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Promach Dual Tool By Wes Fleming #87301
WHEN I GOT MY R 1200 GS IN 2010, the tool kit was already missing. I was the third owner, and neither of the other two could remember when the kit disappeared. It was easy enough to put together a comprehensive tool kit that covered almost everything I thought I’d need to do on the side of the road. The one task I couldn’t fig- ure out how to cover was removing the front wheel. Luckily, I
stumbled across a
mention of the Prom- ach Dual Tool on ADVRider and imme- diately picked one up. The Dual Tool actu-
ally has three uses. First, the spindle tool can be used on the front axle of the R 1200 (up to 2014 models), the K 1200 (R/S/GT)
and F 800
motorcycles. The spin- dle tool has two sides, a 19mm hex and a 22mm hex. Put the 19mm end on a standard 3/8” drive ratchet and stick the 22 mm end into the front axle on your bike. If you don’t have a ratchet driver handy, you can just use a 19mm wrench, and your axle will spin right out. (Reverse for an F 800—its axle requires the 19mm end be inserted.) The other half of the Dual Tool
works like a charm when it’s time to remove the ignition coils from the spark plugs, a task that is difficult at best if you don’t have the appropriate tool. BMW included a plastic one with some Hexheads and Camheads, but after they downsized the tool kits in 2007, some bikes simply didn’t come with one. I recommend removing the
40 BMW OWNERS NEWS April 2016
ignition wire at the connector before trying to remove the ignition coil (also referred to as the “stick” coil). Using the proper tool to remove the coil will help prevent damage to the wire, but it’s better to be safe than sorry here, as if you damage the ignition wire, you’ll be digging into your wiring harness to replace it—and that’s no fun. Once the ignition wire is disconnected, just slide the Promach coil puller into place
ratchet driver goes all the way through. The original Dual Tool’s spindle tool was
made of 6061-T6 aluminum and could han- dle 100 foot-pounds (135.5 Newton-meters) of torque, well over twice the torque spec of the axle (37 ft-lbs/50 Nm). Still, inventor and manufacturer Terry Logan wanted to make sure his tool never broke, so he started making the spindle tool out of 7075-T6 air- craft grade aluminum. I can’t tell the differ- ence between the two just from looking at them, and the weight difference between them is negligible. Not long after Logan
invented the Dual Tool, he got the idea to make a tam- per-resistant oil filler cap. The quality of the cap is equivalent to the Dual Tool itself, which is to say it is impeccably manufactured. The 19mm end of the spindle tool fits into the oil filler cap, turning the Dual Tool into a Triple Tool of sorts. I consider my Dual Tool a
must-have; not only does it work perfectly, but it’s beauti-
and gently pop the coil loose from the spark plug. If it resists your efforts, there’s a hole through the sides of the puller big enough for a screwdriver; you can get a little extra leverage that way, but still it’s best to be careful. Replacing just the ignition coil will cost you about $160. The two pieces of
the Dual Tool fit
together snugly, aided by a rubber O-ring on the spindle tool. The outer diameter of the coil puller tool is 1.25 inches—about the same width as a quarter, and the whole combined tool is only 1.5 inches long, mak- ing it easy to stash in your tool kit or some- where under the seat of your motorcycle. You could even secure it somewhere with a zip tie, as the hole in the spindle for the
fully made to boot. A full set including the Dual Tool plus the tamper-resistant oil filler cap costs $55; the Dual Tool alone is avail- able for $35. You can also pick up just the ignition coil remover or the spindle tool alone for $25 each if one of your friends should walk off with yours. As a side note, if you have a rat’s nest of
wires hiding under your GS seat, do your- self a favor while you’re on Logan’s website (
www.promachdualtool.com) and pick up his GS Seat Space Saver. It’s a kit that replaces the height bar across the front of an R 1200 GS seat and opens up the space above the battery to prevent cramping or crimping of any wires you have coming off the top of the battery.
member tested
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