What did you do to your bike today?
- Thread starter edd1e
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Yup. It's like that time they tried to charge me £100 extra on my premium because apparently my old bike is absolutely not a CB600 F4 and is in fact the more powerful, faster Hornet... argued that they're the same thing for a good amount of time on the phone before they backed down and said something along the lines of "we're still right, but because we're so nice, we won't make you pay that £100".
because race bike! yo
Soldato
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Rode it for the first time in a while without ear plugs. Pure awesome deafening noise
Taking my wheels off tonight, then borrowing a car tomorrow to get the tyres changed. Hopefully my torque wrench can handle taking the main bolt off without clicking... I don't have a breaker bar. Never been a problem before, but my other bikes didn't have the world's hugest nut on at 146nm. Torque wrench does go up to 210nm so shouldn't be an issue.
Impact wrench
It's not the strength of the ratchet, it's your strength that matters. Some nuts you can literally stand on the bar and they won't move, an impact wrench does the job in seconds.
If it won't move with the normal method, machine mart do an electric 1000w impact wrench for £70 - I bought one when doing my front sprocket last year, haven't used it since but I suspect it'll pay for itself over time.
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I'll have to see how it goes. Never had a problem with my big torque wrench on my old bikes and it's about 1.6ft, so not that much shorter than some breaker bars.
I keep meaning to get a breaker bar though, good to have one.
The bike is still new, so I don't expect it'll be a problem at all.
Hah yeah. Wouldn't mind an impact wrench tbh, would be nice to have as I will always do this sort of thing myself on bikes.
I keep meaning to get a breaker bar though, good to have one.
The bike is still new, so I don't expect it'll be a problem at all.
Impact wrench
It's not the strength of the ratchet, it's your strength that matters. Some nuts you can literally stand on the bar and they won't move, an impact wrench does the job in seconds.
If it won't move with the normal method, machine mart do an electric 1000w impact wrench for £70 - I bought one when doing my front sprocket last year, haven't used it since but I suspect it'll pay for itself over time.
Hah yeah. Wouldn't mind an impact wrench tbh, would be nice to have as I will always do this sort of thing myself on bikes.
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Soldato
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Ahh yeah I forget it's a new bike. When a front sprocket has on the bike for 13 years, then it's a little more difficult to move!
Breaker bar was needed in the end! Picked one up from Halfords.
But, as usual, things haven't worked out, now I need a 17mm hex for the front wheel. All I can find is an old bicycle tool which would probably just bend/crumble and it isn't very long anyway, so would probably struggle to get the power into it.
So, off to Halfords again tomorrow to pick this up: http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/tools/hand-tools/laser-drain-plug-key-set which is of course cheaper online, but I need it for tomorrow as I have it off work and I have borrowed a car
Couldn't find an actual 1/2" 17mm hex, so going to have to make do with that drain plug key set.
Now I know why some people have so many odd tools in their kit
But, as usual, things haven't worked out, now I need a 17mm hex for the front wheel. All I can find is an old bicycle tool which would probably just bend/crumble and it isn't very long anyway, so would probably struggle to get the power into it.
So, off to Halfords again tomorrow to pick this up: http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/tools/hand-tools/laser-drain-plug-key-set which is of course cheaper online, but I need it for tomorrow as I have it off work and I have borrowed a car
Couldn't find an actual 1/2" 17mm hex, so going to have to make do with that drain plug key set.
Now I know why some people have so many odd tools in their kit
Soldato
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17mm nut in a 17mm socket.
Shouldn't need much force to start it off.
Shouldn't need much force to start it off.
Soldato
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Ahh, you don't have a shed with boxes of random bolts/nuts/screws etc?
Or, machine mart do the actual motorbike axle tool - got one near you? https://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/040814737
Although it's 3/8" drive so you'd need a step down or a smaller ratchet.
