Well, I have absolutely no mechanical experience. That said, I´ve seen some absolutely amazing threads on how to mod bikes and do repairs on your own. Knowing how expensive the ¨Harley Tax¨is I´ll want to be learning how to do this stuff on my own.

Like the title says, anyone have a suggestion on a tool set that would be best to start out using for my Sportster? I´ll need to get more tool than what is in the set obviously, but a solid starting point would be nice.

Appreciate the help!

 

Craftsman has a sale right now for a 250 piece mechanics tool set for $150. Start with that. Any good mechanic also has a torque wrench too.

 

Duplicate message...

 

a multi meter

and most important tool , the service book !!

 

If you are on a budget head over to Harbor Freight or Northern Tools.
Not the best tools, but price is right, and they get the job done.
BTW....I turn wrenches for a major airline. My good stuff is at work, and my home tool box is full of knock offs. One set of tools you don't scrimp on....buy a good screwdriver set.

 

Absolutely. Craftsman tools and the FSM for your model and year. Your bike is mostly SAE, but not entirely. The Fix Your Hog videos are actually pretty good. I recommend them.

You will also need a Torx set. For whatever reason, HD prefers Torx over simple hex head bolts. Craftsman also makes a decent set with a 3/8" ratchet. Don't waste your time with the nut driver variety. You'll just wind up stripping out the head.

Unless you have somebody to hold the bike upright for you, you're going to need a bike jack as well. You can do a lot of stuff without the jack, but you'll be surprised at the simple items that require the bike to be off the ground in order to get done, like change your tires, change your fork oil, change your shocks, etc.

 

If you are on a budget, here is what I would say to do.

1.) Craftsman set
Sears is almost always running a sale between 100 and 200 on one of their sets. Get one and you will be fine. Also at this time, get a Torx set and Hex set. They will be around 20 a piece. If you do it right, you can have a good tool set for 150-200 dollar range.

2.) Service Manual
This kind of goes along with the Torque Wrench. You can get away with little mods here and there by using common sense. Once you get into really stripping stuff down, you will need this.

3.) Torque wrench
Refer to number 2. I would say get them at the same time, but if you cant get the service manual first so you can study up on what you are about to do and then when you have the money for the torque wrench, you will already know what you are getting into before starting the project.

4.) Lift
Sort of the same as number 2 and 3. You can get by without one for the most part.

5.) At this point, you should pretty much have everything you "need" to make a job work. There are always little things out there that you can find that will make things easier depending on the job though. This is where you start really building your tool set in my opinion. The other stuff is pretty much basics you need. This is where you get specialized.

When I started building my kit, I was broke and really had to buy tools depending on the job I was taking on. This led to me having a ton of random mismatched things. After a while, I saved up and basically did what I laid out above. The only difference was that the tools were for cars and trucks instead of bikes. I have had to add a few things here and there since getting my sportster but I already had a pretty good set up when I bought my bike. Dont cut corners when it comes to tools. You can always go to autozone and buy some cheap stuff and save a dollar or two, but it isnt always worth it. However, I will say the duralast tools are pretty decent quality if you decide to go that route. Just avoid the 29.99 special 359 piece set and you will be good.

 

make sure you get a GOOD quality set of torx sockets (as well as the ones each set is missing). Also, get metrics. I discovered that the brakes are metric......needed a 10mm and a 12mm to change my brake line!

 

While on subject how can u lift these bikes up in the air to change wheels etc plz

 

Most important tool in your box, but not used as often as it should be is patience. A torque wrench is as important. Never ever use a torque wrench to loosen a bolt. It then becomes a paperweight