Tools you'll need

[the Ferret]

Andy here is what I carry under the seat ( see post 1)

http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread....t=Tool+kit

You have to ask yourself "what are my personally capable of fixing on the side of the road? " Personally I can adjust the chain, lube it, check tire pressure, change a fuse, remove a battery, and fix a flat with the stuff I carry and that is all I would hope to need to be done on the road. I have spent a week on the road 2 separate times, on my CB's and the only thing I needed to do was lube the chain once midweek after riding in the rain on the first trip and nothing on the second trip.

I carry the flat fixing kit in a tail pack or tank bag. (see post 29 in this thread for that). i have squeezed it under the seat but it's a tight fit, so I carry it in another bag. I only carry it when on out of state trips.

Oh and I have AAA plus RV which would tow me 100 miles if it were a serious breakdown ( which I couldn't fix on the side of the road anyway)

[AndyHe_imp]

Thanks, that thread is very helpful.

[emptysea]

+1 on these tool-related threads being very helpful.

So, it's getting to be Christmas time and it appears that my son wants us to do some of our own wrenching on "his" CX500 that I just purchased. These two things have pushed me to getting "him" some tools for a Christmas gift.

I have read this thread and it has given me a good list of tools. Now here comes the controversial question: What brand? I want durability and high quality, but I don't want to spend a fortune. I have received tools from Harbor Frieght as gifts and they have been junk for the most part, but maybe they carry higher quality items, too. On the other hand, years ago Snap On was THE brand, but they cost more than the car I was working on at the time. Where should I go for my best tool value?

Let the arguments begin! LOL

[the Ferret]

Hard to beat Craftsman. I think they still have a lifetime guarantee. Booger one up and take it in they hand ya a new one.

Since you will be working on an older bike I highly recommend an impact driver. If you don't know what that is, it's a spring loaded tool. Put the Phillips head bit in. Stick it in a stuck screw, twist, put some inward pressure on it, and give it a healthy whack with a big ol hammer. If you try unscrewing them with a screwdriver all you'll do is strip the heads and have to use a chisel and hammer to get them out. PB blaster is a good accessory for your impact driver. Spray the screw the night before you want to work on it.

http://local.sears.com/Craftsman-Impact-...01xlpla#!/

BTW as previously noted somewhere Japanese didn't really use Phillips, they developed their own called JIS (Japanese industrial standard) which has a shallower slot but you won't find jis bits for an American impact driver. If you find your Phillips twisting out grind about 20 thousandths off the tip.

http://www.vesseltools.com/hand-tools/sc...ducts.html

[emptysea]

I was thinking Craftsman, myself. Thanks for the tip on the JIS/impact issue. I am going to buy a set of JIS screwdrivers. I'll keep that in mind.

[metallyguitarded_imp]

Hard to beat Craftsman. I think they still have a lifetime guarantee. Booger one up and take it in they hand ya a new one.

Since you will be working on an older bike I highly recommend an impact driver. If you don't know what that is, it's a spring loaded tool. Put the Phillips head bit in. Stick it in a stuck screw, twist, put some inward pressure on it, and give it a healthy whack with a big ol hammer. If you try unscrewing them with a screwdriver all you'll do is strip the heads and have to use a chisel and hammer to get them out. PB blaster is a good accessory for your impact driver. Spray the screw the night before you want to work on it.

http://local.sears.com/Craftsman-Impact-...01xlpla#!/

BTW as previously noted somewhere Japanese didn't really use Phillips, they developed their own called JIS (Japanese industrial standard) which has a shallower slot but you won't find jis bits for an American impact driver. If you find your Phillips twisting out grind about 20 thousandths off the tip.

http://www.vesseltools.com/hand-tools/sc...ducts.html

Here's a great little trick I learned a couple months back when I had unfortunately stripped a Phillips head screw in ... I can't even remember what ... but it was done. I had tried a hand held screw driver. When that didn't work, I tried a flat blade. When that failed, I resorted to a corded drill with a Phillips head attachment. That pretty much removed what remained of the butchered edges leaving me, uh, screwed. I thought I would have to drill it out and even made an attempt at it only to get more frustrated. I resorted to my good friend YouTube and found one of those "life hack" videos with cool tips to solve problems such as this.

You simply place a normal rubber band across the stripped head of the screw, push it in place with your electric drill and reverse it out. The rubber band grabs that screw so effectively that I couldn't believe it! It immediately backed it out. I was so happy and in disbelief with how effective it was, I wanted to tell everyone but knew I'd seem like an idiot telling people who had no immediate need for the information. So, ferret, thanks for providing me this outlet. I feel much better now.

Of course, I don't expect any of you to go and strip all the heads on all your screws just so you can try this, but file this little nugget away and you'll be happy you did.

[the Ferret]

More info on jis

http://www.instructables.com/id/When-a-P...-Standard/

[emptysea]

Good info. Thanks.

