“What tools do you carry” is something that’s come up a few times on forums I’m on recently, and the raft of issues at the Taffy last week vindicated my tool selection :)
On any ride that I think about, I take my tool roll. This is generally on the Tiger 800 or WR450, but other people break down, too, so aside from the spark plug tools there’s nothing bike-specific.
The photo on the right is what’s in the little pouch:
In the roll, left-to-right:
- Small philips screwdriver (fits the battery cover on the multimeter, and most little electronic things)
- Side cutters & 8″ adjustable spanner
- 8 & 10mm allen keys
- 1.5mm-6mm allen key bit set, torx bit set
- Motion Pro spark plug tool (16mm for the Tiger, 18mm for the WR) and a generic front axle tool. The spark plug socket is 3/8″ drive, but comes with an extension that accepts a 1/4″ drive. I use this to drive the axle tool. The Tiger uses the 17mm hex drive on the axle tool.
- 8-22mm open spanner set across two loops
- 5-14mm 1/4″ sockets
- Pen-type multimeter – I only got this one because it’s what I could get hold of when I needed one; it’s button-battery powered but I’d prefer an AA or USB-chargeable one.
- Toothbrush
- 1/4″ t-bar drive, with bit driver on the end
- two 1/4″ extensions and a 1/4″ universal joint
- Magnetic picker-upper-tool and a metal punch
- Feeler gauge, pen and (underneath them) a small set of tweezers
In the little pouch, that’s:
- Lead for the multimeter
- Chocolate-block connectors
- A length of two-core wire
- UHU glue
- Liquid gasket
- Sugru
- Tuff Tape – brilliant waterproofing repair tape for anything textile
- A tin of bolts (lots has been added/removed though)
There’s also usually a couple of 25mm jubilee clips, but I’d just used them prior to taking that photo. And there used to be a spare battery for the multimeter, but I’ve used and not-replaced that, too :)
You can also see the Stop-n-Go puncture repair kit in the background below; that lives in the US5 along with the tool roll. It’s very easy to pack the tool roll to be too-big to fit in the US5; this was all pared down last year in order to easily fit into it.
The tool roll is a Kriega one and while it’s great, the Enduristan and Mosko Moto ones both look better to me (though I’ve used neither). I’ve had this for about three years it’s worn *really* well though – some of the elastic’s a little less tight than it was before, but it’s almost as good as new.
Under my seat, I’ve always got this lot:
In an order that will hopefully become apparent, that’s
- Mini (RAC-branded) compressor (with leads above it)
- Pack of breathalysers wrapped in plastic and insulation tape (from a France trip)
- Another generic front axle tool
- Spare brake and clutch levers (OE, from before I put the short ones on)
- 22mm and 27mm Spanner – the 27mm undoes the rear axle nut, 22mm the front axle tool
- Park ‘big’ Allen key set
- Leatherman Surge
- Cable ties
- Cable repair tin (with a bunch of fuses dropped in)
- Insulation tape
- Halfords Motorbike Jump leads
- Spare clutch cable
There’s also an OBD/ELM reader that I always have, and use either the Torque Lite or Piston apps on my phone to read the error codes.
This stuff all fits in a bit like this:
On the left, the Motobatt battery is lower than the OE one by enough that the compressor fits on top of the battery (only with the seat in the higher position) and its strap. I wedge the front axle tool in under there, too. The brake & clutch lever are stuffed under the intake, and the insulation tape and cable repair stuff just kicks around by the fuses. Normally the OBD reader’s either in there, too, or plugged in.
The clutch cable fits under the bracing arm with the VIN on it (you can see it poking out from the right in the left photo) with both ends disappearing off under the tail (which is also where the breathalysers, and cable-ties are stuffed). The Park Tool and Leatherman fit under that bar, the 22/27 spanner behind one of the clips on the side and the jump leads sit under where my chain normally goes.