Here are a few tips & shortcuts I have picked up. A lot of this is common sense but some people have never heard of it.  If you have any additions let me know.

• Get a rotoray tool (Dremil, Black & Decker, ctc.)  with fiberglass cut off wheels, grinding stones, etc. It will come in real handy for grinding, cutting rusted bolts and with a wire brush it cleans dirty bolts great.

• Buy a big bottle of anti-sieze lubricant. I put it on ANY bolt going into aluminum or wherever heat will get at it.  Just imagine pulling your spark plugs to discover that the threads have pulled out of your head.  Lube your extra plugs when you gap them and put them in your tool bag or carry a small amount of lube (empty 35mm film canisters work good for this) in your kit.

• If you have trouble getting your plugs in and out with a socket because the fuel tank is in the way, put a small crescent wrench in your tool roll.  It will allow you to pull and replace the plugs easily and give you something to hold those nuts that always seem to turn when you loosen a bolt.

• Put a pair of jumper cables somewhere on your bike.  I found a compact pair with a little pouch at Wal-Mart for about $9.  They will pay for themselves sooner or later. You can also make a set out of an old lamp cord and two pairs of alligator clips if you can solder.

• Go to the local junkyard and look for a scissor jack or the jack from an old pickup.  If you can find the type of scissor jack with the platform on top and not the pincers that grab the frame, you can bolt a 2X4 to it and use it to lift your bike a little.  Using this to lift and a couple of 4X4 pieces for extra stability, I can lift both ends of my bike completely off the ground at once.  I can't get it high enough to remove the rear wheel, but I can get the front one off without much trouble.

• Check autoparts and hardware stores for standard items. Bearings, nuts, bolts, electrical connectors, and many other pieces can be found at the local parts store much cheaper than from the dealer.  DOT 5 brake fluid is the same regardless of the name on the label; if it doesn't meet the standard and a company sells it as such, they will be shut down thru lawsuits.  Unless Harley has a wire plant, oil refinery, and a steel plant, some outside company makes the majority of parts on your bike. Just look at that wheel bearing for the manufacturer part number, go to AutoZone,  and then put the three dollars you save in your pocket.

• Buy and keep service and parts manuals.  You never know when you might have a friend drop by with his "new" bike and have a small problem you can solve with the book. I gave one manual away when I sold a bike and wound up needing it 6 months later for the wiring diagram.

• Harley spark plugs are made by Champion; you can tell because the markings on the metal base are exactly the same right down to the slashes "////" that surround them.  I can't tell any difference in the standard plugs except for the extra money I save.

• Keep a small supply of nuts, bolts, and washers of standard sizes in your garage and in your tool kit.  Nothing is more frustrating than having to run to the hardware store for that last 1/4-20X11/4" socket head cap screw to finish replacing the primary cover.  Buy half a dozen when you need one that way you will have one next time and won't waste time and gas in the car when you could be riding.

• Shop army surplus stores for gear.  I have a pair of wool glove liners for those really bad days when my fingers get numb in just gauntlets.  If you wear a shortie, you can get a helmet liner that will cover your ears and chin and cut the freezing wind.  You can also get lots of good camping gear and other stuff here.  I have a small first-aid kit I have had for several years and used many times for cuts and insect bites.

• Buy a cheap camera and keep it in your bags.  You never know when a UFO, a nekkid woman,  or a really sharp bike will show up.

• Get a spare key and swap with someone on a trip.  Waking up 400 miles from home without a key to your bike is not a cool thing.

• Lock the rear wheel if you only lock one.  I have heard of two people using a long piece of wood or steel to lift the front end and roll a bike into a truck.  If you chain your bike, run the chain thru the frame , not the wheel.  A couple thieves with  wrenches and you could find your wheel chained to that pole but the rest of your bike gone.

• Put a bungee net and a couple of bungee straps in the bottom of your bag.  These are great for holding that once in a lifetime swap meet find or holding the engine guard up when the top bolt falls out and you don't have another one(see above).

• Clean the brake fluid out of the switch housing after you spill it or it will drip onto your nice paint job as you ride down the highway.

• After covering about three hundred miles in the rain, drain your entire brake

system and replace the fluid. If you don't, the moisture that got in your
master cylinder is going to ruin your wheel cylinder and one day..... WHOOPS!!!
No rear brake. (Thanx to John Corliss)

• Try the stock spring for the carb piston instead of the weak one with the kit when you do the stage one carb rejet.  It will make the engine a little slower to wind up but it will increase torque.

• Put a mat or some other padding under anything tied to your TourPack luggage rack or you will scuff the paint as you vibrate down the highway.

• Get a a hollow brass or other metal fitting of the correct thread size.  Local hardware or even auto parts store should have these for about $2.  Next get about 2" of clear plastic tubing with outside diameter slightly (1/32 or 1/16 in.) larger than the inside diameter of the fitting, you may have to buy in 1 foot lengths for 50 cents to 1 dollar a foot.  Now make sure you have both ends cut off smooth. Now stuff the 2" piece of tube through the fitting until about 1/2" protrudes through on the side of the fitting that will be toward the flywheel.  To use: with the engine off, screw in your new plug until it just touches the flywheel, then back it off slightly so it is just off the flywheel.  Now start & time your engine with little or no oil spewing back at you and visibility of the timing mark no longer a problem. (Thanx to Flea & Patrick Z)

• Take two empty film canisters and glue the bottoms together then wrap with duct tape when dry.  Use to carry small parts and duct tape in a compact space. (Thanx to John K)

More coming as experience or suggestions permit.