On bike tool kit....

[trickytree]

...what do you guys carry on the bike? When building my A65 bobber I made the "mistake" of using UNF bolts for many of the cycle parts which now means I must carry both A/F and Imperial sizes.

What in your opinion are the important ones to carry?

Ceers, Paul.

[Brian]

G'Day Paul,

Difficult one to give any sort of exact answer, the way I try to look at it is rather than carry a heap of tools just in case try to work out the most likely thing on your bike that could need attention, usually magneto or carby, so........

Spare plugs and a plug spanner
Whatever you need to clean and adjust the points (piece of emery paper and ignition spanners and feeler gauge)
Ditto carby, enough tools to remove and dismantle the carby.
A couple of small shifters and a screwdriver.

You have to take into consideration how far you are going, if you are only riding locally then just the very basics is enough, if you are planning a trip away then more is needed such as being able to adjust the chain and change tyres etc.

Most important of all, MOBILE PHONE !

[wilko]

I usually throw in the kitchen sink as well!!

[muskrat]

Zip ties and gaffer tape. Used the zip ties today when one screw in the rear light fell out. Spare fuse (used it too) Plug spanner & plugs ( used them too !!!). Got me home.
Cheers 

[Mosin]

Painful experience has taught me that regardless of how many panniers full of tools I carry with me, the thing that breaks will always be the thing that I haven't got the correct tool to fix...

This being the case, I tend to carry the absolute bare minimum aside from the two absolute essentials: mobile phone & RAC membership card!

[mike667]

i tend to travel lite -  but a few friends suggest i can skip 2 of the items and still be good 2 go!

[madsens]

I'll second Mosins small pack - a mobile phone and the Danish equal to RAC membership -
Unfortunately I can't use Mikes pack... would probably cost me 1 year behind bars, at least (not the cellphone and the sunlotion ;o) - Here in Denmark I can't even ride around with my Leatherman Wave in my pocket - that too is an arms violation !

[manosound]

Maybe the most important thing would be something hidden out side the tool box, maybe attached magneticly, that you use to open the tool box.

Richard L.

[shabashow]

That's why you keep a coin in you pocket

[trickytree]

Sorry for forgeting about this.
Settled on a reversable screwdriver, small adjustable spanner and a selection of nuts, bolts, cable ties and gaffer tape all wrapped up in a bit of rag.
Had my first breakdown today, coming home from Newark autojumble the bike suddenly just stopped...no spluttering just stopped firing. Pretty quickly traced the problem to a blown fuse (Boyer has its own supply) but guess what I didnt pack in the tool roll....spare fuses!! Nicked one from the lighting circuit and off we went...good job it was daylight!

[shabashow]

I'll be including a spare clutch and front brake cable from now on.
Had to rely on my breakdown service yesterday (oh! the shame of it!) when my nipple seperated from the clutch cable at Lochgilphead, on the west coast of Scotland, about 100 miles from home.
Breakdown guys were there within an hour, and they were soon rummaging around their odds and sods boxes at the garage. Eventually found a solderless nipple off a throttle cable from an old car carburator. Five minutes later it was fitted onto the shredded end of the cable and served me well on the long road home.

[trickytree]

Aye, if most of us wernt so vain we would just tape a spare of each to the existing cables like I did with every single dirt bike I owned. You dont have to find somewhere to store them and there ready to use straight away.

[BSA_54A10]

Aye, if most of us wernt so vain we would just tape a spare of each to the existing cables like I did with every single dirt bike I owned. You dont have to find somewhere to store them and there ready to use straight away.

But if you make your cables with a floating drum on the handle bar end and lubricate it with "Tri-Flow" you can forget spare cables you will never need them.
As for tools, it depends upon how much fettleing you are prepared to do on the side of the road.
A ring for each size on the bike is a good idea, plug spanner + plugs , magneto spanner & magneto pinion remover are
 a must, a small screwdriver for the carb , two 6" vice grips ( one pointed nose one stub nose ) these can also be used to replace levers in a pinch. I take some impact driver screwdriver heads in sizes for all of the other screw heads and a small ring to turn them with.
The whole lot fits nicely inside a plastic "Kanebo" chamois case with the exception of the duct tape.These tools are the kit for the bike & they stay there so I have about 5 different kits for each bike and seperate tools that I use at home ( full set of rings, off set rings & scokets )

[JohnH]

OK Trevor - can you explain for me what you mean by making cables with a floating drum on the handlebar end. And what is "Tri-Flow" please?

I like the sound of your toolkit .... but don't you carry a chain rivet extractor and acouple of spare split links and maybe a 1.5 link for each chain?

John

[BSA_54A10]

As for the cables, go into a shop that sells "universal" replacement cables and you will see what I mean.
The drum is not soldered onto the cable but has a countersunk hole in it.
Put the drum on the cable then you solder a "pear" nipple onto the cable.
The drum rotates freely on the pear nipple.
Clutch & brake cables fail from torsional fatigue as they try to rotate when you stretch them but the drum prevents this happening. In theory the rotation happens at the ball end which is why the other end always has a ball on it and should be lubed ( but never is )
Tri-Flow is a lubricant used by push bike owners to lubricate the gear change cables & mechanisms. It is as dear as poison ( see my rant on the stainless thread)  but works perfectly, dose not pick up crud or attack cable covers and is really really slippery.
If you have already lubed your cables then wash them out with kerro ( parrafin to some) first.

As for drive chains, they get boiled so never fail as they are lubricated properly and rotated . I do carry a spare con link ( well usually) as they can pop off, but that is not a tool. Also in the kit is a timing stick and a .002" feeler blade.

[JohnH]

Fantastic!
I had always worried about torional stress on a soldered brake and clutch head nipple. I always made my own up - mainly because I couldn't afford to buy new made up cables. So I always very carefully soldered the nipples on after opening out the cable end and degreasing. Your solution sounds excellent and I WILL adopt it. Thanks also for the Tri-Flow information - I'm on my way to the local mountain bike shop.

Presumably you boil your chains in grease ..... or something else? I'm still trying to work out why you might want a 2 thou feeler gauge blade. Why not a set? And how does a 2 thou only blade help? I'm intrigued. Presumably the timing stick is pre-marked with TDC and the BTDC increments?

Thanks for all the help.
John

[BSA_54A10]

.002" because I don't smoke to set the timing.
The .012" feeler is riveted to the magneto spanner .
Stick had tdc & 5/16th" before marked on it
Used to keep a pair of feelers for the tappets but gave that up years ago I can just about guess those & you can hear f they change drastically when you are riding.
Individual blades take up no space, don't rust together and are easier to use than a set.
Low melt grease, graphite powder & penetrene for the chains.
Can't get the brew down here any more but it is still available in the USA & UK so I am told.
Do 3 or 4 chains then rotate them instead of adjusting the chain till all of them are stretched then adjust the chain and rotate them again. That way you get 4 chains out of a pair of sprockets and the sprockets will last a very long time. Chains are a lot easier to feed through than sprockets are to change.

[JohnH]

It's very clear that you've thought the whole thing through VERY carefully. Thanks for sharing your good ideas.

John

[BSA_54A10]

Rode motorcycles every day for 14 years for a living.
You get good at making them more reliable and easier to maintain that way

[trickytree]

Great advice regarding the cables (and chain come to that), will take that on board. Nice one.