Spanners and sockets - what's good ?

Grrr. I went to loosen my chain after Chas bikes put it all back
together after the puncture repair and found I don't have a big enough
socket for this job on the new bike. Not that I'm going to trade back
to the CBF just because of this

I've been meaning to get a decent set of spanners anyway, but now it
looks like I need some additional large sockets too. I've got a
relatively decent set with a 3/4" drive and recently acquired a Draper
torque wrench which seems to work well enough.

Does anyone know what size I need for the back wheel on a CBR600F2 ?
My new BoL is still in the post.

More importantly, what's a good brand of spanners / sockets to look
for in the UK? And one of those long extensions to tighten the back
wheel enough ?

I kinda fancy the look of the Halfrauds spanners with the ratchet in
the round end, but those weren't angled at the top so I'm guessing I
would have some issues with getting them into some places.

I just figure I may as well get all of this sorted _before_ I go and
try the new chain and sprockets job I want to do early next month.
Still not quite sure how to get to the front one, but I'm hoping the
BoL will help.

 

Can't help specifically, but the BoL will say thusly ...

"Disassemble it al, remove bits you don't want, add bits you do want.
Re-assembly is the reverse of dis-assembly."

Now you don't really need it after that ...

 

Yebbut, the BoL will have pictures with an arrow pointing to the bolt
that I can't reach - that's always a big help to me!

 

Halfords Profesh series. Lifetime guarantee, excellent quality, not overly
expensive.

Machine Mart do a set of "Torrington" spanners (ratchets without the
ratchet), so they're smoother and they work in spaces where you've not got
the room to move a ratchet spanner far enough to reach the "click" point.
About 46 quid for the set and guaranteed for life.

As above. Halfords own brand of "Professional" sockets/accessories. Fucking
good tools and good value for money too and of course, they're guaranteed
for life too.

I'm thinking along the lines of either 27mm or 32mm for your spindle nut
btw, but both crop up on bikes so they're both well worth having. One will
fit the spindle, the other will likely fit the front sprocket.

If it's anything like other bikes, it's behind a cover usually held on with
8 or 10mm bolts, then a 27mm - 32mm nut which is locked by a tabbed washer
which will need persuading to lie flat so you can undo the nut with your
newly acquired weapons.

--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

Indeedy - and I've just become the owner of a Halford's trade card
which gets me about a 30% discount on most of their tools[1].

I think I'm out of room to stuff I can UR to the EOSM, but if
anybody's in the North-East and wants to meet me at Halfords then they
should let me know.

[1] The card gives a discount from 0%-80%, but you don't know how
much until you get it to the till, but there's a thread on
MoneySavingExpert which gives some sample prices.

 

Cool, thanks for the advice, I'll check out the Machine Mart stuff -
the torrington thingy sounds quite useful under all sorts of
circumstances.

I think my current set only goes to a 22, so I'll need to get that
sorted anyway.

Of course, all of these things _really_ mean that I should stop
spending money on the bike and buy a shed to keep it all in.

Thanks loads - I shall attempt this myself instead of taking it to a
dealer. Now to just find a chain and sprockets to suit. I'll give
John's of Romford a ring as I believe they are the only Honda dealer
close to me. I really need to find someone online for these bits, but
that can wait.

 

<snip>

Forget the fucking socket. Mole Grips, like the rest of the world
uses. They leave a lovely personalised imprint on the bolt, and you
can also use them to replace a broken gear lever and even a hammer.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Anonymouslemming

http://www.davidsilverspares.co.uk/

 

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tork-grip.html

 

Paging Mr Bonwick.

 

Aargh, this is asked so often, it should be in the FAQ.

Oh it is.

I wrote it

P.

 

Silly man.

Stillsons are your friend here.

P.

 

That's it!! Fucking hell, that's it !!

I've been looking for the name for those bastards for the past week.
Our shower tap is fucked, and I have zero DIY prowess, and thus zero
tools here. Could I remember the fucking name for those things??

You see, TOG .. you're _not_ such a waste of oxygen, after all.

D.

 

He is for plumbing.

You need one of these :

http://www.blackjacktools.com/pcat-gifs/products-small/plumbing-tools-035.jpg

a.k.a. Stillsons wrench.

P.

P.

 

**** that... I just need to take the mixer wotsit off the shower, and
put a new one on. There's no cold water in the shower. 'course, if
it's a blocked pipe, we'll need a plumber, and the cunts rip you off
bigtime here. What am I saying: fucking everything's a rip-off here...

D.

 

He's right.

I've got one pair of Mole Grips at home and two in my van at work. I
can think of plenty of occasions when spanners won't do what the
trusty Mole Grips can.

 

Sorry - the last two times I checked, the FAQ site was down, so I
didn't think to check again this time. I'll have a look there.

 

I had a look there recently, and I couldn't find sprockets or a chain
while browsing the page for my bike. They do have a cam chain
tensioner which I need though, so thanks for reminding me about them!

 

I stopped by Halfrauds today to pickup a set of these and found a
major problem with them and as a result, I'm still looking for
spanners.

You'd think we'd have this whole "You give me money, I give you stuff"
gig worked out after thousands of years, but sadly you'd be wrong. The
spanners are all kept locked in display cases, and the only bloke with
the key was nowhere to be found, so they couldn't sell me any. That's
a fairly major problem.

I offered to open the glass cabinets for them, but they declined my
offer of assistance.

 

It was a major problem, and smacks of incompetence beyond normal
bounds, even for the UK's major supplier of car air fresheners and
spotty yoofwise accessories.

I can understand that. However - you are in danger of cutting off
your nose to spite your face here. For reference, I've been
spannering for many years and most of my toolbox glitters with sparkly
Snap-On gear, which is (arguably) the best you can get, although
(inarguably) wildly bloody expensive.

Halfords Pro gear is as nice to use as Snap-On, which menas it is
well-designed and well made and finished. The sockets and spanners
alike fit fasteners very well (which is vital) and seem to be durable
(which is very important). They sit well in the hand due to having
that little bit of extra care taken during manufacture, to round off
otherwise sharp edges.

I have used the spanner set almost daily since last year (when I
bought the big set of flex-head ratchet spanners) and there's not a
mark on any of them. The "extras" that come bundled are really
fucking handy too, especially the little ratchet spinner that gives
you the ability to drive sockets and screwdriver bits at 90 degrees to
the angle of attack with only 10mm or so headroom over the socket.


Go back, be patient, buy the big set of ratchet spanners. You won't
be disappointed. (Their 3/8" ratchets are nice kit, too).