Starting Tool Kit?

[City Chicken]

Glad to be home (believe me!) but just to be accurate, I was a contractor, not a serviceman. Spent three-and-a-half years in Afghanistan; saw the entire country (beautiful place when you're not at KAF, believe me) and ate alot of old goat!

This tool kit will be for me to start doing routine maintenance in my garage (fluid changes, adjustments, etc.) and ultimately I want to graduate to being able to do my own engine work someday.

I bought this Harley as my first bike, and given what it cost it will likely be my last as well. I want to be like the guys I knew growing up who wrenched on their own bikes and ran 'em forever. I want to roll by the dealership in 20 years on this scooter with 200K miles on the clock and a patina on the paint! Hope that makes sense....

[Upchuck]

Tough job being a contractor, I was in the Paktia Provence , for about 13 months in 2001-02, prob ate the same old goat, ha. Get some folding Torx and Allan head tools, you know the ones with about 10 or 12 wrenches on each one . They come in colors and fit great in your tool bag for your bike. A digital air gauge and those black zip ties would be nice.


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[AlTheKiller]

for the love of God, get a nice set of torx tools. dont cheap out. Jeep decided to use torx bolts on everything for the Wrangler and believe me, the cheap torx tools tear stuff up; including its self. Just my .02

[RAD_Softail]

If you actually plan on wrenching, doing your own maintenance, you'll need a good set of tools. Don't go the cheap route cuz it will just end up costing you more in the long run. You can't go wrong with Snap-on but they aren't cheap. Craftsman is good too.

You'll need Torx bits, hex bits, allens, sockets deep and shallow/standard and metric, wrenches standard and metric, screw drivers flat and philips head, wratchets 1/4 & 3/8, torque wrenches ft/lb & in/lb, impact driver, hammer, rubber coated mallet, oil filter wrench, needle nose pliers, snap ring/circlip pliers, wire cutters, wire stripper/crimper, soldering iron and solder, electrical tape, oil pans, shop towels, motorcycle lift, air compressor. I'm sure I left something off the list .

[dynaglydr]

Don’t listen to guys who tell you they don’t need tools or have AAA like I was told. As you start to clean and work on the bike, you’ll see what you need. I have made 4 repairs on my bike when I was out on the road with no Cell reception and because I had tools, I got back on the road in short order. I’ve also lent tools or wrenched on other guys bikes on the roadside who didn’t have a tool one. My leather bag of tools may weigh 8 pounds, but that’s what saddle bags are for. I also have a 5’ clear plastic 3/8 tube for siphoning gas in there too. I’m an X-Boy Scout and X Military and am always prepared, I can’t help it, Ya just never know.

[redman24]

I can second on getting good tools. Craftsman has not let me down except when my wife gets into my tools and I find my small phillips head missing. She does a bit of remodeling on our house as well as others for big $.
I have found that a good rolling tool chest with drawers helps me lay things out well. I also have a bag of tools for the bike as well. In that bag are some extra parts as well like light bulbs, air pump for the back shocks, general tools already listed, electrical tape, tire pressure guage and extra spark plugs (usually given to others who are having issues).

[TmikeX]

Don't forget to keep the basics on the bike at all times. You never know when you may need them. I had my clutch lever assembly come loose on my Heritage a while back and was able to get it back together without any real issue. Also, dont forget tie-wraps and electrical tape. Next to duct-tape, the handymans secret weapon.

[pa bob rider]

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!!!! An important and widely overlooked tool is a tire pressure guage. Don't laugh!!! I've run into A LOT of riders that don't carry one!!!!!! Another must have is a battery tender jumper cable. I've had to jump other bros bikes twice with mine...

[Ray-zer]

Originally Posted by redman24

I can second on getting good tools. Craftsman has not let me down except when my wife gets into my tools and I find my small phillips head missing. She does a bit of remodeling on our house as well as others for big $.
I have found that a good rolling tool chest with drawers helps me lay things out well. I also have a bag of tools for the bike as well. In that bag are some extra parts as well like light bulbs, air pump for the back shocks, general tools already listed, electrical tape, tire pressure guage and extra spark plugs (usually given to others who are having issues).

I can never find the tool I'm looking for because my wife and kids take them from the garage and seem to purposefully scatter them in all corners of the house just to make it difficult for me to find them

[67Duce]

I would say Craftsman tools are a good choice, if you buy one of there set's it's cheaper to get one that has tork's, allen ,extensions , 1/4 , 3/8 , and 1/2 inch drive standard and deep well sockets , ect , than buying a smaller set and adding on to it. These are good tools for the shade tree mechanic.

I would love to own a complete set of Snap-on's but there vary expensive, they are top of the line fit and quality. Many mechanics own them or should I say have a Snap-on payment, but they make there living wrenchen too.