Going to Harbor Freight for some tools and noticed one tool from some of the readings suggested buy a torque wrench. So what size is most common for the GS? I see a 1/4", 3/8", and I think 1/2" available. Which one to buy?

I have both the 3/8 and 1/4.....the 1/2 inch drive is too much for a bike for everything but the wheel axle nuts.  Most motorcycle torque settings are between 8lbs (mostly the 8mm motor case bolts) to 48 lbs (primary drive sprocket from my CR 250). They are so cheap at HF, just buy both...

Just get all of them. They are sooooooo cheap! 

Quote from: warlock214 on December 24, 2011, 06:57:01 AM
Going to Harbor Freight for some tools and noticed one tool from some of the readings suggested buy a torque wrench. So what size is most common for the GS? I see a 1/4", 3/8", and I think 1/2" available. Which one to buy?

The 3/8" goes up to 80 lb-ft

The rear axle nuts need 56 lb-ft...this is probably the highest torque on the bike....

So if you're only getting only one, go for the 3/8"....you can always buy adaptors to drop down to 1/4" if you have small sockets, or adapt up if you have 1/2" drive sockets....

I'd add the 1/4" drive wrench next, it is nice to have lb-inch (lower range) for small bolts and nuts....

1/2" drive is probably overkill fo the GS..

Cookie

The suspension linkage fixings need the most torque. Gosuzki quote 70 to 100 Nm. 85 is the target but 80 hits the barndoor..... 3/8 drive will do....just.....assuming you use sockets that are not made out of papier-mache 

Sears still has their 3\8 torque wrench on sale. http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00944593000P?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1

Bought a budget 1/4" drive torque wrench from a SuperCheapAuto shop here in Oz a fortnight back - glad I checked it out on a bolt held in a vise before I trusted it to the oil filter housing bolts - complete rubbish piece of kit - it operated like a standard ratchet drive - no cick or give on any setting  Back it went, no problems getting a refund. Going to take a wander round a decent tool shop next week and buy a professional product that can be used to accurately torque-up on flimsy fastners and alloy threads.

Quote from: noworries on December 24, 2011, 04:05:36 PM
Bought a budget 1/4" drive torque wrench from a SuperCheapAuto shop here in Oz a fortnight back - glad I checked it out on a bolt held in a vise before I trusted it to the oil filter housing bolts - complete rubbish piece of kit - it operated like a standard ratchet drive - no cick or give on any setting  Back it went, no problems getting a refund. Going to take a wander round a decent tool shop next week and buy a professional product that can be used to accurately torque-up on flimsy fastners and alloy threads.

If you are in Oz have a look on eBay at the Kingchrome ones. Cheap and good quality. Just bought one to do the clutch on my Ducati and worked perfectly.

Slow down there for a second.

Torque wrenches are one of the easiest tools to misuse, resulting in broken bolts and stripped threads. So, really do some reading before you start playing with them. First, I do not trust the habor freight clickers, and would advise people to avoid them.

2nd... For most jobs, a 3/8 inch torque wrench works, but more importantly than the head size is the torque range. The rule of thumb is that you should never ever use the wrench in the bottom 20-25% of it's range. E.g if you bought an 80ft lb wrench, you really should never use for any fastener requiring less than 20 foot pounds.

In practice, this means you need at least 2 wrenches to work on your bike... One for the 5-25lb range, and another for the 20-75lb range (there are few things that require more than 75 foot lbs on a GS, and most of them can be done by hand.)

I generally recommend the Craftsman clickers for jobs like this. They run $60-$80 each, last for years, and seem to be pretty accurate. There are diffinitely better wrenches on the market, but that's a good starting place.

If you want to cheap out or abuse the wrenches, you're probably better off doing the job by hand - you can estimate the torque required on a lot of non-critical (not engine, not suspension related) fasteners. Just remember, 20 foot lbs means a 20 pound weight hanging off the end of a 1 foot handle. Use that as a guideline, and you'll be fine.

Hang on a minute........in the past half the people in here have said you dont need a TW on the basis feel is good enough and the other half have said they are essential but never get it calibrated regularly 

The only way to get things spot on and to ensure things stay that way is to buy the best TW you can afford and get it regulalrly checked, account for tollerances and aim for the middle of the stated figure...........Otherwise you may as well just get your breaker bar out click a socket on the end of it and take a guess 

Actually, the best way to ensure that stuff stays torqued is with Safety wire. For me, a torque wrench is all about making sure that pressure is even on critical engine parts, and to prevent damage and over-tightening on stuff that clamps or is threaded into aluminum.

