Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge What Tools Do You Carry On Board?

I hate to post somehting I know has already been covered, but it has been a while, and I have tried the Search function to no avail.

Have a new tool bag on the front forks - see the thread on the bracket ideas - but I remember a while back we had a thread going about who carries what tools - the obvious and the not so obvious.

Need some ideas before I go shopping!

My Leatherman and a credit card !

Cell phone and credit card.

My Leatherman, Cell phone and credit card.

used to be tie wire and duct tape, now just cell phone, that roadside assistance from progressive is great if you really like to wait.

5 metric spanners, 1 adjustable spanner, a set of metric allen (hex) keys, spark plug spanner, pliers, a reversable screwdriver, and a dozen or so zip ties. (Americans can read "wrench" where I've put "spanner") Anything that needs more than that is going to need a truck.

Oh, and a credit card and a cell phone.

Matt

I try to have just about anything in there. Not just for me, but those I meet along the rd. side.

Here is what may be obvious, but I have found the best things that everyone needed.

1. black electrical tape
2. various sizes of zip ties
the small type bungi cord (great when your buddys kickstand spring breaks and wants to keep droping)

3. flat tip and phillips (smaller size)

4. pc of vacume or fuel line for spark plug removal

5. swiss army knife / leatherman

6. coupple of wratchets. (the cheep ones. cause if you loose them its not a big loss)

7. main size sockets for our bike (8, 9, 10 mm)ect.

8. a good adjustable wrench (IE Chineese socket set)

9.a mini mag light. (dont have one yet, but they are indespenceable, you can hold it in your mouth and haveboth hands to work)

metric allen wrench set and a star drive set (as you know a must for getting to your battery!)

I also use a larger standard size allen set foradjusting my shocks.

air stick

D tool from brent.

I think that fills out my bag. its what ever you feel comfy with.

I keep my cell phone and wallet in my tank or saddle bag.

I usualt caryy a little bit of everyhintg.. On second a pic is worth a 1000 words



Just kidding.. If I got more then a hour from the house,I carry a leatherman, a credit card and my cell phone...
That pic is of oneof my tool boxes. I has what i use most in it. I have 3 more bottom boxes just like it overflowing with tools (I am a tool junkie),I have some stuff that the snap-on man wants to buy from me lol..

duct tape in case my cell phone or credit card breaks
keep yer stick on the ice

You may want to take a few moments to think about what you really, REALLY need. The first time I rode across the country, I took enough tools to do a small overhaul. Really useless and was just extra weight and baggage. If you have a flat, are you really prepared to do what it takes to fix a flat? Heck, I can fix a flat in my garage (maybe), but the only time I'd contemplate it on the road is in the middle of the NM/AZ/NV desert, and then only if I were waaaay off the interstate. Riding an America, tubes are much more a job than tubeless. I use Ride-On and hope for the best. If something major broke with the engine, it's toast anyway and I can't fix it even in the garage. A chain will rarely break, and even a worn chain will get you somewhere to replace it. Spare plugs (I took some)? Plugs are designed to last tens of thousands of miles and if a plug fouls, you have a problem somewhere else that you should fix before a long trip.
I'd think along the lines of replacing a bulb or a fuse. Make sure you have what it takes to remove a bulb cover or to gain access to the fuse box. Keep a fuse kit (bladed, the small ones, not the large ones) and maybe a spare bulb or 2 packaged so they don't get broken. If you're going on a long trip, maybe take a bit of duct tape and safety wire, cel phone, and a tow service card. I also carry a set of Tow Downs and a Bike Krutch .
I think tools give you a false sense of security. But I guess if it gives you a sense of security, that may be ok.

a cell phone and the number to a friend (in this case my old man) who has a truck and ramps

Frank

Cell phone at all times
Leatherman on my belt at all times
Rain suites
Compressed air canisters
And

I like where you've mounted your tool roll, Roadwasher! Looks great and (IMHO) better than on the front of the forks.

Cheers,

That Craftsman bike lift is starting to scratch my rear fender so may be leaving that home from now on. I may strap my Silverado to the frame rails for added horsepower.

Tools? what tools? Cell phone and a sense of humor are what I try to carry.

