The Toolkit Thread

[MojaveSidecar]

Originally Posted by DirtJack

I think you guys are missing the failure point. Ftb your video shows the problem clearly. Slowly step through the video (drag the slider back and forth, frames 33 thru 38) and you can see a crack in the outer housing widen and then close as the cover slips from one flat of the hex shaft to the next.

Good catch DirtJack looks like a hair line crack between seconds 33 thru 38... you must have eyes like a hawk.

[Poolside]

Good eye, DJ. It definitely could be a crack, or possibly the shadow from a tool mark.

[team ftb]

Originally Posted by DirtJack

I think you guys are missing the failure point. Ftb your video shows the problem clearly. Slowly step through the video (drag the slider back and forth, frames 33 thru 38) and you can see a crack in the outer housing widen and then close as the cover slips from one flat of the hex shaft to the next.

Thanks heaps DirtJack for the observation. It seems you had found the issue. However on further review of the piece it showed all was not quite what it seemed. Here's some (crappy) video shot better demonstrating what is happening with the piece.


Fercking hell, I tried to embed video as per the sticky instructions. Go to Youtube, click Embed video, copy and paste code utlizing the top right button (two A's in one small box) of the reply box but to no avail.

Ok back to the simpleton method. Here's a link to the video that better outlines what was happening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nKuP...ature=youtu.be

The crack that DirtJack thought he saw was indeed tooling marks on the tool. Though in the video it really looked like a crack opening and closing due to the torque on the tool.

Poolside thanks for the welding tip. I'll try that and see how the penetration looks.

Sadly even with Motion Pro (fantastic customer service) sending me a replacement drive adapter the fact that it is two pieces, and potential to not hold, will keep it from being loaded into my tool pack again for the trails. I try to be self sufficent on the trails and do a lot of remote riding, and keeping packed size minimal is always a benefit from a bike handling perspective. This tool allowed me to replace these tools in my kit.



which was a nice savings in space. However without confidence in the tool I'll be going back to my old reliable tools.

[DR. Rock]

Originally Posted by team ftb

... However without confidence in the tool I'll be going back to my old reliable tools.

Amen to that. Manufacturing flaws give me pause for concern -- I accept that they can happen, no QC is perfect.

Bad design, however, is unforgivable.

That said, I have been impressed with MotionPro's tools, and I hope they take this one back to the drawing board.

[DirtJack]

Originally Posted by DR. Rock

Bad design, however, is unforgivable.

1+

Originally Posted by DR. Rock

That said, I have been impressed with MotionPro's tools

My experience too.

[FYYFF]

Does anybody have Adventure Designs' KTM990 Tool Kit.
Price is a little steep at $230 but if it is a complete set, maybe it is a better deal than shopping around for each piece individually.
I was planning to make a set up using MotionPro's titanium wrenches and above metric tool but Adventure Designs' kit seems to be a complete one. Can anyone confirm that?

[Mercury264]

Originally Posted by FYYFF

Does anybody have Adventure Designs' KTM990 Tool Kit.
Price is a little steep at $230 but if it is a complete set, maybe it is a better deal than shopping around for each piece individually.
I was planning to make a set up using MotionPro's titanium wrenches and above metric tool but Adventure Designs' kit seems to be a complete one. Can anyone confirm that?

I do love these 'complete' toolkits

You can buy all the pieces in that toolkit using good quality tools for less than a hundred bucks - hell, even 50 may cover it.

[FYYFF]

Originally Posted by Mercury264

I do love these 'complete' toolkits

You can buy all the pieces in that toolkit using good quality tools for less than a hundred bucks - hell, even 50 may cover it.

[hilslamer]

Originally Posted by team ftb

In my eyes however Trail tools are meant to get you home after the shit hits the fan and the tools need to be depended on. ALL the riders I know feel the same way and their toolkits reflect it, thats the whole reason for this thread, to assist people in working out a functional toolkit that works in the field. Hislamers kit he carries is not designed to replace pistons on the trail but be high enough quality that he can fix and repair his bike to get him back to the garage. His mini ratchet drivers he carries are not to replace his full toolkit he has at home but to be relied upon to get him home with the minmum possble weight and space taken up in his toolkit. Thats exactly what I ask of my toolkit and was hoping the MP tool would work well in this role. The idea of carrying the MP toolkit as a convenience item in addition to additional sockets, drivers, screwdrivers and hex's that the MP tool covers is not what I'm looking for my ideal Trailsoide tool kit. But we're all different I guess.