Quote from: Bluesmudge on December 24, 2011, 02:22:11 PM
Just get all of them. They are sooooooo cheap! 

x2

IMO, a man can never have enough tools or toys or boobs

Quote from: burning1 on December 24, 2011, 07:47:34 PM
Actually, the best way to ensure that stuff stays torqued is with Safety wire. For me, a torque wrench is all about making sure that pressure is even on critical engine parts, and to prevent damage and over-tightening on stuff that clamps or is threaded into aluminum.

Correct, consistency is more important than the actual torque value achieved.

Hi Twisted. Tx for tip on Kinchrome torque wrench. Bought 1/4" drive one at Bunnings, Bankstown, today at $77. Nice wrench. Seems much more solid that the SuperCheap one. Liked the handwritten testing certificate in the box. Might be complete bollox but it did inspire confidence + the fact that the wrench actually clicks

Completely and absolutely off topic. Parked up at Menai shopping centre yesterday next to a Toyota van. Sitting on bike, feet on ground, taking off helmet and Mum and two little kids turned up and Mum starts to load the van. Little girl, maybe 4, rolls over to me and grabs the bike's foot rest in her little hand and I'm thinking "Yikes, hot motor, little kid talking to me, Oh My Gawd." Anyway, and this is gospel true, this is how the conversation went:

Little Girl "Motorbike?"
Me: "Yes"
LG "Blue?"
Me: "Yes, it's blue"
LH: "No training wheels?"
Me: Didn't know what to say, mumbled something about "No, but my wife has them"

Made my day, really

Quote from: noworries on December 28, 2011, 02:29:50 AM
Hi Twisted. Tx for tip on Kinchrome torque wrench. Bought 1/4" drive one at Bunnings, Bankstown, today at $77. Nice wrench. Seems much more solid that the SuperCheap one. Liked the handwritten testing certificate in the box. Might be complete bollox but it did inspire confidence + the fact that the wrench actually clicks

Completely and absolutely off topic. Parked up at Menai shopping centre yesterday next to a Toyota van. Sitting on bike, feet on ground, taking off helmet and Mum and two little kids turned up and Mum starts to load the van. Little girl, maybe 4, rolls over to me and grabs the bike's foot rest in her little hand and I'm thinking "Yikes, hot motor, little kid talking to me, Oh My Gawd." Anyway, and this is gospel true, this is how the conversation went:

Little Girl "Motorbike?"
Me: "Yes"
LG "Blue?"
Me: "Yes, it's blue"
LH: "No training wheels?"
Me: Didn't know what to say, mumbled something about "No, but my wife has them"

Made my day, really

Obviously the GS500 is a CHICK MAGNET....


Cookie

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accessories/Duralast-1-2-and-3-8-in-drive-0-150-ft-lbs-range-beam-type-torque-wrench/_/N-25fw?counter=6&filterByKeyWord=Torque+Wrench&fromString=search&itemIdentifier=914019_0_0_

Here you go. $11.99 and has a perfect range for the bike AND it's easier to understand versus the clicker type. It's also Duralast brand which is like Craftsman - unlimited lifetime warranty. If it ever breaks just take it back to Autozone and they'll replace it for free.

I just picked up a really nice set of sockets from Autozone made by Duralast. Their stuff is pretty high quality. Almost as nice as something like Snap-on.

Quote from: Kijona on December 28, 2011, 08:48:49 AM
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accessories/Duralast-1-2-and-3-8-in-drive-0-150-ft-lbs-range-beam-type-torque-wrench/_/N-25fw?counter=6&filterByKeyWord=Torque+Wrench&fromString=search&itemIdentifier=914019_0_0_

Here you go. $11.99 and has a perfect range for the bike AND it's easier to understand versus the clicker type. It's also Duralast brand which is like Craftsman - unlimited lifetime warranty. If it ever breaks just take it back to Autozone and they'll replace it for free.

I just picked up a really nice set of sockets from Autozone made by Duralast. Their stuff is pretty high quality. Almost as nice as something like Snap-on.

I purchased my first torque wrench, craftsman 3/8" Beam type...40 years a go when I got my first car and began to work on it.  Some time later I purchased a craftsman 1/2 drive beam type (for higher torque range).  I have used these for countless car, boat, motorcycle and airplane projects ever since.

