Tooltime

ToolTime

Let there be light! But that sometimes is easier said than done. There often isn't an extension cord or a power outlet handy when you're fumbling in the dark, and even trying to hold a flashlight in place so it illuminates

your work area can be aggravating.

Risk Racing (www.riskrac ing.com) has a versatile solution with its Flexit (part # RISK00115; $29.99), an ingenious tool that can shed a little—or, if

you wish, a lot of—light on the problem. Flexit incorporates 16 daylight-white LEDs built into an easily bendable, almost infinitely formable rubber housing molded around a soft metal wireframe that holds just about any reasonable shape you can conjure. The light is powered by 3 AA batteries and has 2 powerful neodymium (rare earth) magnets built into its base.

Flexit's design allows it to work practically anywhere. The base is heavy enough and large enough to support the light on most flat, horizontal surfaces, and the magnets let it cling tenaciously to ferrous metals. You can drape the light around a handlebar, bend it over a fender, wrap it around a swingarm or attach it to any other bike part that might be

available for the task at hand. The base even has a handle that provides additional possibilities for hanging the light. You also can shape the LED panel in a concave form to concentrate the light in a narrow area or bend it over backward to spread the bright-

ness over a wide range. Depending upon your lighting needs, you can illuminate either two, four or all 16 of the LEDs just by pushing the 0n/0ff switch sequentially through its four positions.

At 7 inches wide and 13 inches tall, Flexlite isn't something you would likely tote along on a ride, even if your bike has saddlebags or a large tank bag; but you could take it, because when folded flat, Flexlite is just over 3/4-inch thick.

In the garage, at a campsite, in the pits or even around the house, there are countless jobs that can be quickly and easily illuminated with Flexlite. It's one of those tools whose uses are limited mostly by your imagination.

Speaking of lights, ever need to peer into some part of your bike's inner workings—primary drive, valve gear, intake tract, a little cavity down behind the fairing—but couldn't get enough light in there to see much of anything? Here's an inexpensive little device that can help remedy such predicaments. The Fiber Optic Adapter from Graham Tools (iwww.grahamtooi.com) is a rubber cap that slips over the top of a mini flashlight and delivers illumination through a very thin and flexible fiber-optic wand. The Adapter is available in two versions: with a 51/4-inch wand (part # FPO-07-AA-7; $10.95) or the same cap but with a 20-inch wand (part # FPO-07-AA-20; $13.95).

Installation is a classic no-brainer: You just push the cap over the head of the flashlight

and you're ready to go. When finished, or if you need to use the flashlight in a conventional fashion, just pop the cap off.

If you're expecting a blinding beam of light to emanate from the end of the wand, you'll be disappointed; in a completely dark room, the Fiber Optic wand barely emits any perceptible light. But in a small, confined space, it directs sufficient light into the area to make inspection and possibly even repairs easily possible. Just a week or so after I acquired one, I used it to help me fish a dropped valve shim out of a little recess in the cylinder head of my Husqvarna.

The Fiber Optic Adapter is designed to fit the Mini Maglite (also sold by Graham: part # 106.000.303; $12.95) but will snap onto several other similar small flashlights.