Take Along Tools

[Stu]

I'm interested in what you take along for long rides (the TAT, for example) apart from the standard tool kit fare which seems to be good enough to make sure nuts and bolts stay tight, you can pull either wheel to fix flats and you can change oil. That seems to just about do it for stock tool kits.

What else do you take? For example, do you take anything to replace fork or countershaft seals, check your valve clearance, replace parts such as sprockets? These seem to be items that are not included in stock tool kits.

Who has experience with items you needed but didn't have, or who had an unusual occurrence and did have the right tool?

Stu

[safiri]

First, take the tools that you know how to use to do jobs that you know how to do.

Second, make sure your bike is in good repair before you leave. Check bearings, cables, bolts, etc.

Third, check your bike over each morning before you ride. Bolts get loose, bearings start to fail, etc. Better to catcht this stuff while you are still mobile as opposed to broken down by the side of the trail in central Nevada.

Fork seals are pretty easy, but the proper seal driver is mighty heavy. I wouldn't drag it along. Film negative to clean a fork seal can usually get you some more life out of a balky seal. Seals and wipers pack small. I might carry those with the idea that I can find a shop with the equipment but they might not have the parts.

Valve clearance would typically just be a few feeler gages (min and max ... you don't need to know what it is, just that it is within the limits). These would pack small. On a bike you have had a long time and that the valves haven't changed much, I wouldn't bother.

Sprockets are easy (at least on a KTM). I have swapped out front sprockets to change gear ratios as a multi day trip progressed to harder terrain and higher altitudes (less power to use, need lower gearing). A different front sprocket is relatively small and light.

A thread was done on this topic months ago ... I will see if I can find it.

Edit:
Here it is: http://www.rideforum.net/viewtopic.php?t=313
And another one: http://www.rideforum.net/viewtopic.php? ... ools#p2743

Other stuff:
clutch cable (my new one will be routed along the existing one with zip ties ... I had to end a ride early in CO and ride back to the cabin with no clutch as my extra cable was at the cabin), perhaps a throttle cable (usually don't fail as often as clutch).

In the second post, Hayden mentions wheel bearings and seals. The bearings can get pretty heavy. First, check to see if NAPA carries the bearings and seals you will need. If so, write down the numbers and don't bother carrying them as most any parts store should be able to get them in a day. Seals aren't a must have item, so I would skip those. Oil filters ... I figured out a common auto replacement for my KTM.

Hayden also mentions a chain breaker. I found a really small one called a "Beaver Tooth". Any chain breaker won't do you any good though unless you also carry a small section of chain (3 or 4 links) and two master clips. BTW, you should carry at least one extra master clip at all times in case you lose the one on your chain. Keep the old one off of the old chain.

Further, you can leave a lot of this rare-use stuff with a friend that isn't going on vacation. If you need one of these rare items, they can overnight ship it to you.

[Stu]

Thanks for the reply and the link back to the pre-West Fest comments. (BTW, the small plastic container of liquid soap also works great for putting on the bead to mount tires after repair. You can also seat new seals using the old seal and then a punch, using care, eliminating that bulky tool.)

Don't forget to check the spare master link before you leave since some of them are press-on only plates. I drill the holes out just enough that it will slip on before I go to eliminate the need for a press on the trail. Any other item similar to this that you need to modify before you set out?

I guess I should have said that we all pretty much know what is in our toolkits and what to take for the normal stuff. I was interested in stories of trail-side fix-its that were out-of-the-ordinary, or crash related, that you got going with mostly common tools and ingenuity.

Stu

[safiri]

Gotcha ...

Needle nose Vise Grip pliers. Can be used as a clutch lever if all else fails by clamping onto a broken cable.

small radiator/screw hose clamps. Clamp a Allen key onto a broken shift lever.

Knowledge / Mechanical Ability. What bolts on my bike might fit there? Brian lost the shift lever bolt ... headlight mask bolt on an LC4 works fine. How can I use what I have to get me out of here?

Tow rope. Used it in the AR woods to extract a bike from a big pool of mud and to pull start the same bike multiple times. Picture of "puddle" is sometimes at the top of this page.

[Stu]

Any quick ways to break a bead on a tire on something like a 950 Adventure? It took me an hour with a tire iron to get the Metzler Karoo to break once in Colorado and no, riding it didn't break the bead down either.

Stu

[Hayden]

Not often I ride alone so take the tire and put it under the kickstand of another bike. Lift the whole bike up on the kickstand and break the bead.

Hayden.

[safiri]

Any quick ways to break a bead on a tire on something like a 950 Adventure? It took me an hour with a tire iron to get the Metzler Karoo to break once in Colorado and no, riding it didn't break the bead down either.

Stu

I have seen advertised a bead breaking clamp. Might be worth its weight and cost if the sticky bead is due to the rim and thus omnipresent no matter what tire is mounted.

Do you mount your own tires? This might be a reason to. You would at least know what tires (or if it is the rim) aren't going to be BFE friendly.

[Stu]

I do mount my own. Getting the Karoos on in my garage was a treat.... Made slipping dirt tires on seem pretty easy.

I've seen the clamp for sale. That should work but it is extra weight and expense IF there is some simpler way to do it with the red plastic 12" tire irons I normally use. No fun way I've found.

Stu

[safiri]

I do mount my own. Getting the Karoos on in my garage was a treat.... Made slipping dirt tires on seem pretty easy.

I've seen the clamp for sale. That should work but it is extra weight and expense IF there is some simpler way to do it with the red plastic 12" tire irons I normally use. No fun way I've found.

Stu

What about rigging up some sort of fulcrum (wood block?) that would allow you to pry the bead using your tire iron against the rear swingarm? Don't want to damage the swing arm, but ... Do this with the wheel still bolted to the bike. This might require a longer tire iron.

Or some sort of wedge that could be driven between the rim and the bead. Two or three that get larger. Not sure what to make them out of.

[JaySoy]

The wedge exists. Never tried it but I like it.

http://www.aerostich.com/catalog/US/Bea ... 17559.html