What to carry?

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Commando75

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Aug 25, 2008
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Getting ready for a road trip on my 75 MK3. I have all the obvious stuff ready to go but I just know there is something that I am going to wish I had brought! What do you guys suggest?

My bike is a pretty stock original with 14,000 miles on it. I rode it for a couple years before digging into the bike. New pistons, cylinder bore, head rebuilt, gerbox rebuilt, forks, primary, clutch all done. Trispark and high output coil fitted (best thing I have ever bolted onto a bike..get one). Many thanks to Phil at Fair Spares San Jose.

Here is a pic..hope it works.

What to carry?
 
Small creasant, small channel lock, 6 in 1 screw driver, plug wrench. The creasent should be just big enough for the axle nuts. Maybe one of those hook wrenches to fit the shocks and exhaust nuts. Some fuses and bulbs. A rag. Pocket size wd40. A cell phone and Insurance with roadside assistance.
 
Spare Tube & spare clutch cable ran right next to functioning cable. Just a couple to suggest. Have a nice trip.
 
A few zip-ties (life savers), extra plugs (w/ tool to replace), hex wrench assortment (if needed) and a small led flashlight in addtion to the previous posts.
 
A small volt-ohm meter. Some are almost credit card sized so bring your reading glasses too :wink:

Jean
 
Pvisseriii, that crack about roadside assistance was nasty. Absolutely accrate, but nasty.
 
Thanks for some great ideas. Voltmeter and zip ties...pocket WD-40. Cool.

My route is general at the moment. From my place near Monterey on the Ca coast, I'm going east to the Fresno area to see some old friends then north west hooking back up with the coast and then north into central Oregon. After that....not sure. So this trip is what I would consider long distance. I'm using Cortech saddle bags with a center bag which will give me enough capacity to bring everything I need for the bike. The bag system is really nice and not too expensive. It took me a while to zero in on the Cortech but I am glad I found it.
 
Commando75 said:
Thanks for some great ideas. Voltmeter and zip ties...pocket WD-40. Cool.

My route is general at the moment. From my place near Monterey on the Ca coast, I'm going east to the Fresno area to see some old friends then north west hooking back up with the coast and then north into central Oregon. After that....not sure. So this trip is what I would consider long distance. I'm using Cortech saddle bags with a center bag which will give me enough capacity to bring everything I need for the bike. The bag system is really nice and not too expensive. It took me a while to zero in on the Cortech but I am glad I found it.
Click to expand...

Pictures of the load out if you get a chance. There are a few board members along the route if you get in trouble. My pickup is only good for a 100 mile radius before I have to cash in a 401K to pay for gas. :mrgreen:
 
OK Dave I will take plenty of pics when I get going. I still have a few details to take care of with the bike. Then I need to find out what is going to go wrong with the things I think I fixed.

The last long trip for me was in 1989. Monterey to San Diego and then out to Vegas and back. I was on a 68 BMW R60 and my buddy was on a 58 Velocette MSS. The BMW was, well, a BMW but my friends Velo was something else. The lights quit working after a while and he had some magneto problems. It made it though. I had a few tools, no money, and just hoped for the best. I will be a little better prepaired for this trip.
 
Don't know what kind of mileage you're getting but there are some stretches on the Northern California coast that can be dicey as far as the availability of gas goes. IronButt has an archive of wisdom which is pretty good, just about everything goes double if your riding an 'older' bike. It's a great time for a long ride, tourist traffic is minimal and the road construction hasn't started yet. Be ready for any kind of weather up here.
http://www.ironbutt.com/tech/aowprintout.cfm
 
An INOA members list is always good. Lot's of good people who are willing to help if needed. Jim
 
Diablouph said:
Pvisseriii, that crack about roadside assistance was nasty. Absolutely accrate, but nasty.
Click to expand...
I have it. Don't leave home with out it!
Let's get real here, these are not BMW's or Aspencade's.
 
Hope I don't offend anyone by quoting from the latest Norton News, but I feel it's a helpful example in this case:

"To keep the weight down for the trip, the kit was restricted to a full set of spanners, a stock and die, taps, a set of reamers, two sets of feeler gauges, a socket set, a bench grinder, two screwdrivers, a mill, a lathe, a mig welder, a roll of duct tape and a packet full of hope and a half empty jar of good luck. If only the rider had packed a Bosch electrical system!"
 
Practice a bit first. Make sure that you can remove and dismantle the carbs with the tools you have. A few lengths of electrical cable are useful with appropriate connectors and make sure that you know how to bypass the ignition and kill switches etc.

If you're really out in the wilds and determined not to call for assistance then you'll need an inner tube and tyre levers.

I take a spare ignition unit on a long run as well as a head gasket and 3/8" drive 1/4" Whit socket and slim spanners to be able to whip the head off if needs be.

The best way to keep the gods happy is to take lots that you don't expect to need. It works for me.
 
For long trips I take the regular tool kit, a gallon of gas, chain lube, tools to fix a flat, a 6" file, a spare connector link for the chain, a ferrule for the throttle cable, clutch, throttle, (front brake) cables, electrical tape, a tube of RTV, spares for all the bulbs, a flashlight, spare fuse, spark plug socket, a set of gaskets for the carbs, a small tube of hand cleaner, a 6" needle nose vice grip, feeler gauges...

Chances are that whatever happens, you won't die ( not that the chances for being killed are insignificant), so I don't want to be delayed for long and I don't want to be thinking about maintenence that I should have done.

Greg
 
What's wong with blissfull ignorance :?: When I was young and foolish, the most exotic thing I carried besides the stock toolkit was a spare fuse and cell phones were not even a dream. Why did we become so afraid of everything :?: What happens is part of the adventure isn't it :?:

Jean
 
Here, here, Jean. When I was young and foolish ('63), I drove my '50 BSA B33 from Monterey to Santa Barbara with no thought of a tool other than a screwdriver and a bag of clothes. Down and back on the PCH without a hiccup. You need dumb faith and youthful vigor.

Dave
69S
 
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