Open wide and say “Rrrrrrrrrrr” with this Clarke CHT396 - 150 Piece R-Clip Assortment

Everyone has pet hates. I’ll list my top three straight off: 1) car fog lights when it’s not foggy, day or night. 2) sat nav or carplay units the size of laptop screens stuck to the middle of car windscreens. And 3) split pins! Yes, those metal fastener retainers that Kawasaki especially are still using on rear spindle nuts (they must have made a bulk purchase in 1973! Split pins are also found elsewhere on bikes but usually with out of sight fasteners and linkages.

Split pins do their job ok, but they are fiddly to place and even worse to ‘unlock’ and remove. If you haven’t got a set of needle/long-nose pliers on hand to fold open or close the split tangs they can hurt fingers as quick as that. They are reusable but only a few times before they’re bent, distorted out of shape and a swine to refit. They also look cheap and nasty.

R-clips on the other hand are perfect. As long as the fastener’s aligned to the hole they fit through, they can be reused time and time again. Could an R-clip ever jump out to freedom? Not if it’s a quality item like these Clarke bad boys. The R-clip’s design and springy-like tension of the metal is good enough to keep it in place. For track use, a small cable tie placed around the open end will suffice. Plus, the use of lockwire around the closed end and attached to the chassis means they can be pulled free and left to hang in place – particularly useful on race-style fairing QD mounts/brackets.

To explain why we rate the Clarke CHT396 150 Piece R-Clip Assortment is like asking why we need to breathe, but… For just £9.59, there are 150 R-clips in the CHT396 assortment so it’s going to keep all home techs happy for a good while. Six sizes are conveniently stored in a plastic case within individual compartments. Strangely, the given sizes are imperial or some other old school measurement, where, of course, bikes have been metric for decades (Harley being the oddball exception). Examples being the smallest (3/32” x 1 3/16”) is suitable for 3mm holes, and the largest (5/32” x 2 15/16”) 4mm, with its 74.5mm length making it suitable for rear wheel spindles.

You can check out the Clarke CHT396 - 150 Piece R-Clip Assortment for yourself on the official Machine Mart website.

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