I'd highly recommend getting a halfords professional socket set when they're on half price offer (which are at the moment), I've used mine so much, it's worth every penny. Extra 10% off with code B16WT03 too
Or, machine mart do the actual motorbike axle tool - got one near you? https://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/040814737
Although it's 3/8" drive so you'd need a step down or a smaller ratchet.
I'd highly recommend getting a halfords professional socket set when they're on half price offer (which are at the moment), I've used mine so much, it's worth every penny. Extra 10% off with code B16WT03 too
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I have all the sockets you could want, just not a shed full of random bits
Unfortunately I'm a bit passed the Halfords set as I already have torque wrenches, all the sockets I need and so on, so a lot of it would just be duplicate. If I had known about it when I started my tool collection, I'd definitely have got it
Also, the Halfords pro kit doesn't come with 17mm, does it?
No MachineMart near me unfortunately
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Soldato
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Ahh, shame - I hate that feeling of not having the right tool for the job. Once I get my own garage I'll invest in some more tools - ratchet spanners, a couple of torque wrenches, plus a few more bits (roller cabinet) 
Luckily I have a dad who has exactly that sort of shed - any random washer/nut/screw I need, he's got boxes and boxes of the things!
Another way - surely there's a 17mm nut somewhere on the bike that you can remove, use in the socket to remove the axle, then put back?
Luckily I have a dad who has exactly that sort of shed - any random washer/nut/screw I need, he's got boxes and boxes of the things!
Another way - surely there's a 17mm nut somewhere on the bike that you can remove, use in the socket to remove the axle, then put back?
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Ahh, shame - I hate that feeling of not having the right tool for the job. Once I get my own garage I'll invest in some more tools - ratchet spanners, a couple of torque wrenches, plus a few more bits (roller cabinet)
Luckily I have a dad who has exactly that sort of shed - any random washer/nut/screw I need, he's got boxes and boxes of the things!
Another way - surely there's a 17mm nut somewhere on the bike that you can remove, use in the socket to remove the axle, then put back?
Yeah that did cross my mind, but I think the only ones are engine bolts which I removed/replaced when I put my crash bungs in. No chance I'm taking those off, they were a right pain
My collection is slowly becoming respectable, but it does feel like I keep buying stuff just to use once
It'll be £60 that I've ended up spending on tools just to take the wheels off, which they probably wouldn't have even charged me in labour at the tyre shop to do it themselves lol. But, now I have a breaker bar and everything I need to change the tyres next time I guess, plus a breaker bar is always useful.
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Rear isn't a problem now. Got a breaker bar. I wanted one anyway and didn't want to start bouncing on and abusing the torque wrench too much!
Tis the front that's a pain now. I managed to bend the 17mm old weird bicycle type tool trying earlier lol. Going to pick up that set tomorrow morning. Another £20, but I'll need it for next time anyway.
Tis the front that's a pain now. I managed to bend the 17mm old weird bicycle type tool trying earlier lol. Going to pick up that set tomorrow morning. Another £20, but I'll need it for next time anyway.
Soldato
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Yeah TBH when I was getting my front tyre changed, the cost of ordering the tyre online, plus a front paddock stand, plus fitting on a loose wheel was only a few quid cheaper than having the tyre place order and fit they tyre on the bike!
I'm sure someone on here posted pictures of their own tyre removal/fitting tool, seem to remember them being in Kent too...
I'm sure someone on here posted pictures of their own tyre removal/fitting tool, seem to remember them being in Kent too...
Yeh true, but I guess I have to think that I'll be doing this again in probably around a year or a bit more when my new tyres have worn out at which point I'll be up on cash as I'll have all the tools and it'll take 2 mins
Yeh, found those things & TallPaul linked one above. They only have the 22mm version in Halfords and there isn't a machinemart very close
. Would be ideal, but I need to sort this tomorrow so need to get what I can! The plug key set I found above means I can just put one into a 14mm socket which effectively converts it into a 17mm hex which will work quite well I guess.Why oh why do they not do the Amazon drone thingies over here yet!