[Kenny Sagawa’s Column] First Thing to do for Self-Maintenance is to get Good Tools!

[ Kenny Sagawa, Webike News Chief Editor ]

Maintenance Your Vehicle for the Summer

I’m sure a lot of people miss the long vacation that has just gone by. But since the weather is great this time of the year, why not maintenance your motorcycle for summer.

When I used to participate in races, I usually maintenanced my motorcycle by myself. Not just exchange oil and replace brake pads but I also replaced the clutch and dismantled the carburetor to replace the jet. Motorcycles well maintenanced are comfortable and the fulfillment you get after you’ve done it on your own is priceless.

It will take a lot of time and effort to explain the essence of self maintenance. So I’m leaving that up to professionals. Today I’d like to talk to you about tools.

A Small Mistake Led Me to Chose Good Tools

To tell you the truth, the other day I made a basic mistake with my tools. Actually it wasn’t my motorcycle I was maintenancing but my bicycle. I was using a Hex Wrench that I found in the house to remove the pedal on the right side. No wonder I had difficulty, it was a ”reverse screw”. For safety, screws used for bicycles are tightened in the direction the pedal moves. I carelessly forget that and used the wrench in the wrong direction.

Which is not supposed to be much of a hassle but the screw got stuck so I had to take it to a bicycle store to get it off. There I found a ”pedal wrench”. It’s a special tool for bicycles and has a plastic handle to avoid hands from slipping. The professional mechanic at the bicycle shop fixed the step on the left side between his feet and pulled the screw out on the first attempt.

I was thrilled and bought this special wrench for myself. The hex section fits the screw perfectly and removes the screw with no hard effort at all.

I’m pretty off track. I’ll start with today’s main issue. I just wanted you to know that whether it’s a bicycle or a motorcycle, special tools should be used.

How to Choose Tools that are Essential for Maintenance

Tools are essential for maintenance, however they are available in various prices and we often tend to buy cheap ones at first at hardware stores. As they say, cheap and nasty. Cheap tools are often made with not so good material and low quality. If you try to use them on force, they may break the head of the bolt or nut or even parts that require large repairs.

That doesn’t mean the more expensive the better. But popular brands do offer good products. For example tools like American SNAP-ON, German HAZET, WERA Italian BETA (used for Ferraris), Japanese KTC and Ko-ken offer tools with excellent cost performance.

It’s just that high quality tools like this are expensive and it is difficult to purchase a complete set at once. In my case, I purchased a set at a motorcycle shop at a decent price (around 10,000YEN) and replaced the ones I frequently use with high quality tools.

I recommend you to purchase Box Wrench, Spanner, large medium small Driver, Hex Wrench and Plug Wrench with high quality. Tools like Monkey Wrench that can be used versatile, Hook Wrench used for Suspension Setting and Torque Wrench used for tightening also require high quality.

When you have improved your maintenance skills and want to make a further step, you might like to go for a high brand tool set.

The Tools You Select will Influence Your Motorcycle Life

You don’t have to be nervous after all you’re not a professional mechanic. But to keep your motorcycle in good shape for a long period of time and to improve maintenance performance, it is better to make a good choice of tools.