New Tool Kit

If you can't GO riding, you might as well do something to look forward to riding again. This weekend was just positively crummy. It actually snowed a bit yesterday, in addition to all the raining it did. Total crap before October, if you ask me.

So, I opted instead to get some upgrades ready for the bike. One of them being this nifty PVC toolkit that I'll store on my skid plate. (Once I get my skid plate.) I got the idea from a riding forum somewhere, I can't recall where. The concept is pretty simple, though. I did go a bit different route, though. Most I've seen just use normal end caps, or a screw-type end cap. I found (at Lowe's) these temporary caps. I'm not sure what they're actually called, but they're really great. I used a 3 inch PVC tube. Including caps, the thing is about 10 3/4 inches wide. (~273mm.) The tube is about 1/4 inch think (6mm). I don't really worry about breaking it.

The Tool Kit

Nifty End Cap
I really love this thing. They basically just squeeze the seal between two pieces of plastic to push it out to press against the pipe. They work beautifully. My only concern is getting the wingnut busted off in a crash, but I could always add a normal nut at that point.

In Place
This is another shot of the cap in place on the tube. Like I said, I'm not sure how crashable they are, but they seem extremely sturdy and I'm not really worried. They seem as water tight and secure as a normal cap, plus (I think) they are easier to get off the tube. Did I mention they were actually CHEAPER than a normal threaded cap & adapter? Go figure... Oh, and yes that wingnut is freaking huge. 2.46" (62.8mm) from tip to tip. You won't have any trouble torquing this down with your fingers.