Idiots guide to Motorcycles

[sainttm]

Hi ya,

Im sure ive tried to post this before but it doesnt appear for some reason.

I was hoping that someone might be able to tell me where I can learn about the basic mechanics behind/too a motorcycle. As in what parts do what and how they work, also if need adjusting or replacing. Just basic stuff nothing to advanced, so I might be able to do basic servicing and maintaince on the bike (which I done have yet and wont for a while - long story).

Any help you can give would be great, oh ive fount this book Here it sounds good with the review.

Cheers
Shane

[LustyLew]

Without trying to plug too much, ICS to a Motorcycle Maintenance course, but that will cost you a few bob.

HTH
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Like a Yorkie - I'm not for the girls

[mchaggis]

https://www.dansmc.com/MC_repaircourse.htm

Magic, you don't even have to leave your chair.
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I must not be a troll...
Mmmm, Guinness
Discovering the delights of Hammerite and a 3/4" brush.

[pipnet11]

Bloody good site that is!!
____________________
I love the girls that do, I hate the girls that dont, I hate the girls who say they will and then they say they wont, but the girl I like most of all and I think youll say Im right, is the girl who says she never has but looks as though she might. - Max Bygraves

[spacecowboy]

Best bet is buy an old bike, a decent workshop manual and the best tools you can afford (as you need them).
Strip and rebuild everything you can.
Practise makes perfect etc.
Anything less than a 3 or 5 year apprenticeship, (i.e. the ICS course among others) will only show you the basics to get you started.
The main thing is to get started and work some of it out yourself.
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the Space Cowboy.
'Death is just natures way of telling you to slow down - Grouch Marx'

[spacecowboy]

Forgot to add, there are plenty of spannermen on this site, so if you need help just ask.
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the Space Cowboy.
'Death is just natures way of telling you to slow down - Grouch Marx'

[sainttm]

Thanks for all your help guys,

I now have a slight problem on which is best to try out. Ive looked at the website and thats was a great help in teaching me about the workings of a bike.

I now have two choices, one being the ICS course which is £400(ish) and will train me in the basics and will give me a certificate aswell (Im not really after the certificate but it wont hurt to have an extra one)
or the alternative is to get a old bike (which is also advised on the website linked above) and get a manual for it to take it to bits and repair it if needed.

Now both offers experience and will no doubt will do what I want. The only snag is this, the ICS course will teach me what I need (Or at least i hope it would) but offers no practical experience. Where as the pracitcal side (getting the bike/manual) and working on it will offer me all the pracitial experience but nothing on how or why they work.

There is also the matter of money, the course is £400 but how much would a bike, parts, manual and tools set me back? If I want to learn enough about bikes to be able to maintain my own bike when I get it which would be of more value? I know I would end up having to get tools when i get my bike anyway but that could cost as much as getting a bike. I know that its best to get the tools as you need it and if you can get a second hand tools work just aswell as new.

Any stories of people who faced the simliar issue in the past and what they did would be great. (maybe someone like me who isnt loaded).

Cheers again,
Shane

[Robby]

I'd recommend the course of learning because you have to, which is what most of the spannermen on this site did.

I rode an old bike becuase it was all I could afford, and I serviced and fixed it myself because I couldn't afford to pay someone else to.

Clymer manuals are better than haynes, but haynes are still ok for beginners. Just annoying when you have an engine in lots of bits and haynes failed to mention a small bolt you need to undo.

As for a £400 course... I wouldn't bother, sounds like a lot of cash to learn a skill.

You won't learn it all overnight, but the more you break the more you learn.

As for how and why bits work, haynes do a bike called something like basic motorcycle mechanics, which explains all the basics. Wildgoose on here bought it and rates it.

[WildGoose]

https://www.haynes.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=10001&productId=17991&langId=-1
and a top book it is, goes more deep than you might want, but the chapters are structured in such a way, that the difficulty progresses, so you can simply stop reading when you feel you know enough

they have expanded the range since i bought mine, looks like a decent reference for all bits of bikes could be compiled from this lot the reference books i rate highly

https://www.haynes.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=10001&categoryId=21001&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=10004&top_category=10004


the maintenance manuals themselves can be a bit hit and miss as robby mentioned, read them once before starting a job, so you are happy, but dont follow it word by word, cos you will come unstuck

never tried clymer, but i would expect more of the same

and as he said, you only learn really by doing, dont be afraid to break stuff, just make sure you have alternative forms of travel standing by just in case
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So in other words, he stopped you for being flagrantly in posession of a motorcycle in direct contravention of the Hippies, Darkies and People Whose Face I Don't Like The Look of (Police Powers) Act. 1976

