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What tools/spares do you carry on your bike at all times?

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EazyDuz
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PostPosted: 00:08 - 16 Mar 2019    Post subject: What tools/spares do you carry on your bike at all times? Reply with quote

Sure probably about 80% of bike owners have breakdown cover, as do i. But i'd rather take some basic spares just incase.
As an example the gear shift arm is only held on by 1 circlip. That circlip popped off once so since then I carry a supply of circlips just incase. Generally I carry:

- A full set of metric allen keys
- Puncture repair kit (but no air pump)
- Basic bike cover
- A multi tool ( one of those ones which look like pliars but have lots of other things in the arms)
- Electrical tape

Thats about it.

That way if its a minor breakdown I can basically fix it myself
The reason I ask is to get some more insight on what to carry with me since I want to do the NC500 this year
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Bhud
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PostPosted: 00:26 - 16 Mar 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ha! Everything...

Well, no.. not even close. Not enough space to carry everything I want. But I have:

1) Most of the sizes of metric socket that my bike uses (no space for the 27, 30 or 32).
2) An adaptor that can fit all of these sockets to a steel T-bar handle I welded together myself. That thing can take a lot of force.
3) A narrow steel tube to stick on the end of the T-bar to increase leverage and torque.
4) Plumbers adjustable spanner (just an emergency one - not even chrome vanadium steel).
5) Set of screwdriver bits that also slot into the T-bar handle.
6) Three Allen keys (all of them German ones that don't get rounded off) - in the sizes used on my bike.
7) Mini molegrip (Stanley).
8) Tyre valve tool (it's small, and you can fit and remove tyre valves with it).
9) Extra cabling (for clutch and throttle cable).
10) Big adjustable spanner (solid CrV one, good for axle nuts but also doubles as a hammer).
11) Mobile phone with emergency recovery number stored on it.
12) Electrical tape (poundshop one but I should replace it with a good one because it's crap).

Things I want to carry but have no space for:

1) Emergency puncture repair kit (with CO2 cans and bungs).
2) Breaker bar.
3) Multitool folding knife (like a Leatherman) or any equivalent cutting instrument that doesn't break.
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Kawasaki Jimbo
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PostPosted: 00:51 - 16 Mar 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

The bikes own tool roll, spare fuses and most importantly, a puncture repair kit.
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Freddyfruitba...
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PostPosted: 01:17 - 16 Mar 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

EazyDuz wrote:
Generally I carry [...]
Puncture repair kit (but no air pump)

Bhud wrote:
Things I want to carry but have no space for:
1) Emergency puncture repair kit

I don't know what bikes you people ride, but surely in 2019, one of the single most likely things which is going to bring a properly maintained machine to a standstill is a puncture.

And WTF is the point of a puncture repair kit if you lack the wherewithall to reinflate the flat tyre after repairing it?
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Bhud
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PostPosted: 01:25 - 16 Mar 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

Freddyfruitbat wrote:

I don't know what bikes you people ride, but surely in 2019, one of the single most likely things which is going to bring a properly maintained machine to a standstill is a puncture.


Yes, I agree. If I was going to do a long trip, it definitely would go in my luggage. ESSENTIAL. But I don't often do long trips - I do leisure circles in the shires of about 100 miles. If I have a blowout I will call the roadside rescue company (RAC bumped up my renewal for no reason, so I've gone with another) who will come along and patch it up enough for me to get home. The other tools come in handy from time to time.

Quote:
And WTF is the point of a puncture repair kit if you lack the wherewithall to reinflate the flat tyre after repairing it?


They come with little CO2 canisters that put just enough air in the tyres to get you to a petrol station where you can inflate your tyres properly.
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Serendipity
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PostPosted: 02:01 - 16 Mar 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

I carried a pretty comprehensive tool roll for a while, but it was just too heavy to lug around all the time.

Now just puncture repair kit.

A Stop & Go kit and one of these with a bunch of refills.

Also a little mini bicycle pump in case the CO2 fails to get to pressure.
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EazyDuz
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PostPosted: 03:35 - 16 Mar 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

Freddyfruitbat wrote:
EazyDuz wrote:
Generally I carry [...]
Puncture repair kit (but no air pump)

Bhud wrote:
Things I want to carry but have no space for:
1) Emergency puncture repair kit

I don't know what bikes you people ride, but surely in 2019, one of the single most likely things which is going to bring a properly maintained machine to a standstill is a puncture.

And WTF is the point of a puncture repair kit if you lack the wherewithall to reinflate the flat tyre after repairing it?


Free to plug a tire, free to have it filled by breakdown service
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Howling Terror
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PostPosted: 03:49 - 16 Mar 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

Stop n go puncture repair kit. (inc a few extra gas canisters).
Multitool.
Zip ties.
Rolled up tenner.
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ThatDippyTwat
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PostPosted: 07:43 - 16 Mar 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

Under the seat on both bikes:-
Puncture kit with Extra canisters.
Fuses.
Cable ties.
A crosshead and a flathead.
2 small adjustable spanners.

