I can’t quite explain just how important it is to be prepared when going out for a ride. Whether you call it a tool kit, an emergency kit, or an everyday carry… get one and keep it on you or your bike at all times when riding. It can be the difference between being stranded and being safe, being late and being a no show, or it can just keep your ride on track.
With a small investment, you can make yourself a handy kit that can keep you off the side of the road and out of rough situations. Perhaps less important for in city riding, it can mean the difference between spending a night in the woods and being home for dinner on time when you’re out on a longer ride.
For Christmas, I put together an emergency kit in a custom tool bag (made by Batty Custom Leatherworks) with all the important tools an every day rider like my Justin could need. I originally got this idea, and much of the list, from the boys over at Hell for Leather.
I would have included a few other things- but knowing Justin, thought better to let him use some of what he already has.
This is the kind of kit you hope never needs to be used- but if it does, man is it great to be prepared.
Yesterday Justin took off for a ride with my good friends Chris Herrin and Hannah Johnson. They stopped for crêpes and coffee before popping by Hannah’s house and the heading out into the country. At their pit stop, the oh so helpful Hannah looked at the rear tire of the Maxim and said, “what is that?” Her keen eyes spotted a little nub poking out of the rubber… when pulled, they discovered it was a 3 inch long nail.
Now with a hole in his tire, flat as Christopher Columbus once thought the earth to be, they were grounded until it could be fixed. Luckily for them, Justin already had the necessary tools. He whipped out his handy dandy tire plug kit and fixed it right up.
Without it, they would have had to go find a monday-open moto shop (not that easy), retrieve a plug kit, and then limp it to a gas station. That best case scenario puts them way behind schedule and almost at end-of-day when it gets dark and even colder here. (Not that yesterday was that great, at 40 degrees and partly sunny…) But instead they were able to get right back on the road.
Meanwhile, my man was still home in time for dinner.
Now that is what tool kits are for.
Vasilisa Komarova took a dream motorcycle road trip. Camping in Bolivia she was attacked by three men with machetes, raped, and left for dead. “We have to stand up to the abuse and never lose hope.” Read the story and find out how to help.
Posted on January 24, 2012 in Gear & Gizmos by Alicia Mariah Elfving