What tools to carry on a motorcycle
Updated 2026-08-09
Almost every roadside job on a modern motorcycle comes down to a handful of fasteners: the axle nuts, the chain adjusters, the bodywork screws, the bar and lever clamps, the battery terminals and the spark plug. A kit that covers those and nothing else fits in a small tool roll and weighs about a kilo.
The mistake is buying a 40-piece hardware-store set. Half of it does not fit your bike, none of it is short enough to reach a countersunk cover bolt, and the whole thing rattles. Build the kit around the fasteners actually on your motorcycle instead.
Start with the OEM toolkit, then fix its gaps
Whatever came under the seat is usually the right starting point: it contains the axle wrench in the correct size, which is the one tool nobody else sells cheaply and the one you cannot improvise. Most OEM kits are also genuinely awful at everything else — thin stamped spanners, a reversible screwdriver that slips, no ratchet.
So keep the axle tool, throw away the rest, and replace it with tools you would be happy using in a workshop. The usual replacements are a compact ratchet with the four or five socket sizes your bike actually uses, a set of hex keys, a driver that matches your bike's screw standard, and pliers.
The five-minute fastener audit
Before buying anything, walk around the bike with a set of keys and a marker and write down every size you find. It takes five minutes and it is the difference between a 1 kg kit and a 3 kg kit.
- — Front and rear axle: usually the two largest sizes on the bike, often 19–27 mm, sometimes a hex socket instead of a nut.
- — Chain adjusters and rear axle pinch bolts.
- — Bodywork and engine covers: cross-head screws, hex or Torx depending on the brand.
- — Bar clamps, lever perches, mirrors, screen.
- — Spark plug size — 16 mm and 18 mm are common, but check.
- — Battery terminals and the seat bolts you have to remove to reach them.
What the tools cannot fix
Tools without consumables get you nowhere. The three failures that actually strand riders are a flat tyre, a broken lever or shifter, and an electrical open circuit — and each needs parts, not spanners: tyre repair equipment, a spare lever, fuses and wire.
Carry the tyre repair kit even on short rides. It is the single highest-value item in the roll, and unlike almost everything else it is not something a passing car can lend you.
Weight discipline
Decide where the kit rides before you choose what goes in it. A body pack tolerates about 3.5 kg before it hurts, a tool roll strapped to the bike about 6 kg, and panniers 14 kg or more. The builder totals every item against that budget so you cut items at home rather than at the trailhead.
When you are over budget, cut optional tools before consumables, and never cut tyre repair.
The kit, item by item
OEM under-seat tool kit
Keep it for the axle wrench alone.
Keep the bike-specific pieces (axle wrench, spoke key, shock tool) and replace the flimsy generic ones.
Where to buy:Amazon
1/4in ratchet + sockets (8, 10, 12, 13, 14 mm)
Only the four or five sizes your audit found.
A stubby ratchet plus a short extension packs smaller than a full socket set. Add a 1/4in-to-hex-bit adapter to share the ratchet with your bits.
Where to buy:Amazon
Hex (Allen) key set — 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 mm
Ball-end long arm reaches recessed cover bolts.
Ball-end long-arm keys, or 1/4in hex bits plus a driver if you already carry a ratchet.
Where to buy:Amazon
Reversible screwdriver — JIS/Phillips + flat
Match your bike's cross-head standard — JIS on Japanese bikes.
A 1/4in bit driver with JIS #2, PH2 and a 5 mm flat covers everything.
Where to buy:Amazon
Pliers with side cutters
Fuses, clips, safety wire, hot exhaust bolts.
Where to buy:Amazon
Zip ties — assorted, 15–20 of them
Half the trailside repairs in the world.
Mix small ones with 300 mm heavy-duty ones and add a few reusable ones.
Where to buy:Amazon
Questions riders ask
- How much should a motorcycle tool kit weigh?
- A focused street kit is 0.8–1.5 kg. An adventure kit with tyre repair and spares runs 4–7 kg. Anything heavier belongs in panniers, not on your back.
- Do I need a torque wrench on the road?
- Not usually. A small preset or 1/4in click wrench earns its place if you are travelling for weeks and will refit an axle or a caliper, but for a weekend the honest answer is 'as tight as the kit allows, then recheck after 20 minutes'.
- Is a multitool enough?
- No. A multitool covers pliers, a blade and a screwdriver — it will not move an axle nut or reach a recessed hex bolt. Carry it in addition to the roll, not instead of it.