What spares do you bring?

[FlightRisk]

I was just about to order a bit for the bike and started wondering if I should grab some spare levers while I'm at it.
I'm sort of planning on touring on it eventually.
One could go a bit overkill with packing spares.

What's sensible to bring? (Yes I have breakdown cover and credit card is a last resort.)

Bulbs I have and I just invested in a puncture kit.
Levers? (Footpegs!?)
Complete set of cables!? Or they have a universal cable kit on Wemoto.
Spark plugs? Why? Aren't they sort of 'fit and forget'?

What do you carry about with you;

a) day to day?
b) going on a trip?
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Honda CB500S

[Casper]

Overkill. Where you touring? GB then i would not bother if i had breakdown cover apart from the puncture kit as it could save hours waiting at the side of the road. Europe then again breakdown and whatever is legal for that country if you worry about that kind of shit. By that i mean spare bulbs is law in some country's as is a first aid kit and warning triangle and the obvious for France (spit) I never take spare bike parts but i do have 1 spare plug under the seat. Not new but the best from the last change as its handy to check for a spark without wasting time taking plugs out. If my tour was going to areas like Outer Mongolia or the likes then spare parts would be thought about but not mainland Europe where if you had the misfortune of a breakdown then use it as part of the adventure. My car broke down once in north Italy on a lads tour. The town we were in when this happened looked nice to we stayed four nights before looking at the car. Think drinking the hotel dry made us fix it

[spnorm]

Day trips - nothing
Touring UK - puncture repair kit
Touring abroad - as above + spare headlight bulb & first aid kit to keep the German police happy

[garth]

I take a puncture repair kit, tape, cable ties, oil and basic tools (8/10/12/13/14 & adj spanner, Allen keys, gerber etc).

I like the peace of mind.
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You ain't a has been if you never was

[davebike]

Spares wise
Puncture kit
Cable repair kit


If intending a really long trip nought to wear out brake pads I carry pads and a plug

I have a fairly good tool kit and first aid kit on the bike at all times

Oh forgot to add AA card including recovery
Most I cannot sort myself need recovery I am trained mechanic ! 35+ years bike trade
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Dave
NC750Xdct + others at work !
davebike1@gmail.com

[stinkwheel]

I have a puncture and cable repair kit on both my running bikes. A figure of 8 stab-through on the VFR. A tube, tyre levers, bit of soap, valve puller and bicycle pump on the enfield.

I have an old set of bent then straightened levers under the saddle on the VFR.

I don't on the enfield because they are universal levers, I can swap the clutch and brake round which would get me to a shop where I could get a replacement.

I do carry a plug , a set of points and a condenser on the Enfield. I also carry a set of wheel bearings because some of them are stil the original Indian ones.

Some people carry a chain split-link, I've never had a chain break in such a way as it could be repaired with a split link without having a tool to remove the broken link.

You should have enough tools to get either wheel off the bike in case of a puncture you can't fix. Then you can hitch/catch a bus/whatever to somewhere that can fix it. I've never walked more than a mile carrying a motorcycle wheel before someone gave me a lift.

This is usually the quicker option rather than waiting an hour for recovery only to have them turn up in a van with no bike carrier and tell you they can't fix it, then wait another 2 hours for a bike carrier to arrive only to have them drop you at a bike shop five miles down the road.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Copycat73]

puncture repair kit ..
of the stop & go variety .. with a £4 cheap & chatty tyre/tire inflator from home bargains
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Whatever I post I have no citation and no intention of providing one..
caveat emptor

[Pigeon]

[stinkwheel]

[Casper]

I never mentioned tools in my last post as i presumed that was a given as in common sense. I was presuming the OP was talking about spare parts.

[barrkel]

If you have spare levers already (e.g. bent ones), it may make sense to bring them with you. But I wouldn't buy new ones just to have spares.

My GF dropped her bike and broke a footpeg (ER6f) while we were on tour a couple of weeks ago, in Spain. I spent a day riding along the Costa Brava finding a replacement. No Kawasaki dealer had one, but the third Kwak dealer I visited suggested a store that sold aftermarket bits. That store had generic footpegs and hinges designed for a ZX6R that probably would have fit, but the stops on the hinges would probably have been a little further down, leaving the pegs at a droopy angle. But he sent me to another shop, a second-hand place with an enormous collection of bits and pieces. The mechanic in there spent about 20 minutes looking and I eventually got an exact ER6f footpeg for only 14 EUR (they are over 70 EUR new).

Obviously it helped enormously that I had a bike to ride around on while my GF's was missing a footpeg; even though you can ride a bike without a footpeg, it's very tedious for any significant distance. And I don't think I would have gotten the help I did - directions to stores more likely to have what I needed - just calling them up. People won't go the extra mile to help someone on the phone.
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Bikes: S1000R, SH350; Exes: Vity 125, PS125, YBR125, ER6f, VFR800, Brutale 920, CB600F, SH300x4
Best road ever ridden: www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2MhNxUEYtQ

[Pigeon]