[ChazzyB]

Me and my ginger girlie have a 1600 miles long week-end round trip lined up for late May. I'm wondering what, if any, spares I should take with me. I'll be taking the usual bulbs, duct tape, tie-wraps/zip ties, tools and fuses, if I remember to buy them. I started to wonder about spare control cables and lever blades. Am I coming over all unneccessary?

What do you carry?

 

[tomfleming]

What about tire repair kit? Small easy to carry. If u have room and 12 volt outlet maybe tire pump?

 

[p2gee]

I went on a 2000 mile trip last year and built me up a 40 pound tool and parts kit to carry with me. Toward the end of the trip about 500 miles or so from home I got to thinking......the stupidest thing I did on the whole trip was bring all the tools and parts with me. I had enough tools with me to field strip my bike to the frame, but if I needed say a #2 ignition coil where in the hell would I get one 40 miles south of Little Rock Arkansas? I found that the Tiger is a very stone reliable bike....mine went through cold , rain and sun and never missed a beat the whole trip. Next trip, I will go over my bike very well before leaving and my tool kit will consist of a flat fix kit, a credit card, and a cell phone to call a Triumph dealer or rent a Uhaul.

 

[ChazzyB]

What about tire repair kit?

What, with spoked whees and inner tubes?

Tyres designed for tubeless operation don't come off the rim too easily at the side of the road. I decided that the cavalry would get called in the event of a puncture.

 

[terryk88]

How did you physically prepare for the trip? How many miles/hours did you average/day and how long did it take to get used to being on the bike "x" number of hours per day?

 

[Tiger-G]

Makes me laugh

On my last trip round Europe last year, I filled the exhaust side pannier up with everything I could think of tool wise.

4,000 reliable miles later and the only thing I used was chain lube

I would probably do the same again, as you just never know.

Or you could just join a well known Breakdown Recovery group !!


I always take a puncture repair kit, spare chain links, stripped down tyre compressor, good quality cycle pump, spanners / sockets to take the front & rear wheel off, lamp kit, tyre levers, etc, etc.

The Triumph tool kit just isn't up to any more than basic stuff.

 

[Outrunner]

Graeme,

What compressor are you using, is it small enough to fit in a tool tube?


Andy.

 

[clive955]

I carry the normal bulbs,fuses,zip ties and gaffa tape when ever Im on the bike and thats about it really even if going abroad. Becouse I have an 02 model (spoked Wheels) I also carry a tin of tyre foam for flats from Halfords.

Best bit of advice I can give is carry a credit card and Recovery Card, These leave plenty of room in your panniers for Wine, Beer and that Inflatable Sheep you always try and hide from the Wife.

 

[TucsonBill]

I did a 1510 mile trip last weekend. I made sure I had my AAA (American Automobile Association) card, a cellphone, and a valid credit card. I get 100 miles free towing which works better than any toolkit - which I DO carry! In my case - Southern Arizona and Southern California - I was often 40 or 50 miles from "civilization". In the UK you are hardly more than walking distance from a village or town ;-)
p2gee is right about the reliability. 18 of us were doing the trip last weekend, the only mechanical issues were with one of those Hardly Davidson machines, the only one in the group. A guy in the group on a 1200GS managed to cut down a small tree, turns out a chainsaw can do it much more cheaply!

 

[ChazzyB]

that Inflatable Sheep you always try and hide from the Wife

I promised I wouldn't say anything about your sheep if you kept schtum about mine.

carry a credit card and Recovery Card

I always carry both cards AND a mobile phone.

 

[winger]

I did a 1510 mile trip last weekend. I made sure I had my AAA (American Automobile Association) card, a cellphone, and a valid credit card. I get 100 miles free towing which works better than any toolkit - which I DO carry! In my case - Southern Arizona and Southern California - I was often 40 or 50 miles from "civilization". In the UK you are hardly more than walking distance from a village or town ;-)
p2gee is right about the reliability. 18 of us were doing the trip last weekend, the only mechanical issues were with one of those Hardly Davidson machines, the only one in the group. A guy in the group on a 1200GS managed to cut down a small tree, turns out a chainsaw can do it much more cheaply!

In the UK your right Bill,but you can travel Europe in a day and have to deal wih half a dozen different languages,jeeze we have countrys that don't even speak the same language!!!

Spares,usual handfull of nuts and bolts,zip ties,tape,pair of thin rubber gloves,i carry a spare clutch lever and gear lever under the seat,but without a shadow
of a doubt the thing you need to carry is a female fuel connector if your bike is more than a couple of years old,because if one breaks your stuffed,as i learned to my cost,hardly practical on the side of the road repair,but as i found it's the part thats the problem,if your in Europe it's holiday over,with the part any garage could get you back on the road,within a couple of hours.

 

[ChazzyB]

the thing you need to carry is a female fuel connector if your bike is more than a couple of years

Good point. One of mine has already gone west...

 

[Tiger-G]

Hi Andy,

Good to hear from you

I had a blast through Selkirk to Moffat a couple of weks ago, but the road was still a bit slippy. Hopefully, we can get a ride out sorted in April / May.

