Royal Enfield 'saved' by gummy product called sugru

Charlie will do a nicer job of this bodge when he gets home.

A Royal Enfield motorcycle on a 1,000-mile trip across France figures in an unusual product endorsement for a substance I'd never heard of: "sugru" (the sugru company apparently does not capitalize its name).

Based on the true-life story told by "Charlie" on the sugru blog, this stuff might end up with duct tape and J-B Weld as the all-purpose tool kit. Certainly it seems destined to replace chewing gum.

As Charlie tells it:

“The chain oiler of my aging 500cc Royal Enfield motorcycle lost its nozzle on a 1,000-mile trip. Luckily, I had a spare breather tube on the carburetor and some sugru in my minimalist toolkit. Job done – Harry the Enfield rides again!

“I am very careful with the mechanics of the bike and when the chain oiler broke I was annoyed. The sugru did the job simply and quickly – and though it was a quick hack I will use sugru when I do the full repair! The rest of the toolkit is the sort of stuff you need on these old bikes. A lot of modern bikers carry virtually nothing. Maybe they should carry some sugru!”

Sugru is an air-curing silicone rubber for "anyone who wants to improve or repair their stuff." It looks like chewing gum and, like gum, can be hand formed for 30 minutes once removed from packaging. It sticks to aluminum, steel, ceramics glass wood and perspex, and cures into a soft, flexible, removable shape. It is electrically insulating.

It is powerful and heat resistant enough that some guy apparently used it to seal a leaky upper radiator hose connection on his engine block. Chewing gum won't work for that — I've tried it.

Sugru comes in more colors than chewing gum and black and white as well. The inventor says the name sugru was inspired by the Irish word for "play."

For the United States they ship from Michigan . I have no connection to this product and have never personally tried it. I can chew gum, however.