Learning to Ride: Essential items to carry on your motorcycle

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Your bike just quit. Or something has worked its way loose. Maybe you’ve just had a flat tire or your bike fell over.

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The nature of your emergency does not matter. Any of these failures can put an end to your ride, which could, if you were unprepared, ruin your day.

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Learning to Ride: Essential items to carry on your motorcycle Back to video

On the other hand, if you put together a tool and spares kit, then whatever your (minor) mechanical issues or mishap may be, your delay will just be a minor part of the adventure of motorcycling. Here are some essentials:

Combination wrenches. Popular sizes for most motorcycles are 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, and 17 mm. I recommend shorty wrenches, since they are easy to carry. Go over the sizes needed for common bolts on your bike: anything needed for chain adjustment, removal of covers, etc. Make sure you have at least the sizes required for the most common of bolts.

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Adjustable wrench. An eight-inch-long adjustable wrench is easy to carry and can be used on bolt sizes not covered by your combination wrenches. It’s also long enough to leverage loose bolts too tight for the shorty wrenches.

Hex keys. Also known as Allen wrenches, popular sizes used on motorcycles include 5, 6, and 8 mm. Pocket-knife style carriers are common, featuring several sizes, take up little space.

Torx wrenches. Torx screws have six-point, star-shaped drive, and are found on many European and American bikes. Sizes should include T25, T30, T40 and T45. The are available as L-shaped keys, small bits, and ratchet sockets. The L-shaped keys are most convenient.

Locking pliers (more commonly known as vice grips). This multi-use tool can remove bolts that have stripped or rounded heads. They can be clamped onto the shifter shaft (carefully) and be used as a makeshift gearshift lever if you break one in a fall. I have even clamped one to the stub of a broken brake lever, making the front brake functional for the ride home.

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Phillips, and slotted or flat-blade screwdrivers. Smaller screws usually have Phillips heads. Slotted screws are less common, though they are often utilized at hand lever pivots. The slotted screwdriver can also be used to pry things off. Get a multi-functional driver with all the bits you need to save space.

Pocket knife. Good for stripping wires, and a multitude of other uses.

Flashlight. A flashlight may prove indispensable. Modern LED flashlights (or headlights) are compact, have a long battery life, and, as an added feature, to often have an attention-grabbing flashing function that can be used in place of road flares, which aren’t practical to carry on a motorcycle.

Tire repair kit. A flat can end your ride. If your bike is equipped with tubeless tires, a roadside repair can be performed in minutes. A flat repair kit for tubeless tires includes sticky cords and the tools to install them into a puncture, without removing the tire. If your tires have inner tubes, the repair isn’t so easy, and will require a new inner tube or a tube patching kit, and will require dismounting the tire.

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A 12-volt mini compressor or compressed gas cartridges . Once you’ve repaired that puncture, you’ll need to inflate the tire. Of course, a pressure gauge should be paired with your source of compressed air. Some 12-volt  mini compressors are barely bigger than an SLR camera, and can clip onto your battery, or into an accessory outlet. Compressed gas cartridges can be purchased as part of a full tire repair kit.

Duct tape. The Lord’s wonder material, duct tape can perform a multitude of fixes in a pinch, repairing everything from broken fairing panels or keeping saddlebags shut if a latch fails, or to wrap stripped electrical wires to prevent shorting. A handy way to carry it is to wrap some around a screwdriver shank or wrench. Also add J-B Weld steel-reinforced epoxy, as it is excellent for sealing cracked engine covers.

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Spare levers and light bulbs. Especially useful when you’re off-roading, since often the first thing to break in a fall is a clutch or brake lever. A burnt bulb can hamper safety, and most are easily replaceable. Throw a shop towSuch spares fit conveniently in a tool pouch.

First aid kit. A minor mishap might lead to a minor injury. A pre-assembled kit can be purchased that includes gauze dressing and adhesive bandages, antiseptic burn ointment, alcohol wipes, ibuprofen, tweezers, nitrile gloves, scissors, and perhaps other items that can handle minor injuries like scrapes and cuts.

Satellite tracker or emergency call app. Should you get into a situation in a remote area, or you are incapacitated and unable to contact emergency services, you can either carry a satellite tracker, like a SPOT tracker (findmespot.com), or get an emergency call app, like EatSleepRIDE’s Crashlight app (eatsleepride.com), or Triumph’s SOS app. These apps and devices track your location, can sense a potential crash, and either inform others of your location, call your emergency contacts, or in the case of the Triumph app, call emergency services directly. Both apps are available for Android and Apple devices. The above-mentioned tracker and apps require a subscription fee, but the minimal price is negligent for the peace of mind they each provide.

CAA membership. If all else fails, a quick call to the CAA can get your bike transported to the nearest motorcycle repair shop, or to your home.