they don't show you in the repair manual - tales of duct tape, bailing wire and WD 40. Bodge, Bush Mechanics, farmers fix, patch, temporary repair, or whatever your definition, tell us YOUR best story of a bodge that got you home!
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  #1  
Old 16 Aug 2011
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stopping petrol leak

I do hope iam not going over old ground did a quick search nothing showing

did this trick in sahara ,on a heaily grazed tank and it worked but only use as last resort
rub a bar of soap hard on leak, the soap reacts with petrol an forms a paste this lasted for two days LIFE SAVER but take care
dont no if it works with shower gel??
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Old 16 Aug 2011
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Never heard of it with soap. Wonder what brand works best? I tend to carry chemical metal and an oilite stick with me anyway, but should those ever fail I'll dig out the wee bar of hotel soap I nicked last time!
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Old 17 Aug 2011
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Bar soap works very well. I've used it several times on old bike tanks. I had a car that developed a leak in the tank due to stones hitting it, and soap lasted for months at a time. I never fixed it properly, just rubbed soap on the hole whenever I smelt fuel. Three years later, I sold the car....

Cheers bloke

Nigel in NZ
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Old 17 Aug 2011
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nigel Marx View Post
Bar soap works very well. I've used it several times on old bike tanks. I had a car that developed a leak in the tank due to stones hitting it, and soap lasted for months at a time. I never fixed it properly, just rubbed soap on the hole whenever I smelt fuel. Three years later, I sold the car...Nigel in NZ
Mental note don't buy a car from Nigel
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Old 17 Aug 2011
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What me? (c:
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Old 17 Aug 2011
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Simon McCarthy used the same method a lot of years ago when his 100GS plastic tank was damaged. He filled the hole with soap and covered the outside with Duct tape to keep the rain off. I met him at a HU rally in Ripley and as far as I can recall it was still the same.
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Old 18 Aug 2011
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I tried soap on an impact split on my 640 Adventure tank in the field. It did'nt seem to work, maybe it was the type of soap that we had available, or the split was too much/contaiminated etc and it was a bodge too far/too much to ask.
Ended up repairing with part of my mates number plate (ali), part of an inner tube doubled over, some pop rivets and some silicone sealant. Lasted the rest of the trip and would have done more if it would pass an MOT in the UK!

Damaged tank glued with epoxy resin now. I am looking at making some form of overfitting shrouds/tank edge protection from ali checker plate and will use the damaged tank again on trips so to keep the newer undamaged one I have since bought nice and shiny for when I eventually sell the bike.
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