[sainttm]

[spacecowboy]

Hi again mate,
Just to let you know how I got started.
I went on a government training course for 'Automobile repair and maintenance'. The reasons for doing this were that they put you through your driving test and gave you a basic set of good quality tools. (I was on the dole at the time).
I had passed my bike test years before this, and travelled to and from the course (60 mile round trip) on a Suzuki TS185 dirt bike.
I got the bike at a car auction and rebuilt it to get it on the road. I had learned the basics from trial and error, but the course put the theory of the stuff I didn't know into perspective.
Since then (1982) I have done up old cars and bikes to get around on. It has only been during the past few years that I could afford any new transport. That had to be a cage I'm sorry to say, but I had to get myself an old bike to keep my hand in.
I got an 85 GPZ600 from ebay and spent most of my free time in 2004 stripping and rebuilding everything on it. The one good thing about doing this is that I know nothing major is going to break and fall off.
An old, but running small dirt bike would be my choice to teach anyone about bikes. They are tough, easy to work on and quite cheap if you pick the right one. Over the years, my tools have cost hundreds of pounds, but purchased one or two bits at a time.
I will work on someones car or bike with them but NEVER LOAN THEM OUT TO ANYONE.
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the Space Cowboy.
'Death is just natures way of telling you to slow down - Grouch Marx'

[spacecowboy]

By the way you need to get an approved garage to restrict the bike and issue the certificate. Never had to do it, but I'm sure others will tell you the same.
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the Space Cowboy.
'Death is just natures way of telling you to slow down - Grouch Marx'

[pipnet11]

The way I learnt how to do most things mechanicaly is from my dad, and then through a bit of intuition. Obviously I have no bits of paper to prove I can do any of this, and am a long long way from knowing everything. The way I thought myself about engines was to save my grandads old petrol lawn-mower from the skip and take it to bits and try to fix whatever was wrong and rebuild it. This way it didnt matter if I broke anything, and if I did I learnt even more by trying to fix it. I do have a very long list of people to help if Im stuck though, not to mention the people on here!
____________________
I love the girls that do, I hate the girls that dont, I hate the girls who say they will and then they say they wont, but the girl I like most of all and I think youll say Im right, is the girl who says she never has but looks as though she might. - Max Bygraves

[sainttm]

Does any one know if there is a breakers around Lincoln that sell old motorcycles or parts for them at least?

If not does anyone happen to know where to get an old bike from if no breakers in Lincoln?

There is the papers but I havent seen any worth getting in them.

Cheers
Shane

[mchaggis]

For people wandering about the service intervals for bikes, here is a general non-bike specific guide to what needs checking and changing every x thousand miles.

https://www.handleitorloseit.com/pdfs/checklist.pdf
____________________
I must not be a troll...
Mmmm, Guinness
Discovering the delights of Hammerite and a 3/4" brush.

[catgate]

Well,sainttm, I am over 70 and still learning. You will learn quite a bit from "book learning" but without the 'hands on' bit you will learn nothing but "theory", and sadly most problems will not respond to theory alone. The perversity of the world and its motorcycles ensures that every problem comes with its own set of symptoms which must be compared with symptoms experienced elsewhere and for which a reason was established.
My advice to you is this:- buy, a book on the theory of the operation of engines 4str and 2str, read through and then go out and buy your self an old motorcycle, (but not too old unless you are going into the "vintage" scene, because it is surprising just how quickly things change) and then take it to bits and try putting it back together again, but get a manual for it. The one thing you will learn very quickly is how expensive it is to learn, because the best lessons, and the ones that stick in the memory, are not those read in a book, but are those that cost you a lot of money/headache/effort.
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"Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else."

[sainttm]

catgate,

Thank you for your feedback it has confirmed what I was thinking. It is expensive oh...I cant seem to find an old bike to get started, i didnt think it would be so expensive to get a old bike (around 1990 ish = 15 years old).

It shouldnt be that expensive to get an old cb500 or something like that but there still cost about £700 ish. I was thinking more about the £300 mark.

Does anyone know more of a specific price range im after, sush as model, year, condition but more importantly where to get them. I wouldnt mind travelling to get it but I live in Lincoln if anyone knows where to try around here.

Thanks again

Shane