Craftsman, S&K, Snap-On and MAG all make a decent tool. You'll also see that price varies WILDLY depending on whom you get it from.
Now, in the true spirit of internet forum comversations I'm going to give to an equally valid answer as the previous one, with a completely opposite instruction.
Now, I'm in no way a motorcycle mechanic, but I am a physicist and a guy who spends a lot of time trusting my life to my tools (in the world of High Voltage and High Energy Physics, when things fail, people often die in spectacular ways).
He said to get a small wrench, I've gotta reccomend a mid size. Socket wrenches come in 3 common (and MANY more uncommon) sizes. 1/4" Drive (Small), 3/8" drive (the most common), and 1/2" drive (Common, large). You can also get sockets in MUCH larger sizes (I've seen 2" drive sockets before, you pick those up with BOTH hands).
Now, a 1/4" drive socket wrench is usually about 6 inches or so long. 3/8" drive wrenches are availible in several lengths, but typical is about 8-12 inches long. They get exponentially longer as you go up.
Now, torque or standard ratchet, all wrenches are levers (you get bonus points if you can tell me what Class of levers a socket wrench is). All they do is magnify Torque (rotational force) in order to do work. The amount of work done is measured in FootPounds. 1 foot-pound is the amount of force required to lift 1 pound of weight 1 foot vertically.
Simple eh?
Ok, now, the vast majority of fasteners on a typical CB-Series bike are going to be #3 Metric Phillips Head screws, and 8 to 25mm bolts. With an inordinate number of those being 10 to 14mm. You can take half of my bike apart with less then 6 tools.
Thank you Mr.Honda.
But using a Torque Wrench is a precision instrument. And to properly torque down a bolt, you have to apply steady, even pressure until the wrench indicates (usually in the form of a click) that you're done.
Now, it's FAR easier to apply steady, even pressure with a longer lever then it is with a shorter one. You DO NOT USE A TORQUE WRENCH FOR GENERAL WORK, they're far too delicate for being used as a common ratchet. You do all your grunting with a regular ratchet, and when you're doing Torque bolts, you use a torque wrench, and that's ONLY when you use it.
Because of this, you never have to worry about stripping off bolts with it, it's not something you should be leaning on that hard.
So, because of this, I would have to strongly reccomend you get a good quality 3/8" Drive x 12 inch long Torque wrench with a good set of both standard and deep-well metric sockets. I would also strongly reccomend you get a 12-18" long 3/8" drive extention shaft for reaching into the tight places on the bike (there's quite a few), and also get a 3" extention for working under the bike (taking off the oil pan bolts is impossible without it). Also, find an honest-to-God #3 Metric Phillips head screwdriver, and sockets to fit it (they make them, you won't believe that for the first 3 stores, but they actually do make them). Get a couple, you'll use them a LOT on these bikes.
Now, it is true that a longer wrench will give you even more control (and make tightening easier), but if there's a bolt on your bike that you can't properly torque down with a 12" long wrench, then you're not big enough for a motorcycle yet because I'm 5'10 and 135lbs and if my anorexic little ass can do it, I'm sure you can too. Any wrench longer then that is just wasting money and compensating for something else. Though, I will confess that I did spend $40 to buy a 1 INCH THICK Allen wrench that's nearly two feet long, just because I though it was cool as hell.
It hangs on my wall.
Dr.Duck The Motorcycle Physicist.
1975 CB-550
