Another new boy!

[Christoffee]

Hello all.

I have been reading this forum for a couple of months and, provided people keep their grammar in check and don't mention Chinese bikes, everyone seems pretty friendly.

I am 33 and have just done my CBT, and have just bought myself a CBF125. As you can imagine I have a pile of questions, but I won't bore everyone with them all.

I'll start with a simple one: how good are Haynes manuals? Do they cover all the simple stuff, like topping up the oil, lubing the chain, and the other little bits of maintenance I need to keep an eye on?

I have never done any car maintenance myself - I drive them, and take them to the garage. But it seems I need to pay a bit more attention to my bike so I need to learn.

Other than a Haynes manual, any maintenance references or tips?

Cheers everyone,
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Bike: CBF125

[nowhere.elysium]

Don't treat them as gospel - they are prone to omissions and misinformation. They serve as an OK indicator as to what it is you should do, but don't expect them to resemble reality at all times.

Main maintenance tip for these small bikes is make sure the battery is charged (since they're fuel injected, you'll get weird kangaroo-ing out of it if the battery;s getting flat), and keep on top of oil changes and chain lubrication. That, along with tyre pressures covers the bulk of it.

Good call on spending a bit of time observing the forum first - you've avoided the first noob pitfall.
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'10 SV650SF, '83 GS650GT (it lives!), Questionable DIY dash project, 3D Printer project, Lasercutter project

[Pigeon]

[-Matt-]

Hi mate welcome.

As mentioned they cant be relied on 100% but pretty much all tasks are covered especially the basic stuff. I tend to try get hold of the official service manuals ideally though, can download .PDFs for most common bikes if you scout about online or ask on a few forums.

I wasnt workig on bikes or cars until earlier this year. Now service and do 90% of tasks on both. Wish id started years ago

[Christoffee]

Cheers guys.

I'll get myself a Haynes manual, but I won't try anything too adventurous. The first time you change your brakes yourself must be a nerve wracking experience!

I just want to look after it between services.
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Bike: CBF125

[-Matt-]

Brakes are actually quite simple once you know the order - on most bikes its just unscrew a bolt, remove the retaining pin/clip, pull them out, push the pistons back in a bit and pop the new ones in, then reverse order. Can do it in under 10 minutes once you've got used to it

If you want to clean the caliper whilst they're out it takes a little longer, and doing the brake fluid is a little more complex but nothing too bad either way, and brake fluid only needs doing every 1-2 years on most bikes, i don't often change the fluid when doing the pads at the rate i get through mine.

Besides major services you can service it entirely at home once you've got the hang of the basics, most of its 'checks' that rarely result in anything needing to be done, and the other things are just straight forward fluid/filter changes in general, bit of grease/oil on a few areas, clean the chain etc - job done

[Pigeon]

[Christoffee]

Why do you guys do your own servicing? It seems that all bikers do. Is it because you're so much more exposed to problems or failures? Are good bike garages hard to come by? Are dealers really that bad for costs? Or are you just hardcore??
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Bike: CBF125

[nowhere.elysium]

[shereen]

[CG Sam]

[Rogerborg]

Haynes are referred to as Books of Lies for good reason. Treat torque figures in particular with caution, and if in doubt, take your own pictures: reassembly is frequently not the opposite of disassembly.

I like to do work so that I know it's been done, and done right.
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[Andy_Pagin]

The drawback of Haynes manuals is they always seem to find a shiny pristine bike to work on, they never seem to have to tackle stuff that's seized up, rusted beyond recognition or rounded off. Apart from that I've found them to be reasonably good guides.
A much better source of detailed info is the BCF Workshop forum.
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They're coming to take me away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa, hey-hey,
the men in white coats are coming to take me away.
Yamaha Vity -> YBR125 -> FZS600 Fazer -> FZ1-S Fazer

[-Matt-]

[DrSnoosnoo]

I had never worked on anything mechanical before I got my bike.

When I looked into motorcycling the idea of getting my hands dirty intrigued me.

With regard to chain lubing, tightening and brake pad changes; when you do them for the first time, you feel ... manly. I felt like I'd finally arrived to manhood. When you work on your own bike you take a lot more pride in the work you do.

Garages want things in and out in my opinion and not too much care in between. If you take it to a garage everytime your chain goes slack you'll be spending more money than on fuel (over exaggerated).

With the power of the internet you can do almost anything if you have the right tools. First thing, get yourself a socket set, mine actually came from ARGOS for £40 and it's done everything, I expected some bits to break but nothing has. then build up from there, C-spanner, Allen keys etc etc.

Give it a go
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I'm Sam; Northern, Ginger, Lover
Did have: '95 ZZR600 '83 CG125 '97 ZZR1100 '15 Hypermotard 821 SP Do Have: '10 ZX10R

[Clutchy]

One of the things I enjoy most about biking is definitely maintenance, find it really fun and actually look forward to some tasks like oil changes... I mean wtf!

Worst thing is definitely cleaning my bike, that's really crap.
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Malaguti F12 Phantom-Dead, Suzuki AY50- Dead, NRG power DD LQ, CBR125.
*33 BHP restriction up on 10/12/14* Current bikes/car: SV 650 S/ MKIV GOLF
Guide to pass your test with no lessons!

[Christoffee]

Thanks everyone. I shall man up and maintain my bike!
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Bike: CBF125