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55 Posts
i have had japanese cars and motorcycles for approximately half of my 45 years of driving.
never heard of j.i.s. (japanese industrial standard) screws/screwdrivers until just recently when i bought my goldwing and signed on to a goldwing forum.
j.i.s. screws look exactly like phillips head screws (well, not EXACTLY; but i haven't been able to spot the difference yet) but they are designed to be installed/removed with a j.i.s. screwdriver. it seems that a phillips screwdriver was designed to "cam out" of the screw during assembly at the factory. this prevents over-torquing and, presumably, marring of the screw-head. if you have a used japanese bike the chances are good that it has some chewed up j.i.s. screws from being worked on with a phillips screwdriver. my goldwing definitely does, and i am sure that i am not the only person who has found what i thought were phillips screws, very difficult to remove.
having read all this on-line i went fishing through my collection of phillips screwdrivers and eventually found one that said "yamaha" on it ... clearly the remnant of someones factory tool kit. tested it on a few goldwing screws and sure enough, the fit is noticeably better. even damaged screws came out willingly.
note that this is not a "metric" thing, and does not apply to euro bikes, but if you own a japanese bike, do yourself a favour and order a set of j.i.s. screwdrivers. you will probably have to do this online ... it's one of the best-kept secrets in the tool business. you will just get a blank stare if you walk into canadian tire or it's equivalent and start blathering about "j.i.s."
never heard of j.i.s. (japanese industrial standard) screws/screwdrivers until just recently when i bought my goldwing and signed on to a goldwing forum.
j.i.s. screws look exactly like phillips head screws (well, not EXACTLY; but i haven't been able to spot the difference yet) but they are designed to be installed/removed with a j.i.s. screwdriver. it seems that a phillips screwdriver was designed to "cam out" of the screw during assembly at the factory. this prevents over-torquing and, presumably, marring of the screw-head. if you have a used japanese bike the chances are good that it has some chewed up j.i.s. screws from being worked on with a phillips screwdriver. my goldwing definitely does, and i am sure that i am not the only person who has found what i thought were phillips screws, very difficult to remove.
having read all this on-line i went fishing through my collection of phillips screwdrivers and eventually found one that said "yamaha" on it ... clearly the remnant of someones factory tool kit. tested it on a few goldwing screws and sure enough, the fit is noticeably better. even damaged screws came out willingly.
note that this is not a "metric" thing, and does not apply to euro bikes, but if you own a japanese bike, do yourself a favour and order a set of j.i.s. screwdrivers. you will probably have to do this online ... it's one of the best-kept secrets in the tool business. you will just get a blank stare if you walk into canadian tire or it's equivalent and start blathering about "j.i.s."