Well, I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who believes that a leatherman, cell phone and credit card are sufficent If I'm going any kind of distance, I also like to carry along a craftsman 32 bit screwdriver set which includes torx (from T6 up to T25) and hex bits in their own holder. I'm inclined to agree with John about tools and their usefulness.. In all the years I have had bikes, I carried tools along and have never had the need for any of them. The only exception to this is one recurring problem on my Ninja, where the flywheel would keep coming loose on the generator side of the engine. It would make a horrible rattling noise, and was quickly fixed by removing the side cover so you could snug the bolt holding it on to the end of the crankshaft (about a 2 minute job). In all other occasions, if something serious went wrong (like the time my back wheel decided to come loose on my KZ1000 because the dealer forgot to replace a spacer on the rear axle), it required a phone call and a pick-up to carry the bike to a shop. I would like to think that I could fix anything that might happen along the road, but realistically, unless it is something really minor and simple to fix, it's not going to happen.

Cheers,
Brad

RAC Cover card and Mobile phone, oh yes and my WD40

I also used to carry a portable shop in my tool roll along with the cell phone, credit card, and roadside assistance card. Now on trips I just carry a few things...enough tools to access the battery, because you can take out the battery and get a ride to a dealer and chances are good you can get a battery since our Yuasa is available on other makes and models. I saw Dwight get a battery for his Triumph Sprint in Prescott at a really small non-Triumph dealer only about a mile or so from his house.

I also carry a small multimeter, fuses, and wire repair kit. It'd be a shame to be stuck somewhere for something simple like a faulty sidestand switch when you can bypass it easily with some wire. The only other tools I carry are sockets to get the saddlebag brackets off. When I get to a destination, and want to go for a day ride, I like to strip the bike down and leave the saddlebags and windshield back at the hotel room. Budweiser in Albuquerque has seen me do that one when I went there last September.

Whenever I see this topic I think about the old Yamaha 350 days. I wouldn't leave home without a set of clean plugs, a set of points, an impact driver w/ several bits and sockets, screw drivers, plenty of tape, a quart of 2-stroke oil, a flash light, a sundry of box wrenches, feeler gauges, and stuff I can't even remember. Thank God for 4-stroke engines, electronic ignition, Triumph dependability, and last but not least - the wonderful world of digital communication, I've pared that list down to the standard SM tool kit (the allen), a knockoff Leatherman, and a cell phone.

In all seriousness, on long trips (BC, Idaho ...er, eventually) I do throw a tool roll from MetroRacing.com in my ginormous saddlebags. It has allen wrenches, gearwrenches, multi-bit ratcheting screwdriver, plastic ties, black elec. tape, etc.



But I tend to carry tools more often when I'm riding with my friends who ride HD.

I am an Ex South African living in So Cal USA. Your Pics bring back great memories of PE. Do you guys live in PE, RSA or were you viting. Triumph. South Africa, Castle & Nando's Peri-Peri ... a long way away.

I carry the Cruz Tools EconoKit M1 which fits perfectly in my 10" tool bag mounted on the bike. It even has a flashlight and all the basic tools you need. You will need to replace the included plug socket for our bikes. I also stuck the Triumph shock adjustment tool in the kit as well.
http://cruztools.com/toolkits.html

This kit should serv you well, but you will probably have to add the thinwall Craftsman socket for the sparkplugs.

http://www.newbonneville.com/html/cruztools_tool_kit.html

A tire repair kit would probably also prove useful.

I've thought of mounting mine there, but decided to mount it on the forks. I was afraid of water getting in the bag that low. Do you have any problems with water where it's mounted?

I carry quite a lot!
Set of allen keys, set of ring / open ended spanners, ½" socket drive + different sized sockets, pliers (x2), Torq and allen key which fit socket drive + ¼" drive adaptor, a few zip ties, torch, rubber gloves, Breakdown cover and mobile 'phone

Considered mounting my tool roll low down - it looks better - but over here, the road conditions mean it would be scrap in around 10 minutes

Sparkplug Socket (18mm thin wall)and mini socket wrench
Spare Plugs
Small Adjustable Wrench
4 way screw driver
tire preasure gauge
needle nose pliers
couple tie wraps
extra squirrel condoms (I had one blow off once)
small can of fix a flat (with flexible hose end)
metric allen wrench set
electrical tape

Leatherman. But more important, a bottle opener !!!!

I moved mine from the front forks to the frame between the headers and love having it there. I also think it looks like it belongs there. I used 2 1" velcro srips to the vertical bars tightly so it sits on top of the 2 cross bars. It is actually out of the way of the front wheel spray and above the bottom of the front fender.

The thing I use most often from my bag is a rag I carry at all times. Good for cleaning up minor gas spills on the tank, cleaning bugs off of face mask, etc. I hope that is the only thing I ever need.

At the Leatherman site, there are a bajillion different options for a "Leatherman." Anyone care to recommend specifically which of these is the best - if indeed there is a best?

Siggy

"bottle Opener" It's my belt buckle "naked ladies in the shape of a skull"

Cell phone and a clover leaf.