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The Ultimate Adventure Bike Tool Kit

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Dakar Racer, Simon Pavey once showed me the tool kit he uses on the Dakar Rally – and it’s tiny… Here’s how to get your kit as compact as possible and what we use on our round-the-world ride.

Ultimate adventure bike tool kit
The complete tool kit we use to travel the world

Pavey once fitted a new engine with his kit and can fix anything on the bike with it because he has already done so. He’s practised with it, taken his bike apart and put it back together, and anything he didn’t use he didn’t take. His other bit of invaluable advice was not to tighten anything up on your bike using a tool that isn’t in your kit, there’s no point tightening the rear axle spindle up with a huge bar if you’ve only got a ¾ inch driver in your tool kit to undo it with.

The Ultimate Adventure Bike Tool Kit

Remembering those pearls of wisdom will really help when packing your kit as knowing what tools to take can be daunting, and if you’re not careful you can end up pulling a mini workshop on a trailer.

How to build your own motorcycle tool kit

Here’s how to build your tool kit. Take your adventure bike to pieces (as close to pieces as you can). Take everything off that you think is likely to go wrong with your bike within reason, there’s no point taking the engine apart as you won’t be taking it apart on a Namibian hard shoulder. Then put your bike back together, putting only the tools you use into one box. By the time you’ve finished you should have all the tools needed to put your bike back together in one container. Now go through that pile and condense even further. You can do this by swapping out attachments, buying 2-in-1 parts and so on.

By doing this, not only will you build a solid and lightweight tool kit, the process will also build your confidence in using those tools and fixing anything that breaks.

Our motorcycle tool kit

Here’s a complete list of all our tools, accessories and spares. Have fun building your own!

Ultimate adventure bike tool kit

Adventure bike tools

  1. 3⁄8-inch ratchet with sockets and extension used to remove any bolt on the bike
  2. Spindle key and 1⁄2-inch adapter for front
  3. Set of spanners
  4. Pin punch to remove brake pin
  5. Phillips and flat head screwdriver
  6. Tweezers
  7. Hex head bits
  8. Rear axle bolt spanner (should come with your bike)
  9. Attachments to remove header pipe
  10. Multi tool (with pliers, file, knife, saw and tin opener)
  11. Chain split link breaker
  12. Spark plug remover (should come with your bike)
  13. Cut piece of measuring tape for chain tension

Check out our Kriega Tool Roll Review

Ultimate adventure bike tool kit

Accessories

  1. Mr. Funnel (review). This funnel is a water and dirt filter with no changeable or serviceable parts. It filters out water and debris which can contaminate fuel in areas with poor petrol or when buying fuel stored in Coke bottles on the side of the road in Uzbekistan.
  2. Large, medium and small cable ties
  3. Duct and electrical tape
  4. Ratchet tie down (used for ferries, towing, strapping broken stuff together – our most used and loved bit of kit – couldn’t live without it!)
  5. Jump cables. Can come in very handy!
Ultimate adventure bike tool kit

Spares

  1. Bulbs
  2. O-rings and washers for oil filter changing/ nuts, bolts and washers
  3. Clutch and brake levers
  4. Parts for Scottoiler
  5. Universal cable repair kit
  6. Spark plug
  7. Front inner tube. We don’t carry a rear as tubes are heavy and we have a repair kit. The spare front tube can always be put in the rear tyre so we could hobble to a garage
Ultimate adventure bike tool kit

Tyres

  1. Rocky Creek light weight tyre pump (review) – compact, light and cheap at around £30
  2. Three tyre levers and one rim protector
  3. Puncture repair kit (tubed or tubeless kit depending on your bike)
  4. Tyre pressure gauge. Very handy when dropping and increasing your pressures for off-road riding and also for when fixing punctures.
Ultimate adventure bike tool kit

Lubes

  1. Silicone grease for air filter sealing
  2. Standard grease, Loctite and copper grease
  3. Air filter grease (although standard grease will do)
  4. Metal epoxy (cheap one from Halfords, but very effective at sticking metal together)
  5. 3-In-One multi-purpose lubrication
  6. We also carry a small amount of two consumables – engine oil and WD40 (we don’t carry spare Scott Oil as the reservoir carries 10,000 miles worth of oil)

ps. We receive a small commission, at absolutely no cost to you, if you purchase any product using this link to Sportsbikeshop, this link to Amazon or any of the links on this page. It helps keep our site and motorbike running. Thank you for your support.

Read more on Motorcycle Travel Gear 

Thanks for checking out our Ultimate Motorcycle Tool Kit. We hope you enjoyed it! Here’s a few more articles on packing for a motorcycle trip and adventure bike gear that we recommend you read next. 

Liked that? Try these…

RESOURCES

START: Check out this packed Motorcycle Travel Database

BIKE: Get your bike adventure ready with the Motorcycle Preparation Guides

KIT: Detailed Gear Guides and motorcycle Clothing and Kit Reviews

DESTINATIONS: Comprehensive Country Guides for motorcycle travellers

INSPIRATION: Awesome Stories from travellers and our monthly Blog

FORUM: Advice, chat and travel info on the Motorcycle Travel Forum.

2 thoughts on “The Ultimate Adventure Bike Tool Kit”

  1. Great write up and very useful ideas on how to pack an adventure bike tool kit. There’s quite a few bits in here I didn’t think of. Thanks a lot.

    Reply

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