I just bought my first Harley-a 2008 Softail Night Train- and am wondering what specific tools I should have aboard for my particular bike. I have plenty of tools and I'd rather throw together some of my extras than shell out dough for a kit from the dealer, etc. Any particular tools/sizes I should make sure to have with me?
Thanx!

 

That question has crossed my mind and I think its proprietary to the bike you ride; for example I do have a small kit in my side bag for aftermarket add-ons like my pegs that have been known to get loose (almost lost on of the expensive pegs before!). My Iso-grips need a real small allen wrench, a leatherman tool for the oh **** factor, that kind of stuff. I've looked at the available pre-packaged tool kits available for purchase but some items I have no need for reinforcing that it's proprietary to your specific bike. Some have posted the only thing you need is a credit card and a cellphone. That makes perfect sense to me and definitely carry that, so you should probably start there.

 

I am about to look for a good impact torque wrench...lock-tite and torx screws make a bad stripper.

 

I keep a small tool kit in my saddlebag which I've adjusted to contain the tools that I think are useful to a mechanical hack like me...

 

10mm wrench for battery connections. I can do a service on my bike with the tools I carry. If you've got a tool collection then you might want to just start gathering the tools needed for tightening things that might loosen on the road. Do you want to be able to remove a wheel that went flat. Gather those tools and so on. Martimus has nice kit to start with. I added a couple tire irons in soft holders after my son blew out his front tube and we ended up changing it with a crescent wrench and screwdriver.

 

Is that a kit you bought, or one you put together? Either way I like it.

 

The most important item to carry is a tire repair kit and a method to re-inflate the tires. After that, set of Combo wrenches, Allen and Tork wrenches, Screw Drivers, Duct Tape, and Fuses. Don't forget your cell phone.

 

That picture is from a Cruz tools kit! I got the basic kit as a gift last year and have been slowly modifying it to contain tools that seem more useful to me...

I kind of wish the woman had gotten me two smaller kits so I could balance out the weight across both saddle bags. Oh well... maybe next year she'll forget and get me another!

 

I've got this same kit. They're kind of expensive, but they appear to be high quality tools (I say appear because I've been fortunate enough not to need to use them) Also, Cruztools was nice enough to sell me a tear drop pouch so that I could fit the kit into my tear drop case, although it's a very tight fit.

 

In each of the following categories bring only what is used on your bike.
* Metric Allen Wrench Set
* US Allen Wrench Set
* Torx Wrench Set
* 1/4" Drive Ratchet, 6" Extension, and Socket set
* Combination (Box & Open End) wrenches (Use short versions) US and Metric
* Phillips Head Screw Driver
* Straight Blade Screw Driver
* Harley-Davidson Axle Nut Wrench
* Small Vice Grips (The real ones not knock offs)
* A Dental Pick
* 2 feet of Duct Tape wrapped on an old pencil stub
* Two 12" Jumper Wires
* Lots of 12" Zip Ties
* Tire Pressure Gauge
* Credit Card
* Cell Phone

With the exception of the last two items, all of this fits in the Tear Drop shaped Harley Tool Box that is fastened to the bike which you can see in my signature right behind the oil tank and in front of the saddlebag.

On a really long cross country trip I also carry a USB Flash Drive with copies of the wiring diagrams that I scanned from the Harley-Davidson Service manual that I bought from my Harley-Davidson Dealer . . . and no you can't have my copies . . . you need to get your own.