Check tyre pressure on a cold tyre
Pressure read after a long ride is falsely high because the air has heated. Check in the morning before you ride. Correct pressure is the cheapest mileage improvement there is.
Pressure read after a long ride is falsely high because the air has heated. Check in the morning before you ride. Correct pressure is the cheapest mileage improvement there is.
चलने के बाद हवा गरम होकर ज़्यादा दिखती है। सुबह ठंडी गाड़ी पर नापो। सही हवा माइलेज बढ़ाने का सबसे सस्ता तरीका है।
Scooter ko ek taraf jhuka ke thoda ruko — tanki ke kone ka petrol pipe tak aa jaata hai. Ek-do kilometre nikal jaate hain, pump tak pahunchne ke liye kaafi.
Before switching the car AC on, drive with all four windows down for thirty seconds to push out the trapped hot air. The AC then cools a much smaller problem, and it gets cold faster.
A flattened carton under the engine overnight tells you whether the car is leaking and what colour it is. Brown is engine oil, red is transmission, green is coolant, clear is just the AC and nothing to worry about.
Half the bikes on Indian roads have the mirrors folded in. Set them so you can see the lane behind your shoulder, not your own arm. It is the cheapest safety equipment on the vehicle and it is already fitted.
Watch the display go to zero before filling starts, and ask for a round amount that is not a common preset. Both take three seconds and both remove the two most common ways of being short-changed.
The magnetic-box-under-the-frame trick is well known to exactly the people you are hiding it from. A spare with a trusted neighbour or in your office drawer is the version that works.
Fuel light on and the pump is 2km away? Lean the scooter hard to the left for a few seconds, then start. It pushes the last bit of petrol in the tank towards the outlet. Enough for a kilometre or two.
RC, insurance aur licence ki photo phone mein aur DigiLocker mein rakho. Asli kaagaz gaadi mein chhodne se behtar hai — chori ho to sab ek saath jaata hai.
भरने से पहले मीटर को ज़ीरो होते देखो और गोल आंकड़े की जगह अजीब रकम बोलो — जैसे 340 नहीं, 337। दोनों में तीन सेकंड लगते हैं।
Garmi mein bike ki seat par akhbaar ya kapda daal do. Baithne layak rehti hai aur seat ka cover phatta nahi.
डिक्की में एक पुराना जूता या चप्पल रखो। पंक्चर, कीचड़ या रास्ते में गाड़ी धक्का लगाने की नौबत आए तो अच्छे जूते बच जाते हैं।
डिक्की में एक पुराना तौलिया रखो — शीशा पोंछने, सीट सुखाने, गिरा हुआ पानी साफ करने और गरम स्टीयरिंग ढकने, सब काम आता है।
Dhool se dhaki ya tedhi number plate par challan katta hai. Ek geela kapda hafte mein ek baar — sabse aasan bacha hua paisa.
कटे आलू या शैंपू की हल्की परत शीशे पर रगड़ो और पोंछ दो। बारिश की बूँदें फिसल जाती हैं और दिखाई देता रहता है। वाइपर की जगह नहीं लेता।
Helmet ki andar ki padding nikaal ke dho lo, aur helmet ko ulta karke dhoop mein rakh do. Pasine ki boo chali jaati hai. Hafte mein ek baar dhoop kaafi hai.
सर्विस के बाद बचा हुआ पुराना इंजन ऑयल चेन पर लगा सकते हो। खास चेन लूब से कम टिकता है पर सूखी चेन से बहुत बेहतर। ज़्यादा लगे तो पोंछ दो।
Washing the bike strips the chain, and a dry chain rusts within days in monsoon. Lube it after every wash, and wipe the excess or it collects grit and grinds itself down.
Sun destroys a bike seat faster than rain does. Any old bedsheet thrown over it while parked outside adds years to the upholstery, and the seat is not scalding when you get back at 4pm.
That is all 20 of them. बस, इतना ही।
हर मुश्किल का देसी हल
287 jugaads from Indian homes. No shopping list, no subscription — just what people already do with what they already have.