what's your favorite tip/gadget?

[Lucky]

Do you have a gem of a tool that makes a job on the bike easier? Saves time? Looks cool? Do you prefer chaps or armored pants? how about a gadget that makes the trip fun? What floats your boat?

For me, I love gadgets (isn't the bike just one big gadget?) and of all the things i've collected over the years, I'd have to say my favorite is my Garmin GPS. I have it mounted to the tank, & powered from the wire harness. it tracks in real time the route i've traveled, loggging speed, distance, altitude, etc.

I can go out for a ride & literaly "get lost": the 'track back' feature allows me to reverse the track so I can follow it home. and once home I upload the data into a graphical chart on my pc. ?If I took the time to learn how, I could superimpose the track onto a map...

As for a tools, I like having the manometer available any time i need it. ?The cable lubricatoris a real time saver.

For my favorite tip: get yourself some Speedbleeders for the calipers ( http://www.speedbleeder.com/ ) The size is M7 x 1.00 (the part number is the size, the manual & website are both WRONG) I bled my dual ft brakes to clear clean brake fluid in 15 minuets!

--Lucky

[louthepou]

Hey Lucky, you sure know how to launch a string of posts.

I must say that years ago, as an eager teen, I discovered the impact screwdriver (not pneumatic, the one you hit with a hammer) to be one of the most wonderful, clever tool ever. Fits with the "tip" portion of your post - if your gut feeling tells you that screw looks like it's just waiting to be stripped, don't even reach for a regular screwdriver. Go at it with the impact, the screw won't know what hit it and will give.

The second awe inspiring tool - just two years ago, I treated myself with a cylinder pressure leak tester. Just keeps on telling you stuff about a motor once the compression gauge is long done. When it comes to precisely finding what's wrong with a compression chamber, I just find it's the best.

Cheers

Louis

[Wayne]

Favorite gadget. WD 40 related. My Vision difficult to start at various times. Home made injector. Small ID and OD steel air pressure line installed into bottom of Air Filter Box right at carb throat. Line extended under tank with small rubber cap to cap it off when not in use. One shot of WD40 and bike will start instantly, cold or hot, wet or dry. Reduced my aprin expense. Wayne

[h2olawyer]

I like gadgets too.  One good tip is to get yourself a butane powered soldering iron.  It is small, easy to pack in your tool kit & could be a lifesaver if you have some electrical problems on the road, provided you have the spare R/R or other item you need.  Also, it is great not fighting a cord when working on the bike.

Another cool item is a tire plug gun.  Much easier than the screwdriver handled plug tool normally used for emergency repairs.  Combined with a small CO2 inflation system, flat tires won't strand you for very long.

As for useful tools, I've found a compressor & pneumatic tools can save tons of time & effort.  I still use hand tools to get the proper torque settings & often to break screws, nuts or bolts loose.  The air ratchet sure makes a lot of disassembly / reassembly chores much easier, though.  Plus, checking & airing up the tires is no problem now.

The GPS sounds like fun.  Haven't gotten around to getting one of my own yet.  Played with them in the past and thought they were a neat toy.

Thinking about getting a helmet cam to use with the DV camera.  Could be neat making movies of the great scenery we have to ride through around here.  Also ought to be usable for skiing.  A new twist to the old home movies.

H2O

[jasonm.]

  One of my favorites is my mini air compressor I made. There was an article in Motorcycle consumer News to do this. I also carry a flat repair kit. The Other thing is my Mighty Vac. IT can bleed your brakes faster than you read this.
  Wayne, I am surprised anyone can start their bike with WD40. It is not very combustable. In fact people use it to find vacuum leaks because it causes engines to stall. I think you may have a vacuum leak and the WD40 is sealing it prior to starting.

[wayne]

JasonM-Thanks for info re WD40. The vision really pop my bubble today. Reworked carbs. Bike started and ran great. Installed inline gas filter. No start, No run. Removed inline filter. Started right up. I said a few loving words to the vision, shut the garage door, came in a took a shower. I don't think I even want to go back into the garage this weekend. Wayne

[kiawrench]

as for gadgets, i really like my windows tablet------ have all my vision data intalled to the drive, so when working on the bike i can just take the whole library to the bike ,,, also handy when slip down to local shop,,,, mechanics there like to be able to see which part i am talking about when questions are harder than "where did you park your car"?


  favorite tip,, always ,always spray nuts and bolt with pb blaster prior to trying to twist off any fastener.
second favorite-- keep right foot on rear brake at redlights, esp at night, a few taps on the pedal will sometimes point you out to a driver racing into a red light .

[jasonm.]

Wayne...did you install the filter correctly. Some only flow in one direction. Another favorite thing I made is a voltage indicator. NOT a guage...it only lights up when there is 13.5+ volts. So I know things are charging. It is an LED which only draws a few mA's. I have this on both Visions. Once my light was not glowing. Sure enough the R/R crapped out, only putting out 12.8 volts...enough to get home. Having 2 Visions I always have a spare around.

[Paul_Jungnitsch]

A voltage indicator is very handy indeed. I mounted a small gauge inside the sport fairing and find it very reassuring.

For the Vision my favorite tools to take along are a small needle nose vice grip and a small (cut down) rachet with the appropriate sockets. The rachet and sockets is from one of those 5 dollar sets and is plenty good enough. The needle nose vice grip is handy for all kinds of things.

In the shop I found one of those clear spark plug sets from Gunson very handy to check mixture at idle. Nice to be able to see what the combustion flame looks like. Another awesome tool to have is a rethreader kit (looks like a small set of nuts with cutting teeth). Great for redoing banged up threads, far better than a die. Snap-on sells then for (surprisingly) not very much.