DO NOT USE PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVERS ON YOUR XS650!
There is not a single Phillips screw on your bike and so why the heck would use a Phillips driver on it? You wouldn’t use a butter knife to drive in a nail would you?
Those screws on your YamaHondaKawaZuki that look like Phillips - aren’t Phillips. They are JIS (Japan Industrial Standard) and they are sufficiently different from Phillips screws that using the wrong driver on them will invariably result in a stripped screwhead leading to a drill-out job which often ends in tears and non-child approved language.
Here is an excellent article explaining the JIS-Phillips conundrum.
https://www.st-owners.com/forums/attachments/jis-screwdrivers-pdf.234691/
The key take-away is that if you work on Japanese bikes/cars/toasters/....whatever, you truly need a set of JIS drivers. Using a Philips driver is a big & stupid mistake as it will damage the JIS screw heads and thus, it will eventually strip them. In addition to NOT stripping the screws on your bike, the JIS driver is superior to the Phillips in other ways..for example, could you do THIS with a Phillips?
As for brands, the Japanese “Vessel” brand is definitely top-drawer and is readily available on the web at reasonable cost. Be sure to get the big IMPACTA model with the #3 JIS end. It has a silver handle which incorporates an impact driver function that makes XS650 clutch basket screws a doddle (even if some earlier “mechanic” has f@cked them up quite badly). I also like the knurled shaft on the snazzy blue-green driver handled Vessels with makes spinning in/out long screws, a breeze.
As an excellent alternative to Vessel, Canadian tool vender Paul Jones of London, Ontario also makes a lovely set of JIS drivers, including some with a hex end on the handle for added torque, which he markets at Go Fast Innovations:
https://www.gofastinnovations.com/store1/JIS-Screwdriver-Set-p104013955
The three-driver set above sells for $34.95 shipped (that’s CDN which equals around $3.47 USD I think). Paul has just introduced a cool set of 1/4” shank hex impact driver JIS bits for the princely sum of $24.95 CDN shipped (that’s about $2.12 USD at the present rate of exchange). They really are about the nicest screwdrivers I’ve ever used PLUS, they work perfectly on Phillips screws. So, you can just toss your existing Phillips drivers (or give them to someone you don’t like...
).
I have ordered from Paul several times (including 2 sets of those new impact bits about 15 minutes ago) and he’s honest, fast, efficient, cost effective and a great guy who deserves our patronage IMHO.
Check ‘em out!
Pete
There is not a single Phillips screw on your bike and so why the heck would use a Phillips driver on it? You wouldn’t use a butter knife to drive in a nail would you?
Those screws on your YamaHondaKawaZuki that look like Phillips - aren’t Phillips. They are JIS (Japan Industrial Standard) and they are sufficiently different from Phillips screws that using the wrong driver on them will invariably result in a stripped screwhead leading to a drill-out job which often ends in tears and non-child approved language.
Here is an excellent article explaining the JIS-Phillips conundrum.
https://www.st-owners.com/forums/attachments/jis-screwdrivers-pdf.234691/
The key take-away is that if you work on Japanese bikes/cars/toasters/....whatever, you truly need a set of JIS drivers. Using a Philips driver is a big & stupid mistake as it will damage the JIS screw heads and thus, it will eventually strip them. In addition to NOT stripping the screws on your bike, the JIS driver is superior to the Phillips in other ways..for example, could you do THIS with a Phillips?
As for brands, the Japanese “Vessel” brand is definitely top-drawer and is readily available on the web at reasonable cost. Be sure to get the big IMPACTA model with the #3 JIS end. It has a silver handle which incorporates an impact driver function that makes XS650 clutch basket screws a doddle (even if some earlier “mechanic” has f@cked them up quite badly). I also like the knurled shaft on the snazzy blue-green driver handled Vessels with makes spinning in/out long screws, a breeze.
As an excellent alternative to Vessel, Canadian tool vender Paul Jones of London, Ontario also makes a lovely set of JIS drivers, including some with a hex end on the handle for added torque, which he markets at Go Fast Innovations:
https://www.gofastinnovations.com/store1/JIS-Screwdriver-Set-p104013955
The three-driver set above sells for $34.95 shipped (that’s CDN which equals around $3.47 USD I think). Paul has just introduced a cool set of 1/4” shank hex impact driver JIS bits for the princely sum of $24.95 CDN shipped (that’s about $2.12 USD at the present rate of exchange). They really are about the nicest screwdrivers I’ve ever used PLUS, they work perfectly on Phillips screws. So, you can just toss your existing Phillips drivers (or give them to someone you don’t like...
I have ordered from Paul several times (including 2 sets of those new impact bits about 15 minutes ago) and he’s honest, fast, efficient, cost effective and a great guy who deserves our patronage IMHO.
Check ‘em out!
Pete
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