I will be taking delivery of my new FLD in a couple of weeks. I used to do most of the maintenance work on my previous bike (Suzuki C50) and have all the required metric tools but I am wondering what I should be picking up to service the HD. Are there specialty tools that are a must haveto do basic maintenance?

 

For specialist tools, you'll need that pump-thingy to check and adjust the air shocks (if fitted) and the springy thing for checking drive belt deflection.

Pretty much every fastener is a torx screw, so you'll need a set of keys for those.

 

A maintenance manual & a good lift.

 

A cell phone and a laptop.

The cell phone to call for help if you break down.

And the laptop to post about all the "brother" riders that passed you by without stopping.

 

Got get a torques socket set, can usually be found for $10-$20, this will be a must have, a good set of allen sockets are of use too. Everything else you should be able to get by on.

 

I did the same thing, had 5 metric bikes in the past 10 years and all the tools to work on them.
The torx wrenches and some good standard racheting wrenches is what I needed. Will pick up other tools as I go along.

 

All those nice metric tools will be useless on the Harley, are few, if any metric; haven't found any on mine. Lots of allen heads on Harley's; if you have to get some, get the kind with the ball ends so they can be tilted a little and still work, several that you won't be able to get a straight shot on. You might run into a few items that require a special tool; if you have a local place to buy these, or can plan ahead for mail order, I'd put those off til you actually need them. Check out the manual for wheel alignment, clutch adjustment, brake pads, drive belt tension, fluid changes, and replacing the battery, and determine what tools you'll need for those. Probably some more I'm not thinking of right now. These are things you can probably do at home and avoid some big bucks at the dealer. When you get to pulling case covers off and things like replacing intake and exhaust gaskets, you'll want to have a fair idea of what you're doing, you'll definitely want a good wrench set, sockets, and allen wrenches. I'd highly recommend a torque wrench if you get that far, ruins your day to break or strip a bolt, seen too many people think that bolt is a lot stronger than it really is. A lot of non-Harley folks think you ride a Harley an hour and fix it for an hour; ain't true, if it ever was. They're pretty reliable; other than changing some pegs and mufflers just to suit my preference, didn't have to fix anything on mine last year.

 

You'll need a set of torx sockets, everything mentioned above, a compressor, torque wrench in ft/lb and in/lb, maybe a primary chain deflection gauge (I made one), and a really big screwdriver.

 

apart from basic garage tools like spanners, sockets, allen keys, torque wrench etc, i bought a belt tension tool, oil filter removal tool, and a hydraulic cable oiler.
this should see you through all basic service tasks.
a manual is a must, and if your unsure, theres loads of vids on u-tube, and the good folk on here will help you out with advice.

 

A shop manual is a BIG plus.. other than that GOOGLE Search is Ur best friend...

U can find most anything on the net anymore... SO USE IT.. for almost anything to fix and HOW to do things on a Harley.......

TOOLS,, U'll now need some good ole USA standard sizes to work on Ur Harley...