The infamous R1200RT tool kit

Phone charger

Lee said:

One more item I carry in my tank bag is a phone charger I can plug into the bike.

One of my friends broke down one night on the interstate and he was put on hold several times for long periods while trying to arrange for the tow. His phone was almost dead by the time he got a tow lined up.

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That why I went with one of these babies. Not only will it crank a V8 pick up truck and a Harley (3 separate times on the same weekend) but also on the same charge kept my iPhone charged, that same weekend. These babies are a jem. This is the one I use.

It also acts as an emergency flasher.

My RT came with a toolkit? [end sarc]

Close....but no cigar.

rocketmanli said:

PHP:

Emergency flasher??

Close....but no cigar.

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Trouble light??

Work light. Have no idea how old it is, but its SUPER bright, plugs into the BMW accessory power port, and shows "W. Germany" inside. I think its pretty old, but I've never seen another one before. It clips on using the wire, or has a magnet built in as well, and since the bulb gets wicked hot, they added the little orange window to let you know its on after you close it I guess so you don't melt the case.

A few pics:

Rocketmanli, that is freaking awesome! Hold on to that bad mamma jamma!

Travel strategy:

I have a very robust first aid kit with some survival items, canned tuna, granola packets couple bottles of water.

You've seen my tool kit... I've intentionally strayed away from tire repair, as I'm almost exclusively a pavment guy, not a 1000 miles from nowhere guy, if I have a flat, I'm removing the wheel, which I can do with that little ole tool kit, and taking it to be replaced. I did have to replace a rear perrellie with exactly 6000 miles on it; went flat at my parents house, by removing the wheel, and scheduling another weekend logistical trip to replace it. Never bought another perrellie after that. I was two up with luggage with the wife, had it blown out at speed it could have killed or maimed us both.

And I have the jump battery kit.

In the tank bag I routinely carry leatherman, flashlights, headlamp, and an asundry of other items, tailored for the mission.

But here is a testimonial to the quality of BMW. I have never been on the side of the road using my kit for my bike. My BMW's have always gotten me there and except for the perrellie scenario mentioned earlier...back.

The greatest tool in my tool kit isn't in my tool kit. The greatest insurance I have to get me there and back is a well maintained, properly serviced and shod, clean BMW.

rangerreece said:

I've intentionally strayed away from tire repair, as I'm almost exclusively a pavment guy, not a 1000 miles from nowhere guy, if I have a flat, I'm removing the wheel, which I can do with that little ole tool kit, and taking it to be replaced. .

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You really should carry a tire repair kit. Even if you stay on the pavement there are a lot of places in the US where you can be a long ways from a town. You can't always count on someone stopping and giving you a ride to a tire shop. Do you really want to leave your bike at the side of the road as you make a 200 mile round trip to a tire shop?
What if you get a flat on a Sunday or Monday?
With a tire repair kit, in most cases you can fix the flat well enough to limp into a town.

Lee is correct Recce, you should carry a tire repair kit. What if you and your pink eared attack dog find yourselves stranded and no help is around on a sultry Alabama backroad? It takes a village, Recce... that and some plugs and an air pump.

Tire repair kit,
It's crossed my mind, and I will consider your advice, seriously. My motivation for not getting it is to remove the capability of placing myself on potentially compromised tires. I've read too many ride reports that went something like... "After two hours of wrestling with that tire in the pouring rain, and placing it back on the bike (untorqued) we were finally on our way again, tired, cold, now in the dark we were looking for a hotel when the tire went flat again. I knew I should have changed out those high mileage tires before I rode 2000 miles to the national."

If I remove my capability of being stupid I can't be stupid even if I try. "Murphy proof" we used to call it in the army. But I see the validity of your scenario too. Right now it's just weighing the lesser of two evils.

rangerreece said:

If I remove my capability of being stupid I can't be stupid even if I try.

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For Heaven's sake Recce, you fly Army helicopters... that ship has sailed!

You can run over a nail with your brandy new, non-compromised shiny tires in the middle of nowhere too. A plug most likely will get you home, where you can order and install yet another new tire, just waiting for your next nail.

akbeemer said:

For Heaven's sake Recce, you fly Army helicopters... that ship has sailed!

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Your so funny

rocketmanli said:

You can run over a nail with your brandy new, non-compromised shiny tires in the middle of nowhere too. A plug most likely will get you home, where you can order and install yet another new tire, just waiting for your next nail.

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Rinse and repeat Most my flats seem to occur on new shiny tires.

At least carrying a kit gives you options. I'll try a patch over wheel removal and find a guy any day ...lets not talk about tubed tires

rocketmanli said:

You can run over a nail with your brandy new, non-compromised shiny tires in the middle of nowhere too. A plug most likely will get you home, where you can order and install yet another new tire, just waiting for your next nail.

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I get that, but if you recall, I mentioned middle of nowhere is not on my maps. If I get a wild hair and decide I need to earn my ranger tab again, I'll look at reconfiguring my kit.

I may regret it one day, but right now for tires, I'm leaning towards the cell phone option and the platinum membership MOA coverage as my solution. Over 100,000 miles without being stranded on the road with a flat, lends itself to that decision matrix. The one time I did have a flat, (not while riding) a plug or patch wouldn't have fixed the problem, the entire tire was compromised.

I used to own two 4 wheel drive pick up trucks. I paid a lot of money for that 4X4 capability. In 10 years of ownership, I could count the times I placed those trucks in 4 wheel drive on one hand. I paid through the nose in initial cost, maintenance, poor gas mileage, and insurance: moral of that story was tailor your kit, your vehicles, for your needs.

You're 100% correct. To each their own. In all these years, I've used my fix-a-flat kit more times to help others than on my own bikes. Sort of like your battery booster. Sometimes (nah...always) feels good having just the right stuff with you to help out someone else in need. I hope neither of us needs any of our repair toolkits for a long, long time.

rocketmanli said:

You're 100% correct. To each their own. In all these years, I've used my fix-a-flat kit more times to help others than on my own bikes. Sort of like your battery booster. Sometimes (nah...always) feels good having just the right stuff with you to help out someone else in need. I hope neither of us needs any of our repair toolkits for a long, long time.

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Amen.

rangerreece said:

I mentioned middle of nowhere is not on my maps.

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You're missing out on a lot of beautiful country.

rangerreece said:

Over 100,000 miles without being stranded on the road with a flat

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Close to 700,000 miles combined for me and Debbie without being stranded on the road with a flat, but I still carry a repair kit, even on day rides close to home.

I don't understand why you carry a good tool and first aid kit, but noting for flats.

At least carry the kit in case you happen to find a fellow rider with a flat.