The beam type gives you the best bang for the buck
....cheap, simple...easy to use ...accurate...reliable.

The only down side is, some say, if you are into a hard to reach place, you can't read the scale.  I've always managed, by adding extension, or using mirror, or other "tricks".   We sometimes add a "crow's foot" or home made extenders, (which require some recalcualtion as they make the "arm" longer).

For a "professional" using the torque wrench every day, the click type is the choice...for regular guys...the beam type does a great job and is inexpensive...

Cookie

Quote from: twocool on December 28, 2011, 10:11:24 AM

Quote from: Kijona on December 28, 2011, 08:48:49 AM
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accessories/Duralast-1-2-and-3-8-in-drive-0-150-ft-lbs-range-beam-type-torque-wrench/_/N-25fw?counter=6&filterByKeyWord=Torque+Wrench&fromString=search&itemIdentifier=914019_0_0_

Here you go. $11.99 and has a perfect range for the bike AND it's easier to understand versus the clicker type. It's also Duralast brand which is like Craftsman - unlimited lifetime warranty. If it ever breaks just take it back to Autozone and they'll replace it for free.

I just picked up a really nice set of sockets from Autozone made by Duralast. Their stuff is pretty high quality. Almost as nice as something like Snap-on.

I purchased my first torque wrench, craftsman 3/8" Beam type...40 years a go when I got my first car and began to work on it.  Some time later I purchased a craftsman 1/2 drive beam type (for higher torque range).  I have used these for countless car, boat, motorcycle and airplane projects ever since.

The beam type gives you the best bang for the buck
....cheap, simple...easy to use ...accurate...reliable.

The only down side is, some say, if you are into a hard to reach place, you can't read the scale.  I've always managed, by adding extension, or using mirror, or other "tricks".   We sometimes add a "crow's foot" or home made extenders, (which require some recalcualtion as they make the "arm" longer).

For a "professional" using the torque wrench every day, the click type is the choice...for regular guys...the beam type does a great job and is inexpensive...

Cookie

Agreed. I have a vintage Craftsman beam-type torque wrench and it's never let me down. I also have the "clicking" type but I don't like them because they're hard to read and seems like someone without a lot of experience could seriously screw something up - not to mention the fact that there's a high probability that a cheaper one might be defective/inaccurate.

Quote from: Kijona on December 28, 2011, 10:19:39 AM

Quote from: twocool on December 28, 2011, 10:11:24 AM

Quote from: Kijona on December 28, 2011, 08:48:49 AM
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accessories/Duralast-1-2-and-3-8-in-drive-0-150-ft-lbs-range-beam-type-torque-wrench/_/N-25fw?counter=6&filterByKeyWord=Torque+Wrench&fromString=search&itemIdentifier=914019_0_0_

Here you go. $11.99 and has a perfect range for the bike AND it's easier to understand versus the clicker type. It's also Duralast brand which is like Craftsman - unlimited lifetime warranty. If it ever breaks just take it back to Autozone and they'll replace it for free.

I just picked up a really nice set of sockets from Autozone made by Duralast. Their stuff is pretty high quality. Almost as nice as something like Snap-on.

I purchased my first torque wrench, craftsman 3/8" Beam type...40 years a go when I got my first car and began to work on it.  Some time later I purchased a craftsman 1/2 drive beam type (for higher torque range).  I have used these for countless car, boat, motorcycle and airplane projects ever since.

The beam type gives you the best bang for the buck
....cheap, simple...easy to use ...accurate...reliable.

The only down side is, some say, if you are into a hard to reach place, you can't read the scale.  I've always managed, by adding extension, or using mirror, or other "tricks".   We sometimes add a "crow's foot" or home made extenders, (which require some recalcualtion as they make the "arm" longer).

For a "professional" using the torque wrench every day, the click type is the choice...for regular guys...the beam type does a great job and is inexpensive...

Cookie

Agreed. I have a vintage Craftsman beam-type torque wrench and it's never let me down. I also have the "clicking" type but I don't like them because they're hard to read and seems like someone without a lot of experience could seriously screw something up - not to mention the fact that there's a high probability that a cheaper one might be defective/inaccurate.

Yes, A low priced beam type is still accurate and reliable because the the simple principal of how they work.

For a click type, I think a cheap one would be a waste of money and possibly could be trouble by being inaccurate or wearing out easily...

Cookie

Every torque wrench thead needs a "don't use one on your oil plug" warning!