Realistic Tool Kit 2012 R1200RT

I have several times thought that I carry too many tools. I even carry spare headlamps. This stuff not only weighs a lot, it takes up a lot of room in the panniers. But with getting ready to head for the Arctic, I think I will take all this stuff with me.

30300 said:

Not much to look at, but those of you that have a RT know the hassle of replacing the headlight bulb. Slide the plastic tubing over one of the spade lugs, and now you have a "handle" to help put the bulb into its holder. Still a pain, but this does help.

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What size dowel and is that standard fuel tubing. If not, what is the ID of it?

Thanks.

Scot

zip ties and tape???

What kind of repairs are many of you guys making with zip ties and tape?
Looks like almost everyone that adds to their kit adds them

trw1956@mac.com said:

What kind of repairs are many of you guys making with zip ties and tape?
Looks like almost everyone that adds to their kit adds them

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I was behind a lady who wrecked (didn't know her from Adam - initial exam by a passing EMT seemed to indicate she was ok). We were out in the sticks and no cell phone reception. She had side cases and one was tore loose. A big electrical zip tie secured busted mount in about 30 seconds.

Vice grips make great improvised shifter levers and even created an improvised rear brake pedal out of one. Duct tape will secure a broken headlight bucket, fix a hole you mistakenly burned in your cheap gander mountain rain gear, etc. . One guy I know used duct tape on a rear tire where the steel belts mysteriously appeared and it vulcanized itself as he rode (I wouldn't ever advise doing it. . .but he did and it got him home)

Don't carry a whole roll, just 6"-8" folded back on itself 5-6 times takes up almost zero space.

I carry a large amount of tools; they take-up most of the space in a set of Aerostich tank panniers. I almost always ride with my wife and she carries no tools, so I carry tools for two models of bikes. One item I carry that I don't think has been mentioned is a set of jumper cables. The main reason I carry so many tools is that if I have trouble on the road, someone just may come along that knows how to use them.

30300 said:

Slide the plastic tubing over one of the spade lugs, and now you have a "handle" to help put the bulb into its holder.

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Find any McDonalds and grab a straw. Works fine and easy to find.

trw1956@mac.com said:

What kind of repairs are many of you guys making with zip ties and tape?
Looks like almost everyone that adds to their kit adds them

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I carry large zip ties (think 24-36"), have seldom needed them myself, but riding friends have needed them. One went to shore up a leaking final drive boot on an 1150GS, another went to secure a dangling license plate that almost came off on the Thruway in NY. They'd be good for broken luggage, etc.

I think gaffers (duct) tape is next to useless on a bike, would rather carry a roll of 33+ or 88 3M tape -- and yes, I carry a whole roll in the tank bag, works on most anything.

You don't even want to know.

Still dragging that spare final drive around Paul?

Speaking of uses for tie-wraps -
Not long ago, we stopped at a gas station in Gorman (CA Interstate 5) to take a break & refuel.
There was a young lady in a new small - and pardon the expression, but it's accurate and I don't recall the exact model - El Cheapo Plastic Japanese car. The body panel immediately behind the rear door, ahead of the tire, was literally hanging by one plastic snap-in plug thingie, similar to what is used to attach interior plastic trim pieces. Most of us carry assorted tie-wraps in our kits, so it was pretty easy to use the original mounting holes to string the body section back up so she could safely get it home.
Knights to the rescue!

re Duct tape - Look specifically for the "Nashua" brand, very strong stuff, and sticks to 'most anything (and yes I carry that too).

Other stuff I aways have: Swiss Army knife (a "Real" one, thank you Linda!), sections of wire (some with lugs already attached), penlight, extra C02 & tire cement, small ratchet, complete set of Torx bits, fair set of sockets + wrenches, lighter, fuses (if it blows "again" STOP because there IS a problem), nylon rope (been on both ends of it!), alcohol wipes (cuts, stings, general cleanup)... And then there's the long-distance kit...

By the way, you can sometimes get that DVM at Harbor Freight as a freebie if you have their coupon.

trw1956@mac.com said:

What kind of repairs are many of you guys making with zip ties and tape?
Looks like almost everyone that adds to their kit adds them

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It took the zip tie supplies from 4 bikes to sew this fairing back together. It got the rider home (about 500 miles).

Here's a photo of my GS tool kit. It weighs 10 pounds, including the tire pump repair kit, which seems like a lot. It includes a front axle nut, spark plug cap remover, shop rags, nitrile gloves, tie wraps, tape, etc. I put all those loose pieces in the Craftsman bag and the bag to the left of it is the tire pump kit. I'm thinking about ditching the vise locks, maybe the adjustable wrench. But after reading some of this feedback I'm thinking that I might be okay with this stuff on the GS. But it might be too much for the smaller RT cases so that's why I started this thread.

Thanks to everybody for the excellent feedback!

Dear Apexel, (real name?)

Per: http://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?46055 - I've added the year/model to your thread title. As you realized, what works for your GS might not work for the RT - so hopefully more RT owners who have sorted this question out will open the thread.

