Nutcrackers: Best spanners for motorcycle maintenance

This best spanner set from tool expert Draper is Amazon's choice and with good reason. The company has an excellent reputation for tools and at just over £1 a spanner, this is excellent value. You get 11 spanners in metric sizes from 6mm up to 19mm and stored in a handy rack, ready to go straight in your toolbox. The open-ended jaws are offset to make it easier to work on fasteners with tight access and they are formed in hardened chrome-vanadium steel.

Another Amazon choice, these stubby combination best spanners from Hilka can be very useful for working with fasteners where space is tight. You won't be able to apply the same amount of torque as a longer spanner and so they may feel like harder work, but if you can't get a normal-length spanner into where the nut or bolt is, these may save the day for you. A ten-piece set with sizes from 10mm to 19mm.

At first sight, these appear to be a bit of a gimmick but they are manufactured from proper material and to proper standards and indeed, reviews suggest that these combination spanners, individually engraved with "I love you Dad", properly work. In chrome-vanadium steel, they come in a wooden presentation box and tool wrap and are sized from 8mm to 24mm.

We've used Halfords Advanced range of tools before and have always been impressed; they perform well and are not over-priced and this set of ring spanners should be the same. With offset heads to allow full rotation on nuts and bolts, where space permits, the eight separate spanners offer sizes from 6mm to 22 mm giving great flexibility and come with a lifetime guarantee.

Effectively a best spanner set, this strangely-shaped design for fasteners where access is obstructed and you can't get a straight spanner into position. This five-piece set caters for sizes from 8mm to 22mm and is made in chrome-vanadium steel with a polished finish. These can be a very useful addition to your toolkit and will only need to get to an awkward fastener once to make them worth owning.

Odd-looking devices designed to go on the fastener like a spanner but are driven by a socket extension, in this case, a 3/8in square drive. They are useful for fasteners where you can't get access for the length of the spanner and you also can't get a socket on. Available in both six-flat designs as here or with ring-spanner style teeth. Also useful for tightening fasteners to a specific torque when access is poor.

There's not a huge amount to say about this best spanner set of open-ended spanners from British manufacturer Kennedy. Made in chrome-vanadium steel, they come with a matt finish and polished heads which are angled at 15° for improved access, reducing the angle the spanner must rotate to pick up the fastener again. They come in a tool roll and in sizes of 6mm to 19mm.

A set of ratchet spanners can be incredibly useful, particularly if space is very limited. Open-ended at one end, to initially release the fasteners, the other end features a 72-tooth ratchet that only needs 5° of rotation to move to the next tooth. The angled ratchet head means access can be even further improved and this set covers the main sizes; 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 17 and 19mm.

A variation on a theme, these flexi socket spanners have an opened-ended head at one end and a pivoting 12-point socket at the other, for huge flexibility. These are from Sealey's Premier Hand Tool range and are drop-forged in chrome-vanadium steel and in a polished finish. The open-ended head and socket on each spanner are the same size with the set ranging from 8mm to 19mm.

Designed for the compression nuts fitted to all sorts of hydraulic systems, including fuel injection and brake systems, these spanners slid over the rigid pipe and located securely on the fitting, allowing the necessary torque to be applied from potentially high-pressure systems. Give better location and drive than traditional spanners and can be particularly useful for stubborn bleed nipples in brake calipers, for example.

This slim-design nut spanner will fit into any toolbox and it's handy to have in your kit. It's sturdy and gets the job done with a secure fit and grip. It's 32mm so you can even have it in your bag as you ride just in case. Sometimes something as simple as this spanner is just what you need.