What is the ideal emergency kit?

[frankxhv773t]

On the subject of tow ropes I picked up a webbing one in Halfords the other day which rolls up into a neat little case. It seemed so much tidier than the coils of escaping rope that usually adorn my boot.

The other thing I carry is a few very large cable ties. I have had a spate of exhaust rubbers fail on the Y10 and can now support the pipe at the first sound of any clonking, It saves dragging the silencer down the tarmac or tearing it off completely.

[ColinMarr]

My habit has to be very selective about what I take with me, both on a daily basis and on trips. On occasions, depending on what I have any worries about, I have had a spare distributor tucked away, or an electric fuel pump complete with clip-on leads and flexible pipes, but I don’t think I ever needed to use them! But on one memorable occasion, back in 1965 I was very fortunate to be carrying with me a very crucial spare for my Aprilia.

I had no reason to suspect that one of the steel cable fittings in the rear suspension, which link the training arm to the end of the transverse leaf spring, was about to give way. However, in the box of old parts that I had accumulated there was such a fitting with the frayed broken ends of rusted cables showing that these things can and do fail. So, when we set off for our first continental venture to Italy the only spare part I had with me was a cable-end fitting.

Heading south through France on an undulating minor road near Besancon, cruising happily at about 50 mph our elation to be driving in France was shattered by a huge bang and jerk as the rear end collapsed. Slowing down was accompanied by the sound of the spring breaking up and the leaves trailing down the road with just the long leaf still anchored to the car by the cables at the secure end. I gathered up the bits, undid the 10mm screws to remove the rear wings, because the wheels had jammed up into them, loaded all the bits into the car and limped on a few miles to Marnay, the next village. It was late afternoon, but by good fortune there was an ancient Citroen garage sign indicating a rustic workshop, where I explained the problem in my inadequate French and produced the replacement part.

The garage owner seemed to think that I was in the business and simply let me get on with putting it all back together, using huge tree trunks as body props. The owner turned up a new bolt to locate the centre of the spring and with lots of weight to load the car, we managed to jack the spring ends back into place. That night my wife and I stayed at the Hotel Du Commerce in Marnay (still there), put the wings back on the following day and were on our way later in the morning. It seemed like just one of those things at time, but in retrospect, I was lucky!