My tool kit for my R12R consists of the factory non-kit, plus a few folding torx driver sets from Harbor Freight. I'm sure there is some other stuff in there I've forgotten - but the reason I've forgotten is I have never needed it on the road (67,000 miles) - knock on wood. Most things that can't be fixed with the sparse tools on hand are going to need a shop of some sort to fix, so I have VISA for that, and figure they'll have the tools. If you take the bike off on Rt 50 in Nevada, even there, a vehicle does pass by every hour or so.. I also have two roadside assistance policies on the bike, so flatbedding it to help isn't impossible. And as the MOA often points out - a copy of the Anonymous Book is very likely to be the most important tool on the bike. Plus there are over 300 Harbor Freight Stores coast to coast now, so I'm never too far away from a source of tools (some of questionable value, but they are better then nothing - sometimes.) On a real long trip where I'm taking my Netbook, I also toss my GS-911 into the tank bag. Have never needed it - but it's there. I also carry an Airman air-pump and a few different flat-tire fix kits. Also never needed them (for my bike, used them on other people's.)

I've gotten to the point where I try not to obsess over these sort of things. For a while I carried a spare EWS ring on my bike when it still had the original. Now that it was replaced by BMW, I have the EWS ring in the cabinet at home. I do carry a spare alternator belt, just because it's small and fits well into the bottom of my tankbag, and it IS something I could replace using the tools I have on the bike. That means it will never fail since Eilenberger's Law of Spares comes into effect. (You never need what you have..)

Side note - at the Square Route Rally this past weekend, there was a very funny and enlightening talk by a chap who went from Oregon to the tip of South America. His tool kit was also fairly minimal - the only "special tool" he had along (besides the stock tools) was a rotor puller. His only real "special" failure turned out to be his rotor, someplace in the real back areas of South America. He pulled the rotor, a chap came along - and by sign language convinced him to hand the rotor over. Two days later the chap returned with the rotor rewound and ready to go.. and he motored on. This was on an Airhead GS (heavily modified by him for his needs.) If the chap hadn't wandered along, it might have taken him another day or two, but he had a rotor ready to go from Motorrad Electric - and with air shipping likely would have it within a week or so. He had his rear subframe crack about 5 times, but he found every village, even tiny ones, in South America had one guy who could weld it up. He found them by following his nose tracking down the ozone smell from welding.

Enjoy your ride.. and "Don't panic!"

BTW - afterthought.. you could try following Paul Glaves around, he carries a most excellent tool kit at all times (made use of it once at a national rally, along with making use of Paul.. made a good friend that way )

Tie wraps and tape come in handy! I'll add that my buddy crashed his Speed Triple and we used duct tape and tie wraps to fix the broken sub frame. Sure, it was dodgy, but it got him home 200 miles later before we could weld it.

I guess I cheated - I just bought a full kit from Touratech. Oh well ...

If we take the F800S I add the 45mm socket for the rear belt drive too. The 1-13/16" wrench was too big to carry conveniently.

Not shown is a Cycle Pump and gauge, a small multimeter, and a set of small jumper cables.

I carry a few "supplies" as well. Electrical tape, Posilock connectors, wire ties, Gorilla tape, fuses, etc.

na1g said:

Cool avatar, apexal. The moon is still up there but not the Old Man, sad to say.

pete
2011 R12RT

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I just noticed this comment. Thanks! The loss of the Old Man was a major loss for the state of New Hampshire. What a shame!

deilenberger said:

Dear Apexel, (real name?)

Per: http://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?46055 - I've added the year/model to your thread title. As you realized, what works for your GS might not work for the RT - so hopefully more RT owners who have sorted this question out will open the thread.

And as the MOA often points out - a copy of the Anonymous Book is very likely to be the most important tool on the bike.

I've gotten to the point where I try not to obsess over these sort of things. For a while I carried a spare EWS ring on my bike when it still had the original. Now that it was replaced by BMW, I have the EWS ring in the cabinet at home. I do carry a spare alternator belt, just because it's small and fits well into the bottom of my tankbag, and it IS something I could replace using the tools I have on the bike. That means it will never fail since Eilenberger's Law of Spares comes into effect. (You never need what you have..)

Enjoy your ride.. and "Don't panic!"

BTW - afterthought.. you could try following Paul Glaves around, he carries a most excellent tool kit at all times (made use of it once at a national rally, along with making use of Paul.. made a good friend that way )

Click to expand...

Thanks for fixing the title. I should have known.

Real name is Al. I love mountains (definition of apex is "the highest point; vertex; summit"), therefore "apexal"

I do carry the Anonymous Book, one on each bike, in fact.

My two BMWs are pretty new and I think that they are extremely reliable so I certainly don't worry. Maybe I've read too much by Ted Simon or Ewan & Charley, but I think that carrying tools is a carryover from the past when I rode British bikes or used to ride dirt bikes in New England enduros and hare scrambles. I expect my number one problem would be flat tires and/or removing wheels, and maybe tightening loose stuff on the bike. But if I have room to carry extra tools (within reason) then why not do so?

Thanks again!

.

Paul's is pretty impressive. Here is my full kit:



The list: http://www.jimvonbaden.com/Tool_Kit.html

Jim

Cruz Tools Roadtech B1 toolkit Fits under seat.

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.co...&esvadt=999999-5847837-4017460-1&esvid=400074

Stop & go Tire plugger kit.