Piston and Pavement: Tools!

Ooo, two posts in a week, I'm on a roll here. Todays topic: Tools! lets have some shop talk over some important pieces really necessary to increase productivity in the shop when working on bikes.

Tools!

Tools, I mean what self-respecting man can honestly say he doesn’t like tools? It’s like a child in a candy store. Men love tools, don’t get me started on the so called men with “man-buns” or the flannel wearing bearded Coffee aficionados, neither of those are considered men. I am the leader in all things cheap and good quality. I do my research, read reviews, and then make my decisions based solely on what my needs may be.

Men love tools and working on Motorcycles requires a selection of tools. Some of us have been blessed with tremendous garages and all the tools we need, some men have to make do with what they have so I’ve composed this list as a set of essential tools, and/or tools some may long to own. For the sake of this list I’m assuming every man has the essentials needed, Ratchets, Sockets, wrenches, Screwdrivers and a hammer. Just a note, none of the companies have persuaded or endorsed me in anyway, I just like tools and put a lot of time into researching and finding the best tool for the value so here are my picks when it comes to working on vintage motorcycles

Motorcycle Lift. Let’s start with this, I bought mine from Harbor freight three years ago now, and it has been the best piece in my garage ever since. I don’t know how on earth I managed without one. To be able to roll a bike up and then lift it up to eye level is so nice. I bought mine from Harbor freight for $225 I think with the 20% off coupon. You can’t go wrong with one of these. Do yourself and your back a favor and go get one now! Other options include wooden bike racks/platforms. I’ve a couple of these in my shop as well but they are nowhere near as nice to work with as the Lift table. Wait until its on sale and you cant go wrong. Bike lift
Tool box. Yeah, yeah every guy has some junky plastic Home depot “toolbox” laying around, help yourself. Get an actual tool chest. I have three rolling tool chests, A craftsman to hold all my SAE wrenches, sockets, and Allen wrenches, a Stanley to hold all my Metric wrenches, sockets and Allen wrenches, and another Stanley to hold my pliers, extensions, screwdrivers, and etc. but my favorite new piece was this Husky Rolling tool cart. With two slide out drawers, a flip top and a bottom shelf you can’t beat it especially for the price! Buy yourself something to hold your tools or else you will lose them all and then, well, that’s no Bueno. Tool chest
JIS bits. Learning lesson and tip. Japanese bikes DO NOT USE PHILLIPS HEAD SCREWS EVER! Japanese bikes use JIS screws. JIS stands for Japanese Industrial Standard. Ever wonder why you seem to always strip them out with a Phillips number two bit? That’s why, JIS is similar to a Phillips only stubbier and less of an angle. The closest you can get to a JIS bit is a Phillips number 3 out of a hand impact driver kit. Save yourself from drilling out bolts and buy a set of JIS bits! JIS screwdrivers
Impacts. Dear lord, how many times a day do I use my impact. If you want to be fancy like myself get two. Get a hand impact and a cordless impact. I love my Ryobi 18v One+ kit (another day) I have a Ryobi One+ impact with lithium battery and it is a lifesaver. Seriously, how did people work on bikes without these tools? What do you do when you have a bolt that wants to round off with a ratchet and your cordless impact wont budge it? Break out your hand impact and a dead blow hammer. I’ve yet to find a bolt I couldn’t get out with my hand impact. Cordless impact; Hand impact.
Allen set. Allen head sockets and a regular allen set are both necessities, it seems simple but you need them. Buy a nice set of allen head sockets and combine with your cordless impact for a killer combo. For those stubborn hard to break loose bolts, a set of regular allen wrenches really put some torque behind it. Hex Keys; Hex sockets
3/8” T handle. This seems more like a want than a necessity but this can really speed up your production time like you wouldn’t believe. I bought this one from Sears last year from sears and its really a great tool. One of the short handle ends also has a male bit driver.so you can really torque down by using the long end for leverage. T-Handle
Tap and dye set. If you’re working on vintage bikes you’re going to have some really trashed threads at some point. The only fix for this is a tap set. A tap set is similar to a bolt except it has cutting threads to cleanout and restore the old threads or can create new threads in a freshly drilled hole. You will use these far more often than you think. Tap and Dye
EZ-out. We’ve all done it we’ve all gotten irritated, grabbed a hold of that wrench to torque it down like Hulk Hogan and then snap. Head is broken off and you’re left fifth a broken off stud in the frame or even worse, the cases. I use my EZ out set all the time, drill a small hole in the end of the broken bolt about an 1/8^th or ¼” deep. Slowly screw in the EZ out turning it clockwise and it slowly backs the broken bolt out of the hole. Its such a lifesaver and can save a day of wrenching from coming to a screeching halt. EZ-out
Torque wrench. This is a pretty obvious choice but how can you possibly expect to work on a motorcycle without a torque wrench? I still use my grandfathers old torque wrenches from the 60’s and 70’s these are a lifelong tool that will always be there when you need it. Torque wrench
Seal drivers! Last but not least are seal drivers, you aren’t gonna need these unless you step your game from casual tinkering to full out rebuilds in your shop but they’re super cheap and easy to come by if you do it the right way. I personally have started using PVC couplings as seal drivers with a plug on one end to give my mallet a good striking face., it’s a crude use but it works incredibly. Go to the Hardware store and buy a variety of Couplings and plugs They’re cheap, they’re durable and dadgummit, they work!