Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Accessories Basic Took Kit

If you could pick some of the basics that you might want to have in your roll bag on a trip... what would you take?

metric allen wrench set, 6 way screwdriver, adjustable crescent wrench, some 1/4 inch drive sockets (8, 10, 12, 13 mm) and ratchet some metric gear wrenches, battery tender or some way to get a jump. and some straps. thats pretty much what I carry, enough to get the seat and tank off, tighten chain, pretty basic stuff and it all fits in my fork bag

Dave, All Don's suggestions are good ones. All I'd add is a flash light, a cell phone, and roadside assist on your policy, and a tire sealant kit of some applicable kind - AND - a first aid kit, a clean, dry, absorbant rag or small towel. Personally, I've never carried a battery tender, but I suppose if it give some peace of mind - what the hey. Myself, I'd rather save the room for an extra pair of dry socks. And for short trips within a hundred mile radius or so - All I carry is the phone, a light, the F-A kit, and tire plugs. In either case, that stuff you carry will be more for your head than the bike. Im afraid the darned things just don't break.

I forgot, I have a mini mag light in there too. And the phone is always on me. Tire plugs.... I dont have those, but with spokes I dont think it would matter. Barry is right, these bikes are solid.

Hey Don,

As you know, what serves one well does not necessarily serve another’s needs perfectly.

There is a site called "Iron Butt Association". You can Google it and go here: http://www.ironbutt.com/tech/aow.cfm?AOWID=21. This is a complete if not exhaustive tool kit as carried by one or more of these guys that like to go cross-country. There are additional pages on this site that give a wealth of information for long distance riding that are easily adaptable for the weekend pleasure enthusiast.

Obviously, this is not for every motorcycle. Each model and manufacturer has different requirements the same as each rider has different requirements for their personal needs.

I’ve noticed that some of the basic tool rolls and bags are too small for all this stuff so I’m making templates now to make my own tool bag.

Hope this helps.

If you have saddlebags and on a trip, here is something that I added after an admittedly rare occourance. An Oil filter and a long screw driver (to use if you can't manually twist off the filter).

Why? I ran over something once that kicked up and sliced my oil filter enought that oil was running out.

Nice to know if it you ever need to replace an oil filter on the side of the road? The oil will NOT all run out when you take the filter off. I only lost about 20 cc during the transition.

An extra filter does not take up much room and will bail your bacon out of the fire in the rare occourance your filter gets whacked.

eddy

To everyone else's ideas I would add a Leatherman multi-tool, some baling wire and duct tape.

Here's the responses I received after asking the same question. There's a couple of good links within the response.

Regards,

Tom

I carry just about everything I think I would need to change a battery, spark plugs, or pull the seat and tank off with. I also carry some electrical tape and zip-ties, a flash light, cell phone, and sundry other items.

The only time in nearly 40k miles I have ever had to use any of these things is working on my bike in my own driveway. Even then I have other tools I use in combination out of a larger tool box. Just routine maintenance, a couple of rejets after changing the pipes, etc. - these things don't break on the road!

Hey Eddy,

That's a good one. I hadn't thought of an oil filter. I've noticed a few drops of oil under my bike in the last few days. Come to think of it I ran through some big pieces of gravel the other day. I'll have to go now and check it out.

DKW

Now for the obligatory smart azz answer:
A bottle opener, a cell phone and a visa card.
And of course a 5mm allen wrench.

I remember seeing Phil's well thought out list of tools. If I was taking a long motor trip, I'd just invite Phil .

And bring along a few extra $20's to buy Phil lunch

I've heard of more than one member here suffering from middle of no-where oil filter puncture. I just might add that to MY list.

jh