Torque wrench

Hi,

First, a disclaimer: I'm rubbish at anything practical.

Second, my bike: SV650s K5, lower fairings, rear hugger, R&G crashbungs.

Right, now on to my question. I clean the bike fairly regularly (and indeed, frequently - I gather Northwind cleans his bike on a regular basis, but once every 18 months isn't frequent!), but it's obviously difficult to get behind the fairings. Some people seem to take these off, to allow them to do a better job. When the fairings (and the crashbungs) are put back on, do they require the use of a torque wrench?
They seem to be useful/required for various other tasks, so seems like a good idea to get one.

If so, any recommendations on torque wrenches? I remember my dad having one which was about a meter long, but I think its manufacture meant that things could be overtightened. I think I'd expect some kind of rachet mechanism.

Thanks

[northwind]

Fairings don't call for it... Crash bungs might, depends on the bung. Mostly you use torque wrench for 2 reasons- either it's essential that something's tight enough (ie, brake disk bolts) or when it's essential that it's tight but not too tight (bolts in aluminium, anything where parts can deform)

However, using a torque wrench is one of those things that makes you feel like you know what you're doing.

PS, look how I rise above your vicious, nay, slanderous comments

the best sort of torque wrench is one you can borrow off a mate

If you do get your pinkies on one, remember that when the manual says a certain torque setting, for a certain size of bolt, they really mean the diameter of the bolt,
not the size of the head

Fair enough, I'll leave it and use my socket set then!

thanks chaps

Halfords do a cheap and cheerful torque wrech that scored pretty high on the RiDE test.
I have one and it does everything I've needed, so far anyways.

I have just bought this one:

http://www.tooled-up.com/Product.asp...ive-Calibrated

It is very nice, good range, 3/8 drive, calibrated and pretty cheap.

[Viney]

Originally Posted by rpwoodman

Fair enough, I'll leave it and use my socket set then!

thanks chaps

Fairing you just use an allen key (4mm)

Ooh, that does look good. I think I'd decided that I wasnt' going to bother, but having seen that, I may reconsider!