Technical‎ > ‎

Tools of the Trade


    If your plan is to work on your own bike you are going to require some tools. Depending how much you are comfortable with doing yourself will determine how much tooling you will need. Another consideration will be what kind of budget you have to purchase tools. In any event, this article will be aimed at the beginner, or someone who wishes to do basic maintenance and maybe some basic tuning and trouble shooting. 
    I would recommend you purchase the best quality tools you can afford. Tools found in the bargain bin at k-mart are there for a reason. Buying these will waste time and gasoline as you make weekly trips to replace broken tools. By the same token retail stores such as Canadian Tire, Home Depot, And, Princess Auto offer some pretty decent tools, with a lifetime warranty, which is protection for the consumer. The high end of the scale would be Snap On brand tools, which are reputed to be among the best. Personally, I make use of several brands of tools, some of which have been with me for twenty five years, have many miles on them, and are still going strong. With wrenches, ratchets, and sockets I use include Jet, Tool Tech, Husky, Challenger, Gray, Master Craft, and Power Fist. For the british bikes, with bsw fasteners, I use koken brand tools. For power tools, such as drills, grinders, sawzalls, I use a mix of makita, ryobi, and delta. 
    For a basic tool kit for a Japanese motorcycle you should try and acquire the following items:

metric wrenches
metric sockets/ratchet, shallow 3/8" drive (twelve point if possible but six point will do the job)
metric sockets/ratchet, deep 3/8" drive
metric sockets/ratchet, deep 1/2" drive
metric combination wrenches, 6mm to 24mm and double up on sizes 8mm to 14mm
impact driver with phillips bits
ballpein hammer, fiberglass handle 
needle nose pliers with wire cutter
wire strippers
channel lock adjustable pliers
vise grips
screw drivers (stanley brand last the longest)
a good center punch
a 3/8 chuck electric drill (plug in type)
twist drills, high speed steel, 1/16" to 1/2" (skf dormer brand are the best)
metric tap and die set
multi meter with continuity option
a 4" fixed base vise
a compression tester with 14mm and 18mm adapters
a spark plug tester
a set of metric feeler guages. 
a small air compressor
tire pressure guage
valve stem wrench
....there will be other items you may want to purchase, and as your skill level increases you will most certainly be buying more tooling, but these are the basics. 
Comments