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Extra Tools


RoyG

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Standing looking at the bike I thought I have never changed the rear bulb. How easy would it be with the standard toolkit in a rainy, dark layby.  After an hour, answer not possible. I took out the first screw on the flap underneath the back seat with the toolkit screwdriver. OK. Second screw under the flap very, very tight. Put a spanner around the screwdriver and it twisted round in it's handle . Ruined. First extra tool needed a solid screwdriver.

 

Next the two allen bolts. I found that the nuts under the bolts stopped me getting an allen key straight into the bolt. The holes seemed quite shallow so I suspected that I would round off the holes before I got them undone. Tried removing nuts. Just spun round. Cut off 5mm from the end of the allen key so it wouldn't foul the nut. Ok but very tight . Lucky to remove without rounding off. Second extra tool. Modified allen key.

 

Thought I was home and dry. No way. The plastic thing that holds the bulb felt set in concrete. Fingers no chance A pair of pliers and 5 minutes later I heard a crack and it came out. Not broken just needed a hefty tug. Third extra tool needed. Pair of pliers.

 

 So glad I did this at home and not on the M42. How many extra tools do you lot carry and where ?

 

 

 

 

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First thing I'd do is buy a BA fit LED cluster off the auction site with the idea you'll never have to do this on the side of the M42. 

 

On day 1 with a bike I remove the supplied tool kit (if there is one, Triumph supply nothing). This goes in tupperware until I sell the bike. Dealers weirdly love a tool kit with the cellophane still on. These tool kits are universally **** both in quality and selection, so the tupperware is the best place for them. 

 

I take out the tool kit I've assembled over the years and imagine myself changing a clutch cable or blown lamp. You need a multi tool for pulling nails out, a meter to find chaffed wires, screwdriver bits to put a panel back, spanners to fit the mirror lock nuts and lever mounts etc. not a 24/9 combo spanner made of cheese-toffee that'll let you round off the gearbox casing nuts. A ten minute walk round with a bit of imagination and you'll assemble a usable kit or at least a list of what to order. It'll typically be smaller than what came with the bike and usually goes in the same stowage (although it seems the Guzzi doesn't even have space for an RAC card). 

 

Andy

Edited by Andy m
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I want to carry a few extra tools a puncture kit and compressor without filling up the frunk. I might go for a tool tube if I can find a lockable one

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Definitely get the lockable one if you go that route. I lost a very expensive disc lock out of a basic one. 

 

The NC will take a stop-n-go kit and compressor with the plastic case stripped off under the pillion seat IIRC. 

 

Andy

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That’s a good selection. Most of it seems quarter inch drive though. The only time I used quarter to undo a bolt on the bike it sheared off. I have stuck to three eighths or half inch since.

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I bought myself one of these a couple of years ago. Have used it a few times on the 250G5. Quality piece of kit in my view and all neatly held in it's own case.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Emergency-Professional-Compact-Motorcycle-Kit/dp/B07X4GNR5J/ref=sr_1_7?crid=26YW8MSNB7AUF&dchild=1&keywords=oxford+tool+kit&qid=1631910391&quartzVehicle=78-11276&replacementKeywords=tool+kit&s=automotive&sr=1-7

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That looks quality. I got something similar from Halfords but nowhere near as good as that.

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On my BMW I did a full major service with my travel toolkit to make sure I have everything I need and able to actually remove bolts etc. Also added gorilla tape, cable ties, multitool and small compressor and tyre repair kit, space fuses.

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I also have a spare clutch cable zip tied to the one on the bike. Always a bit paranoid about clutch cable breakage and punctures.

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5 hours ago, RoyG said:

spare clutch cable zip tied to the one on the bike. 

Not a great idea on most bikes, the original will usually have corrosion involved in the failure and the one run-in will be close behind. Only worth doing on 1980's Bavarian Behemoths where running the cable involved almost taking the engine out. On most bikes, if you view failure likely (Enfields eat them) and you will be somewhere you need the clutch (you can ride a Bullet North Wales to Leeds using neutral and clutchless changes but it's fraught! ), bag the spare and cable tie it to the subframe where the seat will keep it dry. No point repeating these old wives tales when they don't work in every case (like the spare I removed from a K100 that was in three pieces so useless). If you do think it needs pre-mounting, blather it in grease and clean it up every few months. 

 

Andy

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I thought they broke because of the constant directional change and stress at the nipple end. Having said that I have only ever had one break in 50 years of riding, it was at the handlebar end and I managed to get home by clutch less changes, even through London, and the occasional pull on the inner cable.

Being smug now that isn't something I worry about with the NC.

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The original RE ones were dire, which is why (if you asked the stealer) you got a spare clutch, throttle, “choke” and speedo cable, a can of spray paint and a reflector to make the bike legal. I believe this stopped with the Euro IV models. I used the spare clutch cable which I carried with the rest on the bike. It was so easy to fit that it wasn’t worth doing it at home, although I used to do that on old Brit twins. Taping over both ends properly prevented the ingress of water. I replaced the spare RE cable with a superior Brit one from Hitchcocks. TBH most modern bike clutch cables will probably outlast the tenure of the bike if looked after. I’ve no intention of buying a spare for my NC, which could probably be ridden clutchless to get home or to a dealer without too much difficulty.

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Rocker66

Some of the best tool kits that I have received with new bikes were actually with my MZs.

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I still use an MZ plug spanner. Exactly the right length that doesn't foul tanks etc. 

 

Andy

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Clutch cable wise I carry a universal inner with solderless nipples  get you going

Still carrey for other despite mine beng dct

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I still have a tdc/timing tool supplied with a Jawa 350 twin I bought in the seventies-very useful over the years though less so these days. I suppose the more tools you get with a bike the more likely you are to need them. Lads tool set was very impressive; just an Allen key with my last Triumph…..

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I need to fish my TDC out. I made if for the last Guzzi. Its a sparkplug drilled through to take a stainless rod with a rounded off end.

 

I was shouting at You Tube the other day. Some clown fishing down the plug hole with a ****** wooden spoon handle so he wouldn't "scratch the piston" FFS 😣. I suppose at least the splinters might might burn! 

 

Andy

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2 hours ago, Andy m said:

I need to fish my TDC out. I made if for the last Guzzi. Its a sparkplug drilled through to take a stainless rod with a rounded off end.

 

I was shouting at You Tube the other day. Some clown fishing down the plug hole with a ****** wooden spoon handle so he wouldn't "scratch the piston" FFS 😣. I suppose at least the splinters might might burn! 

 

Andy

That’s basically the Jawa tool, except that the latter has gradations on the rod. Not ideal for an angled plug hole but it has had its uses over the years.

Wouldn’t have been a Merikan fussing over scratching the carbon on top of the piston would it? They’re either brain surgeon fussy and need an oscilloscope at least or totally clueless judging by the forums I’ve frequented over the years…..

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Unusually for YT, not an American. This bloke was wannabe beard oil brigade. His other video is him taking the bevel box off a Guzzi because he wanted to fit a wider rear tyre. The bike already had the illegal black and white numberplate mounted on the pillion foot peg to allow him to cut off what little mudguard there was, clip-on's that fouled the tank and a yellow painted headlight glass with chicken wire over it. Think he was going for the post-apocalypse Starbucks look (you know, where Mad Max has to seek out the world's last avocado and quinoa brownie before they run out of free trade Liberica beans ). 

 

Andy

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