The rear brake caliper on my bike needs to be released from its mooring before the rear wheel can be taken off. This requires the removal of two M8 allen bolts. In order to reach said bolts, a long 3/8-in. extension fitted with the correct allen socket needs to be threaded through one of the gaps in the rear cast-aluminum wheel from the opposite side of the bike. Unfortunately, the holes don’t line up and it’s impossible to get a perfectly straight angle of insertion into the bolt head. Ponder this: Manufacturer Department A didn’t communicate this to Department B, and now you’re alone in your garage, faced with the problem of having to use the tool incorrectly. For removal, you could cleanly muscle the thing off with an allen key fitted with some sort of power extension (Vice Grips, closed end wrench, steel pipe, etc.) But on the re-install how can you accurately follow factory torque specs when you can’t get perfect purchase on the bolt head? And then, even if you do get it torqued, you’ve now likely damaged the six walls of bolt head, so when the time comes to pull it out again, it strips. Hello pain-in-the-arse.

Which brings us to today’s metaphor: The EZ-Out bolt extractor.

Faced with an allen receiver that’s now more circle than hex and a stout bolt seated with 30 or so ft.-lb. of torque, you’ve got to dig deeper in the toolbox to get the result you want. In this case, a carefully screwed in EZ-Out combined with the external application of a fat set of Vice Grips around the bolt head, rotated together, got the job done.

So as I felt that wave of relief when the bolt let go and began its happy counter-clockwise rotation, it occurred to me that we motorcyclists need a complete, varied, high quality and immediately available set of tools. I mean this in metaphorical terms. The world is an inhospitable place for motorcyclists—nowhere is this more true than in the U.S., where we’re a small, anomalous minority. One minute it’s a sunny day on great pavement and everything is working properly. The tool fits the bolt and the bolt moves as expected. The next second there’s a nitwit around a blind corner making a U-turn over the double yellow. The bolt head is stripped/stuck. Engage the correct “tool” when it’s needed and all you have is annoyance after the fact. Accurate application of braking and steering inputs allows you to avoid the T-Bone and ambulance ride. Work the EZ-Out and pliers and avoid a far more hellacious problem.

Both happened to me this weekend. I practice emergency maneuvers all the time, “tricking” myself with faux emergencies that just pop up. I’ll say in my helmet, “what if a car popped out right… THERE! OH, CRAP!” and then I’ll act as though it just happened (obviously when no one is behind or near me). I bought a set of good steel EZ-Outs at a tool sale a couple years ago. Twenty bucks. They sat in the toolbox until yesterday.

I hope I don’t have to use either the practiced what-if/oh-crap skill or an EZ-Out ever again. But something tells me I likely will, and it’s good to know both are there, right where they should be, ready to go.

No related posts.