Anything I can't deal with with that is not something I want to be fucking around with at the side of a road, and I pay a subscription to the RAC for recovery for a reason.
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Sister Sledge
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PostPosted: 09:22 - 16 Mar 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

Remember: If you're going to be carrying tools, make sure they're needed for the bike. With mentions of full sets of Allen keys - is every key needed for the bike? Mine only uses 3 sizes and carrying a full set is pointless.
Take time to go around the bike with spanners/keys/whatever and keep to one side the items that actually fit.

My kit is a little different. I have spoked wheels and tubes fitted. Punctures are a little more difficult to sort. I've seen sticky rim tape sets for tubeless fitting of tyres but don't trust them enough!
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Teflon-Mike
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PostPosted: 11:12 - 16 Mar 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

You have to factor in the Laws of Murphey.... it he' devious, and basically the more tools and spares you try to carry to try and cover ANY possible eventuality.. the more devious Murphey will get to find the scenario you HAVEN'T thought of or got the bits to fix...

So he gets you either stranded at the side of the road with no way to fix the problem, cos he out-witted you.... or he gets you stranded at the side of the road, with a big box of tools and spares, STILL unable to fix the problem, but a heck of a lot more frustrated trying to!

Pays your money and take your chances... Murphey ALWAYS gets his cut!

Usually literally, so carry elasto-plast, and or first aid kit, as first course, before spares and tools to fix bike!

Competition experience... you can fill the boot of the tow-car with spares and tools.... BUT if all goes well (and in my case rarely did!) you shouldn't need it... if it dont? Well its pretty much down to pot-luck whether you will be able to do anything on the spot about whatever mechanical calamity has struck... so be prepared to pack up and go home... which OTR means that AA card and mobile-phone.

OTHERWISE, its down to prevention before cure.

Eg, your gear-change circlip issue. Accepting that the circliups are going to pingfluckit off the shaft and need top be replaced is NOT really a solution to much. Remember murphey... you carry spare circlips he'll just find something else to break for you, leaving you with a hand-full of circlips scratching your head.

Solution to that one, is to think, "Well, the circlips shouldn't keep pinging off... so why are they?" poke and prod, clean the circlip groove of crud, make sure you are fitting circlip the right way round, maybe even check the end-=float of the shaft they are on, and work backwards into the bowls until you find and fix the worn thrust washer or whatever that is the 'root-cause' of THAT problem.

PREVENTATIVE Maintenance!

You do some. You do some more, and if you are chucking bike into the bowls of competition, before looking for more than standard you make sure you have all you should 'as' standard, and the bike is effectively 'as new' as you can make it before you begin.

Murphey will still be at work... b-u-t... you will have done as much as you might to vex him, and you hopefully have already given him his 'cut' in all the preventative workx done, and left him shrugging thinking "Well, I wasn't going to break that anyway... but hey ho, I've given you a Sunday afternboon of hassle.... get on with it... let him fret over the fact he's done all this work, and nowts broke, so was it really worth it!" (YES IT IS, btw, unless you would preffer to give murphey his cut at the side of the road, in the middle of know-where, in the pigging rain, with a swiss-army pen-knife and a roll of insulation tape! Its a LOT nicer to do it at home, in reach of a kettle, I find)

In competition, like trials, well, you are setting out with the anticipation that stuff if gonna break. Trials started as 'Reliability - Trials; that was kind of the point and the competition to be had.

In my case, bent handlebars and broken brake levers may actually be expected... and I dont think I am the only one.... it was quite common in years past for folk to potter onto course with 'spare' brake/clutch levers clamped to the frame infront of the air-box, so that they could swap the lever on-course if they busted one...

But back to the preventative; what they didn't do, was carry universal emergency 'clamp-on' cable nipples to fix a snapped cable on course... if the cable was a bit frayed or sticky, they did preventative, and the nipple would be re-soldered before the event; the cable lubed properly adjusted and or replaced, so it DIDN'T break on them, on course. (hopefully!)

So, like trials itself its all a bit of a balancing act; and yes, setting out to an event, there would be a cuple of boxes in the car boot of 'ready spares'. Typically a spare innner tube for both front and back wheels, cos of possible puncture. A couple of spare levers cos likely to get broken. Certainly a couple of spare split-links incase an R-Clip pinged and knowing the scenario only too well, likelihood you'd not know where to find it again, and if it went, by the time you found out you'd probably need the link-plate as well, if not the whole link, cos even if you found it, probably be bent.

BUT, pocketing a couple of spare split-links is not substitute for pulling the chain before the event, hot-dip cleaning and greasing, and then threading it back on, paying careful attention to the chain tension when you do, and making it 'as new as you can' before you start to give as little opportunity for the failure in the first place.

And you are back to the diemah.. what DO you take? What COULD possibly go wrong... and remember Murphey always gets his cut.

And if there is a known problem and likely failure to be had, like a pinging cir clip... you DONT fill your pockets with 'spares' and wait for it to happen... you ask why it might, and what you could do to stop it, and as said, clean the circlip groove, or fix the thrust washer on the shaft its on, or even go belt and braces and start getting devious with lock-wire to STOP it coming off....

