Following the "every item has two uses credo", I did tens of thousands of miles in this and it's still giving good service.

Go on then, what use is my mate? The main purpose is ballast to keep the sidecar wheel down in left handers. The secondary purpose? Beer disposal? Production of odd smells that stop me meeting young women? Spending hours doing his hair so I've got less time for drinking and more for checking the chain/ repairing old tubes / rebuilding the gearbox ? I've tried encouraging him to bring money with him on these trips but that doesn't seem to work :rolleyes2:

Now Gooner the dog, there's a multipurpose sidecar filler. Eats rubbish, hardly touches the beer, encourages all sorts of people to talk to you, acts as security (well only against people who can't see he's soft), keeps the tent warmer, flaters my eating habits......:thumbup1:

Andy

Jetboil - I've actually used it handheld in the car. Packs into a rucksack pocket.
Water filter - looks like a bike bottle and packs into the other rucksack pocket.

Not sure what a Leatherman does - so have never found a reason to buy one.

Most useful: penknife, Ortleib folding bowl (genius kit), hair conditioner (yes, really!) and therm-a-rest chairs - used EVERY single night - sitting back, drinking a (max) 2Euro bottle of vino and watching the stars by the tent... hmmmmm!
Forgot - silk sleeping bag liner - bloomin marvellous, it dries within minutes and feels sooo nice!

Least useful: 10L water bag (ditched it fairly early on), trainers, worst techno top (both ditched in Turkey and given to some kids, who oddly seemed thrilled) - my partner had a black silk long sleeved top - cool in hot weather (well, ish) and warm in cold weather, and doesn't show the dirt - marvellous. Mini MP3 speakers

Very Useful........

• A piece of string on the end of my plastic thingy that goes under the footstand on soft ground. Think about it!
• Duct tape of course.
• A plunger thingy with a long tube that comes out of a handsoap bottle. Useful if you need to take petrol from the tank for cooking and for sucking engine oil out of you've put too much in.

Not So Useful......

• My grannies ashtray. Just can't seem to balance it right on the tank. Maybe that's a good challenge for the duct tape!

Most useful - and it seems they have surplus stock
 

I have two of these at home and never realised!

Garage door opener - Snotr

(But I don't have a BMW - I think it'll still work)

Mine doesn't work and the returns policy makes BMW's approach to warranty claims look like a charity event. Running costs are equivalent to a Brough Superior with a hole in the petrol tank. It's worse when you think of the safety implications, get it wrong and you are likely to end up sleeping in the garage you had to open yourself. Caveat Emptor!

Andy

Useful : Duct Tape, Cable Ties (tie wraps) and Leatherman/swiss army knife

Least Useful : cheap copy of a camel back that leaked 2 ltrs of cold squash all down my back (in future will just use water bottles available anywhere with 1.5 ltr evain etc with hose mouthpiece for long stints:scooter:

It actually pains me when I think of how much crap I took on my first trip and how little I need today. Who could've possibly imagined that a Cuban Coffee Maker (also frequently referred to as Mokka Express or Poor People Espresso Machine) might turn out to be completely useless and way too large compared to a small jar of instant coffee even for a coffee-junkie like me?

Most usefull:

• Compass! Never fails, never lies. Most important bit ever.
• A close second: toilet paper
• Swiss army knife
• Germany Army folding shovel (because you never know when you might need a moat around your tent)
• Gorilla Pod
• Cargo pants with removable trouser legs (see third pair of pants).
• Sheepskin (aka monkey butt postponer), also makes for a great pillow

Most useless:

• Abovementioned Cuban Coffee Maker
• A third pair of pants (see cargo pants).
• Rubber mallet

Btw, guess who got a flat in the middle of Poland after thinking "oh well, who needs a tire repair kit anyway?"

I'm no fan of hard panniers, but I suppose they do have their uses........

Some say that 90% of all mechanical failure on a motorcycle will be electrical Related, That said, I invested in a small butane powered soldering iron that is hardly any larger than a felt tipped marker. and sure enough, I’ve used it several times while on the road to repair blinkers, heated gripes etc. -- Perhaps not THE most useful piece of gear, but nice to have.
As for the LEAST useful thing I carry around on my bike, well, that would have to be my dog ’LEO’; I CAN’T GET HIM TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL!!

most useful is my thermal mug with a built in coffee plunger, without that the day could not start.

Bloody Tyre repair bottles...
 

Definitely least useful; I had a bottle of the tyre repair foam explode in my panniers once in Turkey - my soft pannier was completely blown apart on that side (the other side caught fire later falling down onto exhaust because no weight to balance it - joy!) and when I went back to pick up my clothes I found that my only pair of jeans was completely coated in latex - suitable for Saturday night at a fetish night-club perhaps, but not very useful in rural Turkey - completely crap stuff!

Leatherman has to be my essential though - but then that sounds like something for a fetish nightclub too come to think of it... :eek3:

Tony

(Now I drive a Landrover so I just carry an entire toolkit with me, and half a tonne of spares... and a big hammer to fix it with...)

Cobb
 

Along with the usuual cab le tips, gaffer tape, wd40 and leatherman, I would have to say my most useful piece of kit is the COBB cooker. Roast potatoes, baked potatoed, baked banana, pizza etc etc mmmmmmmmmmm

Most probably need a car to carry it round with you though ....

Most useless ......... probably some the of the so called recovery books we carry round with us. Wish I'd filled the space with good novels from a 2nd hand book stall .............

Would like to add solid soap as a useful piece of kit as I've just found some of that natural 'handmade' stuff that is brilliant for washing hair. Doubles up for normal washing and shaving - even laundry I suppose, though I wouldn't want to waste it. One big bar is cheaper than everything it replaces and easier to pack.