R1200GS Tool Kits – BMW Tool Kit, ‘Small’ (day to day) Tool Kit and ‘Full’ (touring) Tool Kit

R1200GS Tool Kits – BMW Tool Kit, ‘Small’ (day to day) Tool Kit and ‘Full’ (touring) Tool Kit

AndyW 28May2008 – adapted from an article by Jim Bade (AKA Jim Von Baden)
See:  www.jimvonbaden.com

……..and check out the R1200GS service/maintenance DVD he has produced! [more]

See also: R1200GS Tool Kit Information on R1200GS.info

R1200GS Tool Kits

Questions crop up regularly on the subject of what tools to carry as a minimum for day to day riding and what to carry for longer trips and touring (I’ll post some links to forum discussions at the end of this article. Of course what you choose to carry is up to you and dependant on where you’ll be riding/travelling but hopefully the following lists and suggestions will give you some ideas on putting together tool kits to suit your needs.

BMW Standard R1200GS Tool Kit (photo below – basic!)
I believe that after some point in 2005 no tool kit at all has been provided as standard with new GS’s! As I said, the BMW tool kit really is basic and contains the bare minimum of tools you should consider carrying to which it’s worth adding some Allen keys (tip – bicycle multitool;-), small pliers, cable ties, duct tape (duck tape/gaffer tape) and a blade/pen knife. An easy way to carry tape, rather than carrying whole rolls (space!) is to wrap lengths round a piece of plastic e.g. cut a piece of plastic ice cream carton to size.

And one of these is a handy item, a tool for pulling the spark plug caps / HT lead caps… BMW OE Spark Plug Cap Puller below. Some people just use a small screwdriver to simply pry it out but be aware of the risk of damaging it or the rocker cover paint!
Marc Parnes plug wire puller. http://www.marcparnes.com/

R1200GS - tool for pulling spark plug caps / HT lead caps

Early tool kits also included a tyre repair kit complete with with compressed air canisters!

R1200Gs tool kit - tyre puncture repair kit

Jim’s suggested minimum or ‘small’ tool kit is an improvement over the standard kit but without being too bulky… 

 R1200 ‘Small’ Tool Kit: 4-way combination screwdriver
3” needle nose pliers
3” side cutters
.006” (.152mm) and .012” (.305mm) feeler gauges
8, 10, 11, 12, 13mm open ended spanners
Torx sockets – T20, 25, 27, 30, 40, 45, 50, 55
Allen keys – 3mm, 4mm, 5mm, 6mm, 8mm
3/8” drive ratchet
¼” drive ratchet
Extension 3/8 6″
Spark plug socket, 22mm front wheel socket (Allen/Hex tool)
Tire pressure gauge
Tire plug kit (string)
12v Air Compressor
Oil Cap tool

R1200GS font wheel removal tool – more info

…and a few items pulled out for a better view

If you’re intending to do some serious miles touring or travelling abroad a much more substantial kit is recommended – of course to tour you’ll have luggage/panniers so you’ll have somewhere to carry it!  Here’s Jim’s suggested tool kit…

R1200 ‘Full’ Tool Kit (* denotes item per ‘small’ tool kit):

Tools…
Vice Grips 8”
4-way combination screwdriver *
3” needle nose pliers *
3” side cutters *
10mm combination wrench
13mm combination wrench
2 tire spoons 9”
Set of metric feeler gauges
.006” (.152mm) and .012” (.305mm) feeler gauges *
Locking knife with 4” serrated blade
Flashlight (extra batteries)
Motolight lens removal tool
8*, 9, 10*, 11*, 12*, 13*, 14, 15, 16, 17mm open end wrench set
Torx wrench set T8, 10, 15, 20*, 25*, 27*, 30*, 40*, 45*, 50*, 55* socket set
Allen wrench set 4mm, 5mm, 6mm, 7mm, 8mm, 10mm sockets, Standard 2.5mm, 3mm*, 4mm*, 5mm*, 6mm*, 8mm*, 10mm
3/8” drive ratchet *
¼” ratchet *
Extensions 3/8” 3” and 6” *, ¼” 2.5” and 6” extensions
Sockets 7mm, 8mm, 10mm, 10mm deep, 13mm, 14mm, 17mm, spark plug socket *, 22mm front wheel socket/Allen *
Dental Pic set
Spark Plug gap tool
Oil filter wrench
Tyre pressure gauge *
Spark plug wire remover
Leatherman
Tyre repair / plug kit (string) *
Compressor *
Extending mirror
Small standard screwdriver
Oil Cap tool *

Supplies…
Spare fuel hose clamps
Spare fuel hose splice
Assorted nuts and bolts
Assorted wire and connectors
Digital volt/ohm meter (small multimeter)
Zip ties assorted
Electrical wire assorted sizes and lengths
Fuses
Lighter
Electrical tape
Stainless safety wire
Duct tape

….did I use the word ‘substantial’ above?! 🙂

And here it is in his Jesse bag. As you can see it takes up about 1/3rd of the bag and fits in nicely!

A couple of other items spring to mind that Jim’s not mentioned:

Spare bulbs – Headlamp, rear, indicator

Small can of WD40 or similar

Tie down straps

It may be prudent to consider carrying some BMW spare parts if your travelling off the beaten track / outside BMW Dealership world! Many 1200GS riders carry a couple of items that are known to fail sometimes and are show stoppers if they do:

  • Fuel Pump Controller (Regulator)
  • The EWS Ring Antenna

I think it would be sensible to carry the following items as well:

  • Spare ingnition key
  • Spare alarm remote/fob


BMW GS forum discussions – try searches on http://www.ukgser.com/forums/, http://gsclubuk.org/forum/ and http://www.advrider.com/forums/ …..here’s a few links to get you started:

Touring Tools For 12GS

Which Tools for GSA?

Tools to carry

Tools to take on a long distance tour?

The Toolkit Thread

Spares and Tools, what have you USED?

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