What are the essential tools for motorbike maintenance?

If you are going to completely immerse yourself in the biker lifestyle, you will have to learn to work on your bike yourself. To do this, you will need some tools, which are the essentials you need to have in your toolbox.

Lawrence Minnie

13 Mar 2025 · 07:18Bike Ownership2 min read

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Essential tools

There are two kinds of bikers: those who will do everything in their power to not ever work on their bike and the other who will do everything they can to do all the maintenance and work on their bikes themselves. For those just getting into the lifestyle and falling into the latter group, you will need several tools to work on your bike.

Some items are necessary, while others you can do without, such as improving your workshop sessions. You don't need a rolling cabinet full of highly expensive cordless and brand-name tools but know that a set of quality tools will last a lifetime and ensure that your bike will get the best treatment possible. These are the tools we recommend as an essential part of any bike garage.

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Workshop

Paddock stand/s
Workbench
Vice
Work light
Air compressor

If you have a space to dedicate to your bike and all its gubbins, it's a good idea to set up a small worktable with a well-lit vice. You can add a compressor for all the small jobs and potential tools that require an air supply; it's also handy for blowing things off, drying and inflating. Not everyone will need a pneumatic bike lift to secure the bike, but a sturdy paddock stand for the front and rear makes working on the bike easier.

Tool Box

1/4" socket set
1/2" socket set
3/4" driver with large dimension sockets 32,34,37mm
Allan keys or bits
Torx keys or bits
Rubber mallet
Side cutters
Pliers (Short and Needle-Nosed)
8mm to 21mm wrench set
Phillips screwdrivers
Flat head screwdrivers
Small lever/crowbar

The above list of tools is the bare minimum you will need to do just about any job on your bike, from a simple oil change all the way to completely stripping the bike to its bare parts. The vast majority of bikes on the road today use metric fasteners that range in size from 3.5mm to 12mm thread size; rather annoyingly, many European bikes have moved away from hex head bolts and now make use of Torx-style bolts (looking at you BMW and KTM) so you will need to keep this in mind when buying a toolkit.

Bike specific tools

Brake bleeding kit
Tyre pressure gauge
Pullers
Seal installers
Grease gun
Spoke wrench
Tyre plug kit
Anti-corrosion spray
AluSol polish

Some bike jobs require very specific tools, such as seal pullers and installers, spoke tools, and hydraulic brake bleeding kits. A simple rule of thumb is that if the job is expensive at a shop, it's either labour-intensive or requires a specific tool to remove or install a part.

Written by Lawrence Minnie

Lawrence has been involved with motorsports for almost 30 years. Whether it's two wheels or four, if it has an engine, he will try to race it. This love of motor vehicles has led him to ride, drive, film, photograph, and write about his passion. Freelance for a while but now a permanent fixture on the AutoTrader team for over 7 years, Lawrence contributes written, photographic, and video content for AutoTrader and AutoTrader Bikes.Read more