DO YOU HAVE A CHEAP MOTORCYCLE TOOK KIT?

As any motorcycle owner knows, the MOTORCYCLE TOOL KIT that came with their bike is not exceptional. In fact, that’s being kind. The Motorcycle Tool Kits that come with almost every motorbike are VERY cheap. (BMW’s motorcycle tools are at least “better” than the rest).

Now, unlike the BIG tool sets you can buy for an auto enthusiast, a motorcycle tool kit, out of necessity, must be small enough to carry on a bike – otherwise it defeats the purpose of having one if it end up being kept at home.

Most of the commercially available tool sets, specifically made for motorcycles, do an adequate job of providing a good mix of tools. Even so, for a true mechanically inclined biker, whatever tool kit he or she begins with, will likely be amended, which can include adding a few specialty tools for their particular machine.

So, the difficulty for a manufacturer of motorcycle tool sets is to make one small enough to easily carry, but that also includes the necessary tools for conducting roadside maintenance.

METRIC or SAE TOOLS?

From the perspective of buying a motorcycle tool kit as a gift for someone, the most important factor is to buying the correct measurement standard for the tools, which are these:

• A METRIC Tool Kit which uses the metric measuring system which is required for most European and Japanese motorcycles. (This includes wrench sizes expressed in millimeters).
• A Tool Kit using the US MEASURE or SAE Measure (Society of Automotive Engineers), which includes wrench sizes based on inches, such as 1/4 inch, 3/8 inch, 1/2 inch, 7/8 inch, 1 inch, etc). This measure is so thoroughly aligned with Harley Davidson, that many motorcycle tool kits that use SAE measurements simply designate themselves as Harley Davidson tool kits.

Of course the next issue is knowing if the intended recipient knows anything about how to use a tool….

COMPARE THESE MOTORCYCLE TOOL KITS:

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DON’T BUY DIGITAL TIRE GAUGES

Now, don’t get me wrong: I don’t think any motorcyclist can have too many tire gauges.

However, I have owned a few “digital” tire gauges, and I have tossed ‘em out and gone back to the tried and true “non-digital” (analog) versions.

Now, with all due respect to the digital tire gauge pictured  here (I have not used this one), I don’t recommend them.  I believe these digital gauges are designed solely to sell more gauges rather than to serve as useful motorcycle tools because their batteries just don’t last that long.

What I do like about these things is the ability to read more precise increments of tire pressure. 

DIGITAL TIRE GAUGE BATTERIES WILL FAIL

What I definitely do not like is that the batteries die way too fast (or the two I’ve used were defective).  The last thing you need is to have a gauge NOT working when you need it. 

The non-digital gauges NEVER have battery failures.

In conclusion, you can never go wrong giving a tire pressure gauge as a motorcycle gift, but I prefer the non-digital kind, even if the digital kind are more “modern” and “cool.” (Non-Digital Air Pressure Gauge for Tires)

Click on the following link to see all the different kinds of tire gauges – digital and non-digital (analog).

COMPARE TIRE PRESSURE GAUGES:

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FOR THE MECHANICAL MINISTERS

I swear there are guys (and probably some gals) who love their motorbike tools more than their motorcycles.

Perhaps you’ve observed certain of these mechanical ministers caressing their favorite screwdrivers while praying with their ratchets. And if you have not been properly initiated into the rites of proper power tool usage, well, you are more of a layman in the field.

And don’t go using their favorite motorcycle tool brand names in vain. You may find yourself wearing a large, open-ended wrench in an unflattering way as the tool priest contemplates the next best size to set you on the path to enlightenment.

Be careful when buying motorcycle tools as a gift: should you neglect to observe the proper accord and respect for the intended recipient’s favored Gods of manufacture, you may be paying penance for a long time to come….

Hopefully the following links of motorcycle tools will lead you on the correct path to motorbike divinity:
CRUZTOOLS – MOTORBIKE TOOL KITS

GARDNER-WESTCOTT TOOLS

HARLEY DAVIDSON TOOLS

NEW AND USED STOCK MOTORCYCLE REPLACEMENT TOOL KITS

MOTORBIKE TOOLS FOR LESS THAN 50 BUCKS

MOTORCYCLE TOOLS FROM $50-$250

MOTORCYCLE TOOLS $250-$750

EXPENSIVE MOTORCYCLE TOOLS

ALL MOTORCYCLE TOOLS

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WORST TIRE REPAIR GUY

I do not like fixing motorcycle flat tires.