My compressor is just a standard Halfrauds compressor with the plastic casing removed. I've put it all in a small plastic box from Maplin, just to keep it tidy, but it would definitely go in a tool tube.

Once you pull the casing off most 12v compressors there is very little to them. Just some wiring and a small circuit board, the motor and compressor combined, on / off switch and pressure readout and the tube to the valve connector.

The way tyres go down slowly these days, I would be tempted just to keep pumping it up with the compressor 'till I got to a repairer, rather than try a tubeless tyre repair by the side of the road.

Anyone else used a tubeless tyre repair kit by the side of the road ? How long did it take and was it successful ?

 

[Nigeh]

just have standard, basic kit, and few other bits, bulbs, fuses, multi-tool, duck tape.

Graeme..... Was on a ride to South of France last year with a mate on his SP2. Got to the car park in the morning at the hotel and found his back tyre flat as a pancake with a screw through the tread. I used a tubeless repair kit on it and thought it was great. First attempt to get the plug in failed as I had not opened the hole, where the screw came out of, big enough with the supplied tool. Once I had worked the gadget in and out to enlarge the hole in the tyre and gunged the plug up well with glue it went in a treat.

The cylinders supplied did an ok job of inflating the tyre but we stopped at first garage to inflate properly. After a few steady miles we were soon back up to 90 to 110 mph crusing on the autoroutes.

The tyre lost 6 psi in 3 days although he changed it in the south of france just to be certain it was safe.

As a get out of the do do they work great. Always have mine with me!

 

[Jonny955]

just have standard, basic kit, and few other bits, bulbs, fuses, multi-tool, duck tape.

Graeme..... Was on a ride to South of France last year with a mate on his SP2. Got to the car park in the morning at the hotel and found his back tyre flat as a pancake with a screw through the tread. I used a tubeless repair kit on it and thought it was great. First attempt to get the plug in failed as I had not opened the hole, where the screw came out of, big enough with the supplied tool. Once I had worked the gadget in and out to enlarge the hole in the tyre and gunged the plug up well with glue it went in a treat.

The cylinders supplied did an ok job of inflating the tyre but we stopped at first garage to inflate properly. After a few steady miles we were soon back up to 90 to 110 mph crusing on the autoroutes.

The tyre lost 6 psi in 3 days although he changed it in the south of france just to be certain it was safe.

As a get out of the do do they work great. Always have mine with me!

Sounds excellent, if you know how to use them! I've been building up a 'Touring Tool Kit' too. I have managed to squeeze a small tin of tyre weld under the pillion seat (where the OE tool kit goes). The rest of the kit includes a tubeless tyre repair kit, canistor inflators and a bicycle pump. With this and my breakdown card, I should be covered against any tyre deflations BUT I have never used the repair kit and I'd have to practice first!

For shorter trips, I still carry the tyre weld and my small bag of tools which is enough to remove all the bodywork, both wheels, airbox, plugs, forks, brakes etc. To get this down to the minimum, I did a full home service (including forks) and every time I used a tool, I put it to one side instead of back in the tool box. After a while, you get to work out what can be substituted to reduce the overall bulk and at least you KNOW the tools you have will do the job, rather than hoping they will.

A rationalised tool kit, some zip ties, tape, gloves, wire, spare bulbs & first aid kit is what I should end up with. Ideally, I'd 'hide' the lot on the bike without needing any space in the top box. As for taking spares along, I think you have to be a Witch Doctor to know what to bring!

Jon

 

[Outrunner]

A couple of years ago at the campsite in Fort Agustus I noticed a small screw in my back tyre while oiling the chain and of course after spitting on it I confirmed that it was leaking.

The only thing I could get my hands on at that time of night was a tin of Holts Tyreweld and it did the job, in fact it worked so well I ran the last 3000 miles out of the tyre without any pressure loss at all!

It did not take long to do so we made it to the pub for some food and drink to celebrate a successful repair.


Andy

 

[clive955]

Sorry Chazzy b, I thought everyone knew about your sheep !!!!

Tucson bill, if you ever get to Scotland and run out of fuel or breakdown I;ll personally remind you that your never more than a small walk away from civilisation !!!!, Is this another we Americans have bigger everything ??????????

 

[Nigeh]

Jonny955.... sounds like you have most eventualities covered there. Must admit I think I will add some cable ties to my list.

I have a couple of those 'tool tubes' on my Thunderbike crash bars one takes my flask and I am going to put all tools in the other because the standard place for the tool roll is useless and the rubber band that holds it in place is perished to boot and the bike is only 4 years old!

 

[TucsonBill]

clive955-
I'll be in Lincoln in July/August. Since I won't have my Tiger, give me your address and I'll walk over ;-) Maybe we can wander up to Scotland for lunch and then swim over to Ireland for some fresh Guinness.....
Actually, it's American ignorance about anything that's not American! I take that back, it's ignorance about geography in general!
And if your think Americans are proud of their wide open spaces, talk to an Ausssie, especially a Banana Bender or Sand Groper!

 

[pineygroveshop]

Spare tubes are worth the weight. An air source of course. Practice removing the tube from both wheels while you have a chance. Be sure to bring all the tools you used to do the procedure. A small can of WD-40 works wonders on the bead.