I have a small set of screwdriver bits and it actually included a couple of JIS bits, they are too big for most applications

[Cormanus]

Hard to beat Craftsman. I think they still have a lifetime guarantee. Booger one up and take it in they hand ya a new one.

Since you will be working on an older bike I highly recommend an impact driver. If you don't know what that is, it's a spring loaded tool. Put the Phillips head bit in. Stick it in a stuck screw, twist, put some inward pressure on it, and give it a healthy whack with a big ol hammer. If you try unscrewing them with a screwdriver all you'll do is strip the heads and have to use a chisel and hammer to get them out. PB blaster is a good accessory for your impact driver. Spray the screw the night before you want to work on it.

http://local.sears.com/Craftsman-Impact-...01xlpla#!/

BTW as previously noted somewhere Japanese didn't really use Phillips, they developed their own called JIS (Japanese industrial standard) which has a shallower slot but you won't find jis bits for an American impact driver. If you find your Phillips twisting out grind about 20 thousandths off the tip.

http://www.vesseltools.com/hand-tools/sc...ducts.html

Here's a great little trick I learned a couple months back when I had unfortunately stripped a Phillips head screw in ... I can't even remember what ... but it was done. I had tried a hand held screw driver. When that didn't work, I tried a flat blade. When that failed, I resorted to a corded drill with a Phillips head attachment. That pretty much removed what remained of the butchered edges leaving me, uh, screwed. I thought I would have to drill it out and even made an attempt at it only to get more frustrated. I resorted to my good friend YouTube and found one of those "life hack" videos with cool tips to solve problems such as this.

You simply place a normal rubber band across the stripped head of the screw, push it in place with your electric drill and reverse it out. The rubber band grabs that screw so effectively that I couldn't believe it! It immediately backed it out. I was so happy and in disbelief with how effective it was, I wanted to tell everyone but knew I'd seem like an idiot telling people who had no immediate need for the information. So, ferret, thanks for providing me this outlet. I feel much better now.

Of course, I don't expect any of you to go and strip all the heads on all your screws just so you can try this, but file this little nugget away and you'll be happy you did.

MG, you don't happen to have a link to the YouTube video do you?

[metallyguitarded_imp]

Hard to beat Craftsman. I think they still have a lifetime guarantee. Booger one up and take it in they hand ya a new one.

Since you will be working on an older bike I highly recommend an impact driver. If you don't know what that is, it's a spring loaded tool. Put the Phillips head bit in. Stick it in a stuck screw, twist, put some inward pressure on it, and give it a healthy whack with a big ol hammer. If you try unscrewing them with a screwdriver all you'll do is strip the heads and have to use a chisel and hammer to get them out. PB blaster is a good accessory for your impact driver. Spray the screw the night before you want to work on it.

http://local.sears.com/Craftsman-Impact-...01xlpla#!/

BTW as previously noted somewhere Japanese didn't really use Phillips, they developed their own called JIS (Japanese industrial standard) which has a shallower slot but you won't find jis bits for an American impact driver. If you find your Phillips twisting out grind about 20 thousandths off the tip.

http://www.vesseltools.com/hand-tools/sc...ducts.html

Here's a great little trick I learned a couple months back when I had unfortunately stripped a Phillips head screw in ... I can't even remember what ... but it was done. I had tried a hand held screw driver. When that didn't work, I tried a flat blade. When that failed, I resorted to a corded drill with a Phillips head attachment. That pretty much removed what remained of the butchered edges leaving me, uh, screwed. I thought I would have to drill it out and even made an attempt at it only to get more frustrated. I resorted to my good friend YouTube and found one of those "life hack" videos with cool tips to solve problems such as this.

You simply place a normal rubber band across the stripped head of the screw, push it in place with your electric drill and reverse it out. The rubber band grabs that screw so effectively that I couldn't believe it! It immediately backed it out. I was so happy and in disbelief with how effective it was, I wanted to tell everyone but knew I'd seem like an idiot telling people who had no immediate need for the information. So, ferret, thanks for providing me this outlet. I feel much better now.

Of course, I don't expect any of you to go and strip all the heads on all your screws just so you can try this, but file this little nugget away and you'll be happy you did.

MG, you don't happen to have a link to the YouTube video do you?

MG, you don't happen to have a link to the YouTube video do you?
I took a quick look to see if I could find the exact video that I watched but now I'm not sure if it was one video or a combination of them that led me to try this method. A search on YouTube for "remove stripped screw" turns up all kinds of methods including the rubber band trick I successfully used as well as using a deflated balloon (same concept) or duct tape (again just placing it on top of the screw). I came across one video that purported to "debunk" the removal of a screw with a rubber band but I swear, it worked perfectly for me! I don't know that the videos themselves were all that great at showing the technique but they inspired me, in my desperation, to give it go. Now, if someone would have filmed the ridiculous look on my face when it actually worked, that would have made for some quality instruction.