The Ultimate Adventure Bike Tool Kit

Dakar Racer, Simon Pavey once showed me the tool kit he uses on the Dakar Rally.... and it’s tiny.

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.

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!

Adventure bike tools

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

The tool roll itself is made by Kriega. You can find it online here.

How to make your own tool luggage

Click Here

Accessories

Mr. Funnel. 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.
Large, medium and small cable ties
Duct and electrical tape
Ratchet tie down (used for ferries, towing, strapping broken stuff together – our most used and loved bit of kit – couldn’t live without it!)
Jump cables

Spares

Bulbs
O-rings and washers for oil filter changing/ nuts, bolts and washers
Clutch and brake levers
Parts for Scottoiler
Universal cable repair kit
Spark plug
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

Tyres

Rocky Creek light weight tyre pump – compact, light and cheap at around £30
Three tyre levers and one rim protector
Puncture repair kit (tubed or tubeless kit depending on your bike)
Tyre pressure gauge

Lubes

Silicone grease for air filter sealing
Standard grease, Loctite and copper grease
Air filter grease (although standard grease will do)
Metal epoxy (cheap one from Halfords, but very effective at sticking metal together)
3-In-One multi-purpose lubrication
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 from Amazon after clicking one of our links (even if it’s not the exact product we’re linking to). It helps us keep our site running. Thank you!