Whats in your tool kit? Favorite tools? What I carry for a motorbike. | Squat the Planet

Whats in your tool kit? Favorite tools? What I carry for a motorbike.

kecleon

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I just finished up a work on my motorbike and I think I perfected the balance of tools I need for most stuff on it and weight / space limits.

Got me thinking what do other people carry for like vans or whatever you're driving riding or cycling.



For my Yamaha I keep all this stuff in the tail/tool bag, its relevant for most all Japanese bikes and with a few bigger sizes japanese cars too.

OHaHCnR.jpg


6" adjustable spanner

1/4" socket wrench with a moving head so you can use it as a screwdriver.. my favorite tool by far. Has tiny gears so you can do really small movements in tight places. I own an extension rod for it too but I don't know where in the photo.
with sockets in sizes 8, 10, 12, 14, 17, 19. With a 3/8 adapter bit for 17 and 19mm.

Hex or allen keys 4,5,6mm

Reversible philips / flat screwdriver

Small locking vise grip

Extendable magnetic bolt collector (with the electric tape wrapped round) for when I drop something somewhere and cant get it back.

Random little things, a spare chain link, spare sparkplug in the plug socket, tire valves, gloves, some waterproof shrink tube. Hose clamps. Cable repair kit. Puncture repair kit. The useless spanners that came with the bike.

As well I got a multitool, but I keep it clipped to my belt so I forgot to take photos of. Its got a file wire cutters and metal saw on it as well as the usual things.
 

autumn

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The only thing I have that's worth mentioning is my Leatherman Wave. I use it every day and would be totally lost without it. Needlenose pliers, wirecutter, crimper, wire stripper, file, saw, serrated blade, straight blade, scisors, a wedge, flathead and roundhead in 2 different sizes, bottle opener, gutting hook, etc.

20170223_180615.jpg

Hell, I just used it to replace a lot of the wiring in my RV, just my multitool and some electrical tape.

Also most Wave owners I've run into don't know this, there's a wire cutter on the inner edge of the bottle opener. You can probably use it to cut anything 12 gauge or less
 
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Art101

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I have my SOG multitool.Its got me out of a couple of jams.Not to mention I put a starter in a Renault LE Car with one.I just like the way it feels and it can take more attachments.Thats just my humble opinion.
 
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James Meadowlark

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I ride a modern-ish "John Bloor/Hinckley" Triumph Bonneville most days when I'm not walking, & I keep a ring of hex keys, a coin, and a small vice grip in the tiny compartment beneath my seat. Not too much room for anything else, but that bike has been pretty solid and I've not had to repair anything on the fly.

Your kit looks great, and I'm thinking about what pieces to add to mine.

Thanks.
 

kecleon

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@Art101 Changing a starter with a multitool is pretty impressive!

@James Meadowlark What year is your Bonneville? I eventually want to get a litium battery which are all round higher performance and take up less than half the space of your standard. Expensive though. Then I could store all my tools hidden away in the battery compartment.

With vice grips and a small socket set you can probably do almost everything you'd want to do at the side of the road.

Visegrips are probably one of the most veraatile tools for us. I've used them as a make do gear lever after snapping mine dropping the bike off-road. You can also use them for a clutch lever, brake lever, etc. Then obviously they're a spanner and if locked tight you can use them to get minced phillips or hex bolts out and even get at bolts you wouldn't reach with spanners (holding them like a screwdriver with metal levers for leverage). I have a friend who swears he could take his whole bike apart with needlenose visegrips. The only things they fall short for is those recessed bolts like the engine casings where you can't get at them without a socket. And they scuff up your nuts n bolts though I never had them mince them. I just like having a socket set because I'm frequently doing work on it by the side of the road (so to speak) and it's way quicker and nicer to work with.
 
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James Meadowlark

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@charmander My Bonnie (Jenny) is almost ten years old, and she's as beautiful and robust as the day she was born. She's held up through more mistreatment, abuse and neglect than I care to state, but some how stayed with me through thick and thin.. My best memory is riding until I was nearly unconscious with fatigue along a highway (no mean feat on a naked bike), then pulling into a rest stop and sleeping in an asphalt parking space next to her in a busy USA highway rest-stop as the semi-trucks rolled to an fro and tourists arrived and departed for bathroom breaks and vending machines.

If you like motorcycles, and especially British bikes, you may want to check this out. One of my favorites and captures the spirit of those of us that ride on two wheels: It's Better in the Wind

Great short film that's heavy on British steel and also features the killer music of my hometown's own Chuck Regan.
 

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mylon

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Reversible philips / flat screwdriver

Since that's a Japanese bike there's a good likelihood that those are JIS screws, not Phillips. If that's the case, Phillips screwdrivers will fit more or less but are much more prone to camming out and fucking up the screw. JIS screwdrivers work great in both JIS and Phillips screws, and can be had for ~$10 or less on amazon/etc - worth it.

post-297194-0-10691700-1393492211.png
 
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mylon

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Also Knipex pliers wrenches are amazing, I use them several times a day. I have them in the 5" and 10" sizes. For me they completely replaced crescent wrenches, mostly replaced channel locks and often fill the role of open/box end wrenches, usually doing the job better than any of the above. Not cheap ($40-50), but worth it if you have much use for them IMO.
8603180-00-1.jpg
 

kecleon

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@James Meadowlark Nice bike! I will check that video out cheers.

@mylon I've never seen those knipex ones in the picture. I used the cobra water pump type and those things are awesome I considered getting some but they mark up bolts and I didn't know they did 5" size. If I ever replace my bahco spanner I'll probably get the one in that photo. I guess like the cobra you can tighten and loosen your grip easy so you don't have to keep taking it off and on. So much time saved.

Screwdriver is one that came in a jap bike toolkit with the junk spanners so I reckon it should be jis hopefully, but I'd never heard of that before. That is probably why carb screws always come minced up!!
 

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