For years I balanced my bike on its side stand and spent an hour with a rag and a half-empty can of lube, chasing the chain by hand. A GRAND PITSTOP roller stand turned that whole chore into a ten minute job.
The rear wheel sits on two rollers and spins free, so chain lube and tire cleaning stop being a balancing act. I ran the GRAND PITSTOP Groller through nine months of shop use. Here is what holds up and what does not.
One spins the rear wheel for chain and tire work. The other lifts the wheel clear so you can pull it. They get mixed up in every forum thread, so let me put them next to each other on the shop floor and tell you which one I actually reach for.
Chain lube, tire cleaning, brake checks, and wheel detail all get easier and safer with the bike off its side stand. My 10 reasons a maintenance stand earns its spot.
For years I balanced my bike on its side stand and spent an hour with a rag and a half-empty can of lube, chasing the chain by hand. A GRAND PITSTOP roller stand turned that whole chore into a ten minute job.
Get the rear wheel off the ground, find the master link, and do a proper clean-and-lube that actually reaches every roller. Step by step from a guy who does it weekly.
The roller arms, the 600 lb limit, the tire width ceiling, and how the padded cradle actually holds a fat rear tire. The honest version after a season of shop use.
I bolted five builds together with the LEXIVON LX-183 and kept checking the specs every time. Eighteen months of engine covers, triple clamps, and brake calipers later, here is how this 1/2-inch click wrench actually holds up.
Two of the most-bought 1/2-inch click torque wrenches on Amazon, both common budget picks. I put a LEXIVON LX-183 and an EPAuto on my bench for a season of builds and compared accuracy, feel, calibration, and which one I reach for on engine work.
Guessing at torque is how threads strip, axles work loose, and rotors warp. My 10 reasons a click torque wrench earns a permanent spot in your box.
I rebuilt the top end on an old CB750 this winter and did every fastener to spec with the LEXIVON LX-183. Head bolts, cam caps, cover plates, all of it. After 1,200 miles of checking, nothing backed out. I'm never trusting feel again.
Clean threads, the right range, and a smooth pull to the click. A shop-guy guide to hitting spec on engine covers, axles, and clamps every time.
Forty thousand people rated the LEXIVON LX-183 five stars. None of them told you the low-torque end is the real deal, that a drop can knock it out of calibration, or that you still need a 3/8 inch wrench beside it. Here is the version I learned on the bench.
A 50-foot roll of SunplusTrade fiberglass wrap after a full season on a hot pipe: how it cut the heat, how it behaved through rain, and whether the ties and the edges actually hold up.
Two of the most-bought motorcycle exhaust wraps on Amazon, side by side after a full season on a hot header. Here is which one actually stays put and which one frays first.
Heat management, pipe protection, and keeping the heat off your leg and your oil. My 10 practical reasons exhaust wrap earns a roll in every build.
My leg and my oil were both cooking on long rides. Wrapping the header with a roll of SunplusTrade fiberglass changed the whole character of the bike.
Wet it down, overlap it clean, and crimp the ties so nothing unravels. A step-by-step exhaust wrap job that stays tight and looks right.
The fiberglass itch, the 50-foot math, and how the wrap dulls over a winter. Everything the product photos leave out about living with wrapped pipes.
The little black box every rider ends up buying. I wired a Battery Tender Junior onto every bike in the shop for two full winters. Here is what it actually keeps alive, what it is too slow for, and where I would spend the difference.
The iconic Junior against the upstart GENIUS1 for motorcycles and small 12V toys. I compare 6V support, desulfation, clamp quality, and which one earns the shelf.
A dead battery in spring is the most predictable motorcycle problem there is. My 10 reasons a small maintainer belongs on every bike that sits for a week or more.
Every spring I rolled a bike out of the shop and got the flat click of a battery that gave up in November. Wiring the Battery Tender Junior into the routine fixed it for good.
Disconnect, clean the terminals, and let a maintainer do the rest. The winter storage battery routine that keeps five bikes in my shop ready to crank come spring.
Nearly 50,000 five-star ratings say it just works. They are not wrong. But a guy who keeps five bikes on these boxes for two winters will tell you the parts the reviews gloss over.
A compression gauge tells you more about an engine than any spec sheet. I ran the BETOOLL HW0130 kit for a year across cold checks, leakdown catch-ups, and post-rebuild verification. Here is how well it reads, and where it gets finicky.
Two budget compression tester kits every home mechanic has eyed. I put a BETOOLL HW0130 and a DAYUAN on my bench for a season and compared hose reach, gauge accuracy, fitting variety, and which one reads truer on a small motorcycle engine.
A compression reading tells you more about an engine than any spec sheet. My 10 reasons a compression tester earns its keep on old bikes and builds alike.
The bike ran rough and I had two theories and a parts list. One compression reading on the BETOOLL HW0130 settled it and saved me a full rebuild.
Throttle open, kill switch off, and the right number of kicks to get a real reading. A step by step compression test, plus the wet test that pinpoints rings without tearing the top end apart.
The 8,700 five-star ratings are not wrong about the money. The version they leave out lives in the plastic case, the all-thread fittings, and the needle that bounces. Here is the real BETOOLL review.
The rear wheel sits on two rollers and spins free, so chain lube and tire cleaning stop being a balancing act. I ran the GRAND PITSTOP Groller through nine months of shop use. Here is what holds up and what does not.
The roller arms, the 600 lb limit, the tire width ceiling, and how the padded cradle actually holds a fat rear tire. The honest version after a season of shop use.
I bolted five builds together with the LEXIVON LX-183 and kept checking the specs every time. Eighteen months of engine covers, triple clamps, and brake calipers later, here is how this 1/2-inch click wrench actually holds up.
Forty thousand people rated the LEXIVON LX-183 five stars. None of them told you the low-torque end is the real deal, that a drop can knock it out of calibration, or that you still need a 3/8 inch wrench beside it. Here is the version I learned on the bench.
A 50-foot roll of SunplusTrade fiberglass wrap after a full season on a hot pipe: how it cut the heat, how it behaved through rain, and whether the ties and the edges actually hold up.
The fiberglass itch, the 50-foot math, and how the wrap dulls over a winter. Everything the product photos leave out about living with wrapped pipes.
The little black box every rider ends up buying. I wired a Battery Tender Junior onto every bike in the shop for two full winters. Here is what it actually keeps alive, what it is too slow for, and where I would spend the difference.
Nearly 50,000 five-star ratings say it just works. They are not wrong. But a guy who keeps five bikes on these boxes for two winters will tell you the parts the reviews gloss over.
A compression gauge tells you more about an engine than any spec sheet. I ran the BETOOLL HW0130 kit for a year across cold checks, leakdown catch-ups, and post-rebuild verification. Here is how well it reads, and where it gets finicky.
The 8,700 five-star ratings are not wrong about the money. The version they leave out lives in the plastic case, the all-thread fittings, and the needle that bounces. Here is the real BETOOLL review.
