Hitchcocks Forum

After trawling through some pages of posts it made me wonder what bits and pieces are sensible to carry, incase of trouble at the roadside with the Bullet (in this case a 1990's 350). For parts is it wise to have a sparkplug; points; condensor maybe a coil (some posts said these can be troublesome) what else? And then what tools should one think of using. I guess today a mobile-phone and breakdown cover but assume some things could be fixed at the roadside. Maybe (wishful thinking) if one carries spares the Bullet might laugh at you and fail with something else or not at all....like "does it rain beacause you have a brolly or because you don't"! My plan will be to run through service checks etc to see whats ok and what needs replacing - but wondered what more experienced bulleteers carry with them. Mark

Hi,

I also carry spare cables, inner tube, levers and bike pump and split link.

I keep a gear lever return spring as I've now had 2 fail in 14 years and tyre levers of coarse , long length of electrical wire , bullet crimps , tie wraps .
I carry enough tools to take the cylinder head off and the clutch off , oh yeah ...I always carry a spare front break shoes spring as they can break without warning .

Just stick to a simple AA/RAC card! Sods Law means that whatever spares you carry will never be used; the failure will invariably be on the one component that you do not have a spare for. There is no solution to this short of bringing a complete spare bike with us whereever we go.....!!

Blimey Phil, head off and clutch out by the side of the road??
I just have a few basic tools, bulbs, fuses, plug, cable ties, roll of tape and a length of stiff wire (amazing what you can hold on with that)

Peter, some years ago on an outback trip here 200 ks from the nearest town a club member broke the top off his piston. Another member happened to have a spare piston in his saddlebags so they changed it on the side of the road and continued on

Hey Norm thats a great story , who woulds have thought of carrying a spare piston !
So far I have only stripped front hubs and clutches at the side of the road and limped home with no clutch cover ( being carefull not to get my trousers caught in the chain )as a clutch hub bolt blew . Breaking down inbetween towns in Australia can be really expensive to get the bike picked up and then getting stuck in a motel till spare parts can be sent .
I gather that breakdowns in India are not that much of a problem with plenty of Enfields to cannibilise in most villages . Punctures in the middle of nowhere I can fix but only if you use ones valuble drinking water bottle to find the hole !
BSC nuts and bolts are also very handy in the tool box as are a spare pushrod adjuster and nut .
Having a forged piston means I should not have any fear of a break up .
A spare link for the drive chain would be sensible as well .

I think getting the tool kit down as small as possible is a trick I worked out on my last big strip down with clutch , head ,barrel and timing cover with the tools on the bike .
Short Whitworth spanners and BSC sockets are a must for me , every tool needed and no more than that . the only bad thing about a 1995 bullet is there are a few engine bolts that are metric but I dont think I would pull an engine out at the side of the road .
All my tools belonged to my Grandfather and some belonged to his father the oldest being a King Dick half inch thats over 100 years old but is a perfect fit still .I have a special tool for the skinny nut holding the front brake plate to the hub that has proved it's worth many times .

i carry spanners ,bulbs,cables and an R.A.C card happy days Paul.

Phil, a couple of years ago we were in Tas on our AGM ride around Tas and one members gearbox failed( layshaft bush fell out) After a heavy night in the pub in Hobart and a hangover the next morning I was able to scavenge a gearbox from another member who lives in Hobart, pulled the motor and box out, fitted the other gearbox and we were back on the road just after lunch because we had to reach Bicheno before dark which was probably a couple of hundred ks away. Got there no problems