Then, On-The-Road... you shouldn't be setting out with the expectation that ANYTHING is going to break or need fixing... if you are.. don't set out! Stay home, with kettle and FIX it..... ALL you should need on the road IS that AA card and a fully charged mobile phone, cos Murphy is still watching over your shoulder.
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Nobby the Bastard
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PostPosted: 11:32 - 16 Mar 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

A phone and roadside recovery membership number.
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stinkwheel
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PostPosted: 12:18 - 16 Mar 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

Stop and go plug kit. Cable repair kit. Spare fuses. Enough tools to remove either wheel. Spare lever (couple of ready-bent ones on the VFR that still work, a single one on the bullet becausae they are interchangeable. Length of fuel hose in the handlebar for syphoning purposes.

I'll take a lot more if I'm doing a protracted journey.

Always tools to remove a wheel because I'm often riding as part of a group and someone can give you a lift to a tyre place carrying a wheel. If you can sort a problem out without resorting to recovery, it will almost always be much quicker and less hassle.
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Robby
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PostPosted: 12:56 - 16 Mar 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

On the good bike, a phone.

On the bad bike, a phone and some cable ties.
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Jewlio Rides Again LLB
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PostPosted: 12:58 - 16 Mar 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

A phone with the policy number and breakdown company in it.
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Hawkeye1250FA
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PostPosted: 14:39 - 16 Mar 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cable ties
Wheel removal tools
Chain breaker tool
Adjustable spanner
Stupidly bright led travel work light
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Courier265
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PostPosted: 16:17 - 16 Mar 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just the standard tool roll and the puncture repair kit, the CBF500 has one additional item, a power bank to start the bike in case of sudden battery death syndrome.
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johnsmith222
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PostPosted: 18:01 - 16 Mar 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

I used to have a kit targeted for my ZZR 600 when I had it. Now I don't bother and just rely on breakdown cover.

I do have the stop and go tyre plug set which I should carry on the bike, but most of the time it sits in the garage as every tyre I've had to repair with it has been at home.

I really should carry it though.
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DJP
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PostPosted: 18:04 - 16 Mar 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

The bikes own toolkit.
Puncture repair kit.
AA membership.
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adengtg
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PostPosted: 19:12 - 16 Mar 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

For normal riding and commuting i'd only bring the factory toolkit and tyre weld as it would just be less hassle to call a pickup if my bike breaks.
If i'm going longer distances i tend to set myself up so ive got as much as i'd need to fix anything not fatal or that i know how to do, i'd prefer to just bodge my way home or to safety.
For longer rides i take:
I carry the bike's factory toolkit,
A cheap halfords tool kit
A length of electrical wire
Many zipties
Screwdriver and bit set
Emergency tyre weld
Adjustable wrench
Cloth
and a set of Muc off mini "essentials" (Chain lube, bike cleaner, bike protectant and visor cleaner)

Should cover me for all the jobs i'd be capable to do by myself if i break down.
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EazyDuz
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PostPosted: 20:16 - 16 Mar 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good replies.
That is a good idea to go around the bike and finding which actually fits. Ive never even opened the bike tool roll either, probably has almost everything i'd need.
Looking for a compact tyre inflator and this looks just the job:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-Mini-Compact-Portable-Car-Bike-Motorcycle-Tyre-Air-Compressor-Inflator-Pump/302516840186?epid=20017005817&hash=item466f68a6fa:g:CW0AAOSwAFNbNfG7

I could also use it to inflate an airbed when camping etc, 2 birds 1 stone. Shouldnt take up too much space either.
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ThatDippyTwat
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PostPosted: 20:21 - 16 Mar 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sister Sledge wrote:
I've seen sticky rim tape sets for tubeless fitting of tyres but don't trust them enough!


A mate used some type of 3M extreme tape stuff on his Tiger - Worked a treat to be fair.
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ADSrox0r
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PostPosted: 20:35 - 16 Mar 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kawasaki Jimbo wrote:
The bikes own tool roll, spare fuses and most importantly, a puncture repair kit.



Ditto.

And a first aid kit, oh and an emergency foil blanket too....and a handful of zip ties. Sounds like a lot but it doesn't amount to much on a big tourer.
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Kawasaki Jimbo
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PostPosted: 20:45 - 16 Mar 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

ADSrox0r wrote:
an emergency foil blanket

You spoil that bike.

I forgot to say I'm in the RAC too.

Apart from fixing several punctures myself over the years (man points) and securing a loose battery lead (probably my fault in the first place) I'm wondering what kind of breakdown people think they're going to be able fix at the roadside?
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Fin
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PostPosted: 20:56 - 16 Mar 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

Freddyfruitbat wrote:

And WTF is the point of a puncture repair kit if you lack the wherewithall to reinflate the flat tyre after repairing it?


Pumps are a lot more common than repair kits.

When I went to leave work and found I had a flat tyre I was able to plug it and a number of people offered to let me use their pump they keep for topping up their slow punctures or whatnot.
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