You can use a torque wrench. 9 ft-lbs is really nothing so its hard to describe... Just make it tight enough without over tightening[&:]

 

Ah yea... . You need a torque wrench. A torque wrench is a wrench that allows you to determine how much twisting force you're applying to a bolt, nut or screw. The engineers that designed your bike have determined how much torque should be applied to many of the nuts and bolts on your bike. Not only do you need to know how much torque to apply, but sometimes it's necessary to apply that torque in a particular sequence. The sequence for tightening a bolt becomes more important as the number of bolts you're tightening down increases. You can purchase a torque wrench most anywhere they sell tools.

You really should get the shop manual for your bike, I believe it's available for download here somewhere. It's got the torque values for most of the bolts as well as vast amounts of other critical information that will help you maintain your bike.

 

I'm gonna say one thing about torque wrenches...

They're great to have (and perfect for the OP apparently ), but if I broke that thing out everytime I was supposed to it would turn a 20 minute job into an hour.

9lbs. is not much - pretty much, "hand tight with a ratchet." Just a little more umph than a spark plug. 20lbs. is putting some elbow grease into it, not much. The biggest bolt I've found on the CBR (externally) was the clutch bolt. 80ft. lbs. I personally torqued that bitch then checked it, I was about 2lbs. shy of 80.

Good advice from the ol' Idodirt.

 

lets see, about 9 lbs..... grab the rachet by the center, basically wrap your fingers around the socket itself, and tighten it like that. Dont go super tight while holding in that way, just.... very snug....

 

x2. Incidentally, Larger torque wrenches aren't very suitable to accurately measure <10ft/lbs.