Man stranded in desert builds motorcycle out of his broken car.

If theengine and tranny were still operational,what went wrong that would make it easier to build this than to fix the car? Pretty cool bike,very inventive of him, but I gotta wonder a bit about the story.

reply to post by hp1229


'Don't believe that story for a second. He was stranded (we are supposed to think he would be dying soon since it was the desert.) and he builds a motorcycle that must have taken at least a week (with what tools?) and to finally escape the desert he decided to take the time to add a muffler?

I find this very hard to believe, first off, it would take a lot of energy to complete this in the Desert!!!! Think how long it would take, he would of needed food, water, tools, did he muscle out, the engine from the car, How did he transfer the rotation of the motor, to the wheel, without a chain, unless he used the engine belt, Still this just looks like something built to gain fame. I call this Faked.

reply to post by Aliensun

...and he builds a motorcycle that must have taken at least a week (with what tools?) and to finally escape the desert he decided to take the time to add a muffler?

According to the articles, it took him 12 days to build, and one day to ride out of the desert, a distance of 30km (19 miles). He could have walked out in less than two days.

The story is bunk. I don't doubt he built the contraption, but he wasn't "stranded in a desert" or under the threat of death.

reply to post by Hobbymat
I have seen some simple engineering ingenuity in cars at several antique shows which generally unimaginable for most people since the technology has changed a lot with the automobile industry. I just wish the guy can make a video clip of how he did it in the desert and post in UT

Below is a wiki link with some good pics and information about the vehicle.
Wiki_Citroen_2CV

reply to post by hp1229


Ever hear of a "Super Miata" ???

We have as shop here in town that takes the Corvette LT1 motors, turns them around and installs them in the rear of a retrofitted Mazda Miata. It is amazing! When its all finished you can't even tell anything is different about the car.

I guess it is a pretty regular thing, but I was shocked when I saw it. Talk about parking a cadillac in doghouse. Wait, thats something different.

reply to post by hp1229


First thought that came to mind was...BATMAN..!!

Like me, he must love watching Batman and....MacGyver (and Terminator too). Why didn't he make an airplane instead..?

But seriously....if he really pulled it off he is one creative and exceptional fellow.

reply to post by getreadyalready
No. Never heard of one but I have seen such modifications with smaller vehicles. I'm wondering how much re-inforcement of the chasis was done to handle all that torque and hp Pretty neat.

reply to post by zatara
As I stated above, it would be nice if he made a video of how he did it would be cool. I would also like to see if 'mythbusters' or 'discovery' channel can sponsor a remake of this re-construct using simple tools ofcourse using some of the professionals from 'west coast customs'/'overhaulin'/'west coast choppers' shows

Originally posted by Ladysophiaofsandoz
Your facing the possibility of dying alone in the desert but you added a kickstand? The kickstand is only useful if you plan on stopping.

uh yeah or if you didnt want it to be laying on it's side crushing valuable exposed parts under it's own weight ..

quite possibly it was there for convenience of more easily accessing the entire machine vrom every angle.. instead of what.. instead of rolling the thing over side to side back and forth in the dirt every time you needed to reach two places at once..

or hell it could have just have been added when he had acess to a camera to take the photo you see of it.
just to make it look good.

Originally posted by hp1229
Not sure if its true or not since nobody else was there in the deserts of Africa to validate his claim but a frenchman stuck in the Deserts of Africa built a motorcycle from his broken down Citroen. Pretty good set of skills and survival skill if true.

Hi!

It's absolutely true and happened back in 1993 to Emile Leray, this French guy who had an accident with its 2CV in the desert.



I've translated for you the text in French written on the images:

reply to post by elevenaugust


As mentioned earlier. Why would anyone expend so much energy and resources for 11 days, to build something that travelled at 5 mph, only slightly faster than a walk, to travel only 19 miles or so?

He could have walked out in 2 days, losing less water and requiring less calories to survive, and having a lot less risk of injury. Fabricating metals and working on engines is dangerous. I hurt myself every damn time I work on something.

IF he did this (and that is a big if), but if he really did this, it was pre-planned just to see if it could be done. It wasn't a true survival situation.

If he wanted to truly survive, he would have taken some of the fabric or light sheet metal, created a portable shelter, walked for a couple of hours each day at dusk and dawn, and rested under the shelter during the heat of the day, and he would have been home in a lot less time, with a lot less risk.

I don't buy it and agree it would have been easier to fix the car. This looks like something off of some "steam punk" website or something. Haven't researched anything yet but interested to dig into google on it.

Originally posted by getreadyalready
reply to post by elevenaugust

 

As mentioned earlier. Why would anyone expend so much energy and resources for 11 days, to build something that travelled at 5 mph, only slightly faster than a walk, to travel only 19 miles or so?

He could have walked out in 2 days, losing less water and requiring less calories to survive, and having a lot less risk of injury. Fabricating metals and working on engines is dangerous. I hurt myself every damn time I work on something.

IF he did this (and that is a big if), but if he really did this, it was pre-planned just to see if it could be done. It wasn't a true survival situation.

If he wanted to truly survive, he would have taken some of the fabric or light sheet metal, created a portable shelter, walked for a couple of hours each day at dusk and dawn, and rested under the shelter during the heat of the day, and he would have been home in a lot less time, with a lot less risk.

Well, you've got some good point here and you're probably right, here's what it is said about this on the French site anyway:

"Emile organized its camp around the damaged 2CV and thought about the situation. he's located a few tens of kilometers from Tan-tan, (the nearest town) he could walk to, but he takes the risk of leaving the car in a bad situation but that certainly can still attract lust. Not to mention his equipment."

And later....

A project he had probably had to think for a long time, but without having had the opportunity to make it happen.

Some good skills and ideas for a survival situation though, if it ever occurs one day!

reply to post by Mapkar


In addition If you were Stranded in the dessert who you really take the time to make a kickstand. I say B$ just by the fact that it has a kickstand.

Originally posted by interupt42
reply to post by Mapkar

 

In addition If you were Stranded in the dessert would you really take the time to make a kickstand. I say B$ just by the fact that it has a kickstand.

duplicate delete

That's nothing!

you tube

Nice story OP, Thanks for sharing.

I just love all the egos that say he couldn't do it.

Ha. You just jealous that MacGyver has something to learn from hinm.

Originally posted by jonnywhite
I just love all the egos that say he couldn't do it.

Ha. You just jealous that MacGyver has something to learn from hinm.

I'm not sure if its the ego. I think its the environment upto certain extent for many people who have never seen hardship or dire straits when it comes to day to day living. Necessity is the mother of all inventions. I've seen many modifiied objects used for day to day purposes in many poor countries. Things we take it for granted and throw it out for scraps, is generally a valuable commodity for many people in many poor nations. Smallest of the smallest objects are sometimes used for a totally different purpose other than its intended purpose/use