Rhino you got me thinking......................... I know you were looking at having the original tool kit, but when I finally get my lady back on the road I am going to furnish her with an upgraded bit of kit - hopefully aided by the good folk on this Forum?

Also I didn't want to steal your thread.........though I might have in a polite sort of way???


So folks what do carry on board (under the seat or tucked away discreatly somewhere) for your basic run of the mill daily travel and weekend meanders into the hills and forests or mountains and lakes or like round here moors and motorways?

What decent kit/manufacturers do you advise any pretty pictures of the tools might help explain rather than a thousand words ...............oh ..............and maybe the reasons why?

Thank you.

I never take tools (besides the tools to remove the fairing) with me, since my 907 has now clocked > 130.000 km (with original engine) and ~8.000km with ST3-Engine and (nearly) never broke down. Only on the racetrack i had some issues... *knock on wood*

Hi JoKing, do you have any pitures of your ST3 conversion and are you able to tells how it all fitted?
If you have already covered this just point us in the right direction.

My tool kit for short hops the standard one

For longer hops:

A leatherman (there's not much you can't do with it - mine has even been used to hammer picture hooks into the wall at home when pushed )

5 long but thin ish cable ties
Half a meter of Gaffer tape rolled back on itslef
0.25 metre of that aluminium tape stuff (sealed a hole on my fuel tank so well on my "Cheapyshed 500" that I never bothered changing the tank)
A length of decent cable - any colour will do - some bullet connecteors and a scotch lock
(Scothc locking cables is against my religion as the secret to a good electrical connection is never going to be cutting half way through both wires and joining them with monkey metal ...... but if its dark and raining then....)
A little dinky Led torch thats light enough to be held in my mouth when both hands are needed.
A selection of short self tapping screws - - if you get a puncture and absolutely have to take the offending object out of the tire then screwing in a appropriate self tapper - the head will wear off the self tapper when riding but normally seals the hole - have done about 600 miles like that of spirited riding (ok I forgot about the puncture and went chasing a Benelli)

I also carry a mountain bike multi tool made by crank brothers or one made by Park tools - the park one is better but the crank Brothers one has a few more bits on it.

After my last big tour I will also carry a list of local Ducati dealers and for what its worth if anyone is ever touring in the French Alps then I can't recommend Ducati Annecy highly enough.
Great bunch of guys that stayed open for me when I needed the only 907 Gearbox sprocket in France !
Equally the Hotel Trans Alpin in Marigny are excellent and the local bike club meet there. Also the tire place in Martigny who lent me their workshop and their accountant who helped me find the above sprocket !

Edit: I will also carry with me the knowledge that nearly every Breakdown cover package you can buy for cover in Europe is almost worthless if you can fix the bike yourself or just need help to fix it - they are only interested if its terminal !

Andy, what you`re carrying almost sounds like a part of what I have in the car in addition to a foldable shovel etc.

In the bike I have:
- the original tools but with a better spark plug tool
- a small knife
- some electrical tape
- 2 cables with crocodile clips (which already came handy once when I had to hot-wire the bike as it wouldn`t start due to a bad ignition switch)
- a chain link w/ clip
- a taillight bulb
- 2 new spark plugs
- a can of fix a flat spray rolled in a small towel tucked away in the left rear frame triangle below the side panel. It fits perfectly there and is held by a rubber belt.

The rest varies and is put in the tank bag.

G.

G, I missed out the hand cleaning stuff you kindly donated to the cause
Serioulsy though it all fits. I spent along time working away from home a few years back with only a bike as transport so I'm pretty good at packing my entire life into the smallest space possible !

Most of the above + wiring diagram xtra fuses and a circuit tester. When i go abroad i carry cylinder 'o'rings and a ground down 15mm ring spanner.Just hope i never need them! Ive got spare clutch and gear levers clicky strapped to the frame, and put a couple of plain clutch plates under the ecu when we went to Monza 2 yrs ago.Oh and a tube to bleed hydrolics/syphon fuel.

As I'm nothing like as competant as you guys my tool kit consists of: mobile phone (fully charged battery) and a Visa card which may, or may not, have any credit on it!

Oh Higgy you are a laugh. I'm a lawyer so my solicitor and my medics are both on speed dial. And you forget - this is Great Britain so we don't need medical insurance - we have the NHS which covers us for the whole of Europe for any treatment.

(Well provided I don't actually have an accident in Great Britain of course!!!!)

Ha , funny this should come up now .Yesterday on the the ride , I saw that the charge light was not on ( it usually is at anything under 1500 revs ) which led me to think that
a) the battery aint charging ( turn off lights )
b) Im pleased Im not to far from home .... and
c) I have no tools .
Still dunno whats wrong with the bike, when I got home I found that someone had dumped a wisconsin THD (with broken pistons , bent con rods and valves) on my bench
As for tools, I tend to try and standardise fasteners so as to need a minimum of tools, and it depends on the bike , the guzzi
8,10,12,14,and 17mm spanners
4,5,6,8mm allen keys
phillips screwdriver
pliers
insulation tape
I work on the theory that if it's a major your screwed anyway so there is no point in taking tools for that, and if its not major then you can ( probly ) limp home or wherever.
I spend a bit of time cleaning my bikes ( get it up on a bench at eye height) because after a while your eyes will notice anything unusual or out of place, and spotting an issue at this stage can avoid a breakdown. I dont carry a spare regulator ( for instance ) so I dont carry the tools needed to replace one, however I do keep spares at home.... ie
filters, oil , plugs sprockets ,chains, belts......... basically anything needed to do a big service , and I am working on massing enough paso parts to repair a good get-off

Your mention of regulators reminds me of 2002 WDW on 888 strada. I had bought a spare reg from a mate for a £5 prior to going and put it under the seat as a last minute thought. Low and behold in Missano early saturday on my own, looking for a cooked breakfast, the 8,s missing and cutting out. An Iranian guy on a 748 (Mardad, living in N Italy,anyone know him pls fwd details) stopped and after a discusion and fiddle about we changed the reg by twisting the wire and tape, and off we went. My mate Daves ST2 cooked a reg on that trip too, Im glad mine went 1st cos he paid £140 for his. Will carry 1 if its a hot trip! My clutch died on way home in Holland, I borrowed half of Daves clutch, which is why I carry a plain. Keith.

Rhino

Keep in mind that whilst our NHS covers us for treatment anywhere in Europe, it only does so if you have the valid card and in some countries does not cover you to get to the source of the treatment depending on what your circumstances and location are !

Its a shock to be asked for your credit card before being strapped into the chopper for a ride to the hospital