Well said, and EXACTLY the intent of this thread/information exchange session. I never explicitly state it in these terms, but: everyone's toolkit had special needs based on their bike, accessories, conditions, age, physical handicaps(like busted fingers or wrists that don't bend, for example).

This is why it is SO ESSENTIAL that a kit assembled for YOUR needs is used in every way that it can be anticipated that it will be needed in the field PRIOR TO THAT NEED in the "comfort of your own home/workshop/garage/carport/hogan/lean-to/hovel/tarp-tent/private raincloud etc." so that deficiencies and shortcomings can be identified, redundancies pruned out, and excesses trimmed to bare needs to meet weight minimization requirements...all without risking functionality or reliability for multiple use and anticipated abuses. In profound retrospect, I did not and cannot emphasize this most-important consideration with respect to amassing toolkits for any purpose adequately enough, but in this case prominently motorcycles.

I don't know anyone at MotionPro personally, but I'd gladly work as a consultant! ;) I feel like most of their products meet the above criteria, barring outright abuse.

The trouble with the term "abuse" is that one man's use is another's abuse and trying to tell either one to use a tool harder or softer, respectively, is akin to trying to tell someone who genuinely thinks they "know" how to shift/clutch/double clutch a manual transmission...everyone does it differently and only those that have a true understanding of the physics and mechanical kinematics invloved in all of the individual mechanisms as well as the sum of them when in use shift properly - the rest have unfounded, unseated, mistimed and forced movements that destroy synchros, drive dogs, shift forks and fry clutches, all unneccesarily. They then then blame the mechanisms or materials for failure instead of seeking true understanding.

The same often happens with tools, which is why the ham-fisted among us should prove out their tools in the absence of duress just as the weak-wristed should, so that when the tools are needed, they will be present, tolerate both the task and the user, and justify their presence and expense in terms of cost, weight to carry. and bulk.

[team ftb]

Originally Posted by hilslamer

Well said, ............................).

This is why it is SO ESSENTIAL that a kit assembled for YOUR needs is used in every way that it can be anticipated that it will be needed in the field PRIOR TO THAT NEED in the "comfort of your own home/workshop/garage/carport/hogan/lean-to/hovel/tarp-tent/private raincloud etc." so that deficiencies and shortcomings can be identified......................

Motion Pro.................I feel like most of their products meet the above criteria, barring outright abuse.

.

Yes, after owning other MP tools and after working in the garage on multiple bikes for two weeks I was sure the MP tool was up to snuff, changing wheels, forks, working on carbs, etc it worked fine and I thought during those two weeks it would uncover any weakness in the tool. Sadly it was only on the trail when removing a 10mm bolt that the tool then failed on me. Frustrating.

Hislamer have you updated your toolkit with anything since the beginning of the thread?

[hilslamer]

Originally Posted by team ftb

Hislamer have you updated your toolkit with anything since the beginning of the thread?

Suprisingly, no. With the exception of converting over to a full complement of Klim NacPac and Scramble Pak, it's pretty much the same. It went through years and years of refinement before I posted it up here, so new additions aren't very frequent for me anymore. I never ponied up for the Titanium wrenches, I just do a couple of extra squats at the gym each week...LOL.

I do wish that SOG built a Titanium version of the parapliers - that's the biggest single chunk of weight on my waist, and it would be nice to buy all the weight loss in one shot.

I also built a nearly duplicate kit for my Adventure, though, with specialzed stuff for that bike as you would assume, and minus the first aid stuff because I carry that all the time in a backpack I use daily whether I'm riding in to work or not, etc.

