SCOOPERMAN!
The sunny side of the classic world, with the VJMC’S
Transformational – how’s that for an opener? Big word and possibly a contentious one when partnered up with the word screwdriver.
Can something as basic as a screwdriver even be transformational? Surely that’s like over-egging the pudding or gilding the lily? Before you scoff and turn the page please bear with me a while longer.
Like many yet still to be converted I too thought JIS screwdrivers were just so much hokum until I got a set… well, to be honest one of my grown-up kids bought me a trio of them as a Christmas present. Over the festive period they got a thorough workout and, would you believe it, I was blown away by just how good they were. Like many others, I’d used Philips drivers in the past and coped well enough, or so I thought, and yet the new JIS chappies took the mundane task of loosening and tightening Japanese cross heads to another level.
Apparently the disparity is all in the angle of the point which is five or so degrees different to the European version, and although you’d be hard pushed to credit that small variation, made a huge difference. Tactile would be a good way to explain how the JIS versions feel in comparison.
No doubt the naysayers are shaking their heads and smiling ruefully. You all have your various work-arounds, dodges, hacks or whatever, but the reality is when you work on a Japanese bike with Japanese screwdrivers life is simply easier. Yes, yes, I know you can use an impact driver to loosen reticent cross heads and use your Philips tools, but get this: a large number of impact drivers are actually fitted with JIS bits – now that’s a tad annoying, isn’t it? And if you’re still using that Vessel impact driver you bought back in the day, guess what? You’d unknowingly bought into the JIS technology all those years ago!
So where are we going with this month’s column? Quite simply that it makes sense to obtain the correct tools for the jobs we undertake. Whilst there are always alternatives, having the correct kit to hand inevitably makes the tasks easier and, by default, less likely to end in tears. The correct puller for a flywheel magneto will save you from buggering up the coils beneath it; a set of circling pliers will negate scrabbling around the shed on your hands and knees for the metal ring the electrical screw drivers pinged God knows where; and a set of crimpers will ensure the connector stays on the wire unlike when you use pliers.
None of us is getting any younger so why make life harder than it needs to be – work smarter, not harder!
www.vjmc.com ❙ 01454 501310