In fact, I don’t even bother to change my own tires anymore. (Into the shop for me).

I wasn’t always that way. After years of arduously confronting the task of changing a tire, or less commonly, fixing a flat, I had at least acquired a skill set that rose to the level of incompetence.

Fortunately for me, I haven’t had to fix a flat on the road but once.

And on that one melodramatic evening, I set the record of how badly one can butcher a tire and tube while trying to fix the same.  (Think swiss cheese).  I was on an east coast tour from Philadelphia, PA to Key West, FL.

WORLD RECORD FOR HIGH-VOLUME CURSES

That was the same sweltering night I also set the world record for the quantity of high-volume curses unleashed upon tobacco fields in the deep rural south. (I understand my anguished wails resulted in wide-spread crop damage for the American tobacco industry with resulting price hikes – ooops!)

That was back before tubeless tires became more prevalent, (earlier in the last century).

Not matter how you look at it, fixing motorcycle tire flats is not as convenient as replacing a flat tire on an automobile. (Few bikers carry around a replacement tire ready to be swapped into action when a motorbike tire gives up the ghost).

MOTORCYCLE TIRE REPAIR KITS AS GOOD LUCK CHARMS

And of course, if you do carry a patch kit (and know how to use is), you need air: whether in the form of a manual pump, an electric pump or compressed air cartridges.

Perhaps the best thing about a MOTORCYCLE TIRE REPAIR KIT is that if you actually carry one around with the requisite tools, you are probably savvy enough about maintaining proper air pressure and careful enough about not pushing the life of your tread down into it’s final 10% of wear life – which means you may never actually need to use the Motorcycle Tire Repair Kit!

The trick is to bring a motorcycle tire repair kit along as a good luck charm (and keep your fingers crossed on the throttle).

DIFFERENT TIRE REPAIR KITS

Click on the following link to see a variety of motorcycle tire repair kits. What you’ll find are portable tire kits (good luck charms) and more substantial kits for the garage.

In regards to the portable tire repair kits, you can get them to repair tires with tubes, or tubeless tires, and some kits contain the necessary items to fix both.

Some repair kits do not include a way to provide air for the tires and some provide air, but don’t actually have the items to “repair” a tire.

So, keep these differences in mind to better understand why there is such a range of prices.

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WHAT IS THE #1 MOTORCYCLE TOOL?

Modern motorcycles are way more reliable than they used to be. In fact, you could ride for years with minimal use of tools on the road – except for this one.

OK, there’s definitely MORE than one tool you should always have stashed away somewhere on your motorbike.

WHAT TOOL SHOULD YOU ALWAYS HAVE WITH YOU ON YOUR MOTORBIKE?

But..IF…there were only ONE tool you could carry, for some crazy reason (such as your significant other wants you to go on a long trip and not come back for a while and he/she wants to keep all the tools EXCEPT ONE of your choosing), which tool would it be?

1. Spark plug wrench?
2. Tire repair kit?
3. Bottle Opener?
4. Utility knife with a 1001 gadgets?  (Hmmmmm, maybe, but doesn’t work with the point of this article).

I would suggest that if there were only ONE tool that you could bring on any motorcycle ride that it NOT be a bottle opener.

ALWAYS CARRY A TIRE PRESSURE GAUGE

So which tool would I suggest?  An AIR PRESSURE GAUGE.  Yep.  You know you need to check the air pressure on your tires more often than you do.  It’s just such an unnecessary risk to be riding around with improperly inflated tires.  Especially underinflated tires.  Underinflated tires decrease the usefulness of those two little rubber contact patches that keep your bike right side up.  Check your tire pressure every week.  Small amounts of air can leak out, even with good tires parked in your garage.  Check your tire pressure often. Keep an air pressure gauge on your bike at all times.

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