useful - useless
 

Most useful: Thick, long cable ties. Although duct tape is very good too and definitely superior for sealing a leaked pannier box but it's also readily available from almost every petrol station and fellow travellers on the planet. Still a worthy runner up.

Most useless: Water filter. Have seen no place so far that did not either sell beer or coke or both. Runner up: Leatherman. Best recipe to hurt yourself. No serious mechanic would bother to fiddle with a leatherman. Get yourself some decent tools. A Swiss Army knife is fine as long as it has tin opener, corkscrew, saw, botle opener and pincers.

NOT Useful: Spare Patrick
:scooter:

Agreed, if talking about the original Leatherman tool. Even the knife part is dangerous, mostly when you're trying to get the thing unlocked so you can fold it back together. I managed to slice my finger more than once with the thing. I leave it at home now.

They have a newer one, the Leatherman "Juice" which is slightly more useful. It is smaller, for one thing, and has scissors and a cork screw. And the knife blade doesn't have that aweful locking feature that caused so much bloodshed, it's more like a normal pocket knife. I have used it to successfully open food containers, cut cord, open bottles (it has a bottle opener), and so forth without bloodshed. It is basically an updated version of the old "Swiss Army Knife", in other words, rather than being the enormous multi-tool that the original Leatherman is. It does have a tiny pair of pliars and a tiny screwdriver pair, neither of which are particularly useful, but they don't take up much space or weigh much so I tolerate them. The whole thing fits in one's pocket as an ordinary pocket knife, unlike the gigantic "multi-tool".

Also sold as "Kwik Steel", or "Instant Plumbing Repair", or what have you. If not found in an auto parts store, it can be found in a plumbing supply store. It is a two-part epoxy in "putty" form that is activated by kneading it to get the two parts together, at which point you place it upon the (very clean!) area you wish to repair.

We will have to simply agree to disagree here. I carried one of these on a trip and found it to be cumbersome and sweaty (caused my back to sweat) as well as take up much space if strapped to the bike rather than to my back (where it caused too much sweat once the temperature raised above a minimal leve. It stays home now. I now carry a small fanny pack in my luggage instead for all those things that I want to carry with me when I'm off of my motorcycle, and put the Camel Bak bladder into the front pocket of my First Gear Kilimanjaro (the pocket designed for it, apparently) and run the water up to my helmet from there. When I'm off my motorcycle I'm either camping out of my motorcycle paniers or staying at a hotel in a town, and in neither case is wearing a backpack very interesting, because food and beverages is always available in a town and is available out of my paniers if camping by my motorcycle.

There are shorts sold specifically for dirt bike riders ("motocross shorts" or some such) which are perhaps even better. I find that the bicycle shorts make my, err, personal parts, sweat too much. This is not a problem on a bicycle because on a bicycle they're out in the open where the sweat can evaporate, but on a motorcycle they're under pants and riding gear. The dirt bike shorts redistribute the padding somewhat to put more of it under one's bum rather than somewhat more forward and up as bicycle shorts do. "Monkey crotch" is even more annoying than "Monkey butt"....

Which brings up another thing to carry: Talcum powder ("baby powder"). Useful for poofting upon one's socks and bum and crotch in the morning in order to help keep them dry, as well as for powdering new inner tubes when you change them to increase their llife and improve wear and reduce tire temperature (it acts as tiny ball bearings to ease the friction of tube rubbing against tire).

Or at least common nuts and bolts that are often lost.

I carry one MotionPro 8 1/2 inch tire iron, one MotionPro 11.5 inch tire iron, and one MotionPro combination tire spoon/axle wrench (somewhat useful for breaking the bead -- insert spoon, put tire iron through loop, twist). I've practiced using these tools and only these tools to change out a tire in my garage. I've never had to use them on the road yet thankfully. I cannot even imagine attempting to change a tire with a six inch tire iron.

I-Cafes are worldwide *EXCEPT IN THE UNITED STATES*. For some reason they never caught on inside the United States. The only widely available public access Internet in the United States is in public libraries, and there are typically long waiting lists and limited times for those. Some hotels also have a "business center" with an Internet-connected computer within. However, WIFI is widely available at truck stops, hotels, coffee shops and elsewhere. So if you are travelling within the United States, you may wish to come up with some alternate means of Internet access for times when a public library or "business center" is not available, such as a GSM PDA phone which can do WIFI (mine is a T-Mobile MDA).

I've investigated carrying a small notebook computer for travel within the United States. But I've never found a way to make it make sense compared to the PDA phone given the vibration and temperature issues inherent in motorcycle travel. Anything with a spinning disc in it does not like wide temperature swings and absolutely abhors high humidity. So even on my all-paved-road tours within the United States, I've given up on the notion of carrying a notebook. My PDA phone simply has to suffice for those times when I cannot find a hotel or public library offering Internet access.

-E

Leatherman defence
 

I have to come to the defence of the poor old Leatherman .
It'll never take the place of a full set of tools and that was never the intention .
I use the largest model [ in my case a Supertool 200 ] every day at work and on the ranch .The smaller models don't hack it for the use I give them .
I've used other makes like Gerber and found them not so good - I haven't tried the Victorinox Swiss Tool yet but it looks very handy.
The Leatherman is made of good quality steel and the blades keep an edge for a long time .
It's on my belt every day and is convenient for quick fixes that don't require getting out the whole toolkit .
The blades lock and are safe even in very cold weather with numb fingers .

Spare ignition key, kept in jacket armour pocket with some cash.

Cheers, Richard.
:stupid:

Yeah, I use the Wave model every day, several times a day. I also have 20 pounds of tools on the bike. It would be a hard choice if I had to choose one over the other. I feel naked without the Leatherman.

Most useful: My key and a good map.

Least useful: The T.V remote.

I once took the remote on a camping weekend. How it got into my tank bag I will never know. Proved to be totally useless.

Peter

Don't forget your Cell Phone!
 

Gold Bond powder is the best Talc for Monkey Butt.

Hi Patrick, spare key in case you lose one in the mud or down a drain. Stolen bike would be a bummer!

Cheers, Richard.
:stupid:

may you never need your tools.

Useful stuff
 

A home made webbing camera lanyard that is long enough to comfortably take shots on the fly, but short enough that when needed the camera can be dropped without it hitting any vital bike parts

A clear pouch similar in size to the ones you get new riding gloves in. As a matter of fact that's probably where it came from. I use it to store a tyre gauge, tie wire, small rope, matches, ear plugs, cable ties, etc, and you can see in an instant where things are. The whole lot then goes into the tank bag for easy access.

Glen

This strategy can come in handy from time to time.

Aerostitch
 

Check out this site, (www.aerostich.com) I visited the shop recently in Duluth USA, and was amazed by the quality innovative gear that Andy has made. I walked out several hours later lighter in the pocket by around $500.00 USD. Very friendly knowledgeable staff who welcome travellers with open arms. Well worth a visit, keep an eye on the wallet though.

Glen

Enjoy your suit!

And another
 

Received my new Motoport Ultra 2 Air Mesh Jacket just before I left for Canada and US. Over the 18000km that we covered it proved it's worth in temps of -2 C to +44C, a very versatile jacket that I could recommend to all. Another pat on the back for a manufacturer that thinks outside the square.

Glen