Tool kit

Mobile phone......

Plug spanner, 1/4" x 5/16" and 3/8" x 7/16"open enders, small and large adjustable, small mole grips, multi-tool with pliers, knife, screwdriver etc, a small roll of gaffer tape, some cable ties, soft iron wire, selection of cycle thread nuts.

I don't try to fix punctures etc by the side of the road any more but rely on the free breakdown cover from Peter James insurance....

Which is fine as long as you are in mobile phone coverage or not miles up a green lane...

Sorry to go off piste but is the spelling of your surname on the forum correct? If so, it's unusual and the same as mine. People are always getting mine wrong, I don't bother to correct them any more.

If you think you might need to remove a wheel at the roadside then 1/2W spanner and 3/16W socket (for the rear wheel studs) could be useful. Your breakdown service might take you to a garage that doesn't have any Whit tools. Also a stubby bit driver with selection of bits inc small sockets. Even metric ones can be useful for hoseclips and carb jets.

A friend carries an old style doctor's bag on the back of his flat tank Triumph. Amazing what has been seen to emerge from the bag, apart from the usual spanners & screwdrivers there is a small fuel container, mini compressor & 12V battery, spare tube and even a spare magneto. And to anticipate the inevitable comments eg "the doctor will see you now" a stethoscope!

I would always be recovered home rather than to a garage. Unless of course I was on an extended European tour which I must confess I am unlikely to undertake again. If I was then I'd also take a much more comprehensive tool kit.

I have only used breakdown services very rarely but the last was for my Ariel Arrow which picked up a screw in the back tyre on its way to the MoT. I did think the handling was a bit odd.

The recovery chap was perfectly happy to take me and the bike home although ISTR that when I was an AA patrol back in the dim and distant we weren't allowed to attend to a vehicle on garage premises.

The 3/16 socket is a good idea but I'd probably have a box spanner (actually I think I do have one in my on-bike kit). The large adjustable would serve to get the spindle nut off.

One more useful thing is a couple of nitrile gloves so that you can keep your hands and hence the inside of your gloves clean (if you remember to put them on before you start - otherwise put them on afterwards!)