Torque Wrenches

This is my first post on here so i'll start by saying Hi

I've had my Cat for 18 months or so. It has come to the point were i've striped most of what i have dared to and getting the odd jobs done that have been bugging me for awhile...

I would be open to any tips/advice that anyone cares to share. My first job is to have the forks re-conditioned, and the rear shock. I may just end up replacing the rear.. looks pretty degraded.

The bikes done about 35000 but is fairly clean.

I've been looking at investing in some torque wrenches and wondered what to look out for, re. Torque ranges.. sizes...

Any tips

Thanks all

Make sure the end of your torque wrench fits the sockets, when i bought mine just after xmas the square drive on the end of the wrench was 3/8" and my sockets were 1/2" i had to buy an adapter. I should have checked!!

Again make sure the torque range covers what you need to do, theres no point in getting one that wont go as high as you need it too.

Alex

If you have a Haynes manual it should list all the key torque figures you need. Go for one that fits that range. Be very careful witgh engine casing/covers bolts, they can sometimes let go early, so it can be as well to go by feel.

Welcome to the forum, nice colours...the quickest you know...

The highest torque setting I know of on the cat is the rear axle at 117Nm if I remember correctly.

Thanks guys. I was just being lazy and seeing if anyone could recommend a wrench... appreciate the info Rossco.

and Radar, i agree, but i'm thinking about a change of colour. I don't know that it will go down very well but i want to make it a bit more original. plus now i have it in pieces i can't resist...

Don't know if this would be useful to others...
If anyone spots any mistakes please say..

Alternator Cover 12nm
Cooling system drain plugs 10nm
fork clamp bolts 30nm
Main oil gallery plug 8nm
Oil Drain plug or sump plug 43nm
Oil filter 17nm

Spark plugs 12.5nm


REAR AXLE nut 117Nm
Steering Stem nut 110 Nm

Head bearings - Using yamaha service tool
initial setting 52Nm
Final 3nm

Clutch nut 70NM
Clutch spring bolts 12nm

cylinder head bolts
initial 20NM
final 35nm


Engine mounts
front 54nm
left pinch bolt 64nm
lower and upper rear mount nuts 48NM

oil cooler bolt 63 nm

Downpipe nuts 10Nm
Downpipe lower bolt 20nm

fuel tank bolts 10nm

front fork allen nut 40nm
fork yoke top clamp 30nm
fork yoke lower clamp 38nm
fork top nut 23nm

rear brake torque arm bolt 30nm

rear shock top nut 40nm
linkage arm nuts 48nm

side stand 46nm

front sprocket nut 70nm
rear sprocket nut 60nm

steering stem nut 110nm

swingarm pivot bolt 90nm

brake bleed valve 6nm
brake hose banjo bolts 30nm

front axle clamp bolts 20nm
front axle 65nm

Front calliper mount bolts 40nm
front brake discs bolts 23nm

Rear brake calliper mounting bolts 40nm

I've had a 1/2" drive one from Lidl for a while, and it seems to do a good job - I've compared it to my mate's fancier one and they both give more or less the same readings. I think I've seen something very similar in Aldi as well, but with both of those stores you have to keep your eyes open for when they have the stuff in.

But you really need a 3/8" one for the smaller fasteners, e.g. anything below about 25 Nm. Even then not all 3/8" ones go down as low as 10 Nm, so it's worth checking the spec before buying. I recently bought a Draper one on ebay for about £20, and that works fine.

If I was a professional mechy I'd probably splash out on something better quality like Snap-On, but for the amount of use they get it's not worth it for me.

On the question of 1/2" vs. 3/8" sockets, I always prefer to use my 3/8" set (Halfords Professional, bought in one of their occasional sales) for anything up to about 15mm, because it's so much wieldier.

Halford Proffesional are great tools for the money. Lifetime guarantee too.

Eddie990 wrote:Halford Proffesional are great tools for the money. Lifetime guarantee too.

You don't usually see "Halfords" and "value for money" together, but in this case it's true.

My mechy says halfords professional is as good if not better than Snap on, and a lot better value

Tip I got from a guy in Halfords regarding the lifetime warranty on some tools I had bought .. Photocopy/scan the receipt as it'll fade in time.
Unusual these days for an item to outlast a till slip, but hopefully the Pro stuff is in for the long haul.

SteveCat wrote:Tip I got from a guy in Halfords regarding the lifetime warranty on some tools I had bought .. Photocopy/scan the receipt as it'll fade in time.
Unusual these days for an item to outlast a till slip, but hopefully the Pro stuff is in for the long haul.

the manager at mine said I don't need a receipt to bring them back if they ever broke due to it being halford stamped and lift time guarantee

Yer gotta love consistancey in a major chain

Thanks for the advice guys..

I agree Halford professional are top notch, also if you are in an engineering or mechanical job or you have some sort of techy type qualification, City & Guilds etc, take it along to halfords and get yourself a Halfords Trade card, it costs nothing and give you a massive discount on all tools, usually around 20-40%.

I'd also recommend Draper professional as good quality home DIYer hand tools.

I personally use NORBAR LINKY
These are superior quality but very pricey. If you use them on a daily basis they are deffo worth the outlay, but I wouldn;t recommend if its just for once and a while or home use.

stevemcc wrote:...I personally use NORBAR LINKY
These are superior quality but very pricey. If you use them on a daily basis they are deffo worth the outlay, but I wouldn;t recommend if its just for once and a while or home use.

Norbar gets my vote too. I've had the same one (Model: SL1) since I was about 20 years old. It has a range of 5-40 lbf.ft (8-54Nm) which is ideal for most of the fasteners on motorcycles.

Norbar also offer a recalibration service which is useful for people with older torque wrenches.

Wouldn't touch Halfords tools if my life depended on it, (saying that if my life depended on it I'd probably be dead). Had many a bag experience with Halfords tools letting me down.

Agree with Radar I'd rather do things by feel myself unless its a critical part, recently shredded the thread on my rear sprocket using a torque wrench, gotta be really careful about getting the right one and even then how do you know if its correctly calibrated.

Can you afford two?

I've got two one goes from about 5nm - 60nm and the other from about 60nm up to somewhere over 100 so I've got all the bases covered