[Motoriley]

I agree with what you are saying. I'm not a big fan of some lightweight tool that is less reliable than the real tool in my garage. When I have a break down in the boonies I need a tool that will work for sure. At home I can jump in the car and head off to the store so a tool failing isn't a big deal. My kit may be a bit on the heavy side but has saved the day many times. I also notice that when a bigger repair has to be done trailside that everyone is quite happy to toss their multitool and use a real ratchet and socket. Since I am the group tool mule my kit isn't moto-specific it it has some redundancy. I just weighed my tool roll and my tire kit and it came in at a whopping 11 lbs total so maybe I need to get a grip.

Originally Posted by hilslamer

Well said, and EXACTLY the intent of this thread/information exchange session. I never explicitly state it in these terms, but: everyone's toolkit had special needs based on their bike, accessories, conditions, age, physical handicaps(like busted fingers or wrists that don't bend, for example).

This is why it is SO ESSENTIAL that a kit assembled for YOUR needs is used in every way that it can be anticipated that it will be needed in the field PRIOR TO THAT NEED in the "comfort of your own home/workshop/garage/carport/hogan/lean-to/hovel/tarp-tent/private raincloud etc." so that deficiencies and shortcomings can be identified, redundancies pruned out, and excesses trimmed to bare needs to meet weight minimization requirements...all without risking functionality or reliability for multiple use and anticipated abuses. In profound retrospect, I did not and cannot emphasize this most-important consideration with respect to amassing toolkits for any purpose adequately enough, but in this case prominently motorcycles.

I don't know anyone at MotionPro personally, but I'd gladly work as a consultant! ;) I feel like most of their products meet the above criteria, barring outright abuse.

The trouble with the term "abuse" is that one man's use is another's abuse and trying to tell either one to use a tool harder or softer, respectively, is akin to trying to tell someone who genuinely thinks they "know" how to shift/clutch/double clutch a manual transmission...everyone does it differently and only those that have a true understanding of the physics and mechanical kinematics invloved in all of the individual mechanisms as well as the sum of them when in use shift properly - the rest have unfounded, unseated, mistimed and forced movements that destroy synchros, drive dogs, shift forks and fry clutches, all unneccesarily. They then then blame the mechanisms or materials for failure instead of seeking true understanding.

The same often happens with tools, which is why the ham-fisted among us should prove out their tools in the absence of duress just as the weak-wristed should, so that when the tools are needed, they will be present, tolerate both the task and the user, and justify their presence and expense in terms of cost, weight to carry. and bulk.

[DR. Rock]

Originally Posted by Motoriley

I just weighed my tool roll and my tire kit and it came in at a whopping 11 lbs total so maybe I need to get a grip.

Not at all... that's precisely the weight of tools / parts & tire kit I carry for Mobius backcountry travel. Not much less for weekend travel out of NYC (I ditch the DRZ-specific parts like stator / bearings / fork seals)

[kpt4321]

Originally Posted by DR. Rock

(I ditch the DRZ-specific parts like stator / bearings / fork seals)

You carry a stator and bearings in the field?

Keep a spare piston and crankshaft in there just in case?

[DR. Rock]

Originally Posted by kpt4321

You carry a stator and bearings in the field?
Keep a spare piston and crankshaft in there just in case?

No piston / crankshaft, but yeah, stator (about the size of a fist), a set of wheel bearings, and one set of fork seals. Front brake and clutch lever, extra clutch and throttle cables zip-tied to the originals, usually a set of brake pads, a few chain links, spark plug, spare carb jets. This is for 2 DRZ's.

I don't have opportunity to do much preventive maintenance on the bikes, so it's all about field repair. We ride two weeks on the trail at a time, with minimal access to repairs / parts. I don't want ever again to give up 3 or 4 days of riding waiting for a known weak or consumable part to get FedEx'ed to us in the middle of nowhere (or use a tow-strap on the interstate). If a bearing blows and I have the part, I only need to get to any service station and have it pulled -- I can knock the new one in by myself. Hell, with a camp stove, plug socket, screwdriver and a rock you could even do it trailside. Stator is the achilles heel of the drz, DAMHIK.