Motorcycle wrenching tips?

Impact screwdriver for Phillips head screws (on old Jap bikes), also works with adaptor on stuck Allen heads.

Cut the side off a 10l plastic jerrycan to make a tray & a bowl for cleaning stuff in.

Use Permatex No3 Aviation gasket cement on old gaskets especially but good on new ones as well. Never sets hard, is oil & petrol proof but can be cleaned off with ethanol.

Use a torque wrench on nearly everything as many of te bolts are surprisingly easy to strip.

BUY A MANUAL to suit the bike

DONT buy cheap tools especially shifting spanners

It really depends on the bike is it like a moped or like a big old harley Davison or a crock rocket and if its got a seat for two people and if its got a sisi bar ( i cant spell the first part right) its the thing that comes up behind the seat and looks like a back rest. 1. If its got seat that can fit two people and got the sisi bar she just has to watch out and keep her legs off the exhaust pipe and to hold you in the waist. 2. If its an moped or a crock rocket do the same thing like .1 but she has to hold on whole lot more and you cant make fast accelerations that will throw her off if she ain't careful also make sure shes wearing leather jacket jeans and boats or sneakers because if some went wrong if you had to lay the bike down or anything like that. She would have a better chance . ( heres a good reason why she should wear that , me and a friend was helping someone move in and when we were turning on to the road this guy hit the trailer we had the stuff on . He had on a t shirt short and sandals when it happened and he ended up loosing his leg. If he had on things i said earlier he would've made it out of that with some road burns and shredded up pants so thats my reason why). 3. Long as you feel confident and watch the cars beside you and keep good breaking distance from the car in front your fine (also long as you let her know that your little nervous) you be fine also like i said keep it cool and keep sharp eye on people around you, you should be fine

I made my life a lot easier by changing to stainless steel cables and hoses.

Then I made it even easier by going to a reliable shop.

Not kidding, really. I don't have the cash to invest in a new set of specialty pullers and tools.

I will, one day, when the new stuff aint so darn expensive - since this bike I will keep.

My variety at work has lessened, I now mostly turn wrenches for a living.

When it was fun, I did lots. I had the 'zuki apart so many times, I could change the cams in 15 minutes.

No time, and now no garage.

And magnetic parts dishes are so handy.

The most common socket size for metric bikes is 8mm, 10mm, 12mm.

I have a 3 separate ratchets with extensions and sockets already loaded.

3 individual tools.

No time wasted reaching for extensions and sockets.

My tool box has "cut outs" for all sockets, extensions and ratchets.

Everything has a place so I don't waste time searching for tools.

I have a colored dot next to each size tool so I can grab a tool without looking at the size.

I need an 8mm - grab the red one.

When working on a job, I don't put the tools back into my box until the job is complete.

I lay them out in size order and type.

Ratchets, extensions, sockets, wrenches , screw drivers, pliers - all in size order.

I'm going to have to use the tool again, so keep it easily accessible and identifiable.

Had my share of tire cut-offs, customized a few tools to do the job, but lately I've only done the wrenching on my 06 YZ 450F and let the Shop work the motor parts on my Triumph Tiger 955i, too many expensive side-tools.

Also moved to a smaller-sized garage so work space is limited to my wood-working business, hard to have both together.

We all gotta do what we gotta do, fun part is keeping a smile on your face or let Bubba at the Shop say ' Hey, you're kind of cute, mind if I screw you?'

I usually put my glasses on, that makes wrenching a lot easier.

Another one, any time you do electric, blow up the diagram to 4 full printer pages, print it, glue to cardboard sheet, highlight each traced wire/write down each test result next to component.

if you have a metric, invest in a JIS screwdriver ... mineral spirits and Honda spray cleaner are some other must-haves ... and if you have chain, dupont chainsaver keeps things clean ....