Bike maintenance

[the_eel]

Newbie rider, middle aged, spent 8 years doing the commute on a 50cc (actually it was 49cc lol) but have aging relatives that live a couple of hours away so I needed to step up to something that won't mind doing motorway miles.

so I bought a Yamaha ybr 125 and will need to get something bigger when I (hopefully!) get my full bike license. I never thought I'd get excited by a bike but I chuffing love it! it scares the shit out of me sometimes, though!

I love my bike so want to keep her in good nick. are there websites / youtube videos anyone could recommend that will help me keep her maintained? I have no experience at all but want to learn. I really need a regular schedule that I can stick to and look out for.

thanks

[Pete.]

Grease the chain, pump the tyres, change the oil with regularity. Wash off road grit this time of year but don't go mental around the brake calipers with a jet wash.
____________________
a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[stinkwheel]

Buy the haynes manual. It will have a list of routine maintainance tasks in the first section including when and how to do them.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[The Shaggy D.A.]

This guy has some clear, straightforward Youtube videos on the YBR.

https://www.youtube.com/user/ngraphic/videos
____________________
Chances are quite high you are not in my Monkeysphere, and I don't care about you. Don't take it personally.
Currently : Royal Enfield 350 Meteor
Previously : CB100N > CB250RS > XJ900F > GT550 > GPZ750R/1000RX > AJS M16 > R100RT > Bullet 500 > CB500 > LS650P > Bullet Electra X & YBR125 > Bullet 350 "Superstar" & YBR125 Custom > Royal Enfield Classic 500 Despatch Limited Edition (28 of 200) & CB Two-Fifty Nighthawk > ER5

[WD Forte]

As above
Buy manual, regularly check chain, tyres oil etc.
The Haynes is pretty good, I have one here as the owner has
shown no interest in prising the pages open.

Here's a blog which has some useful tips and pics
https://ybr125owner.blogspot.com/2014/06/yamaha-ybr-125-blog-index-page-contents.html

I haven't examined it in detail, but it seems pretty accurate and if nothing else its handy for reference.
as the colour pics are better then the Haynes.
____________________
bikers smell of wee

[The Shaggy D.A.]

And if you don't have one already...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1gugn3a6gthato3/YBR125%20Owners%20Manual.PDF?dl=0
____________________
Chances are quite high you are not in my Monkeysphere, and I don't care about you. Don't take it personally.
Currently : Royal Enfield 350 Meteor
Previously : CB100N > CB250RS > XJ900F > GT550 > GPZ750R/1000RX > AJS M16 > R100RT > Bullet 500 > CB500 > LS650P > Bullet Electra X & YBR125 > Bullet 350 "Superstar" & YBR125 Custom > Royal Enfield Classic 500 Despatch Limited Edition (28 of 200) & CB Two-Fifty Nighthawk > ER5

[Kentol750]

My local college did a bike maintenance course, got a city and guilds qualification out of it. More importantly, I met some fantastic fellow riders and learnt a shitload of things not to do! Oh, and fixed my bike for free with the best tools money can buy!
____________________
Some bikes.

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

[Teflon-Mike]

Haynes Manual.. get one. has a list of routine maintenence, how2 sections on how to do it, and at when.
If the bike isn't brand new, get the book, find the list and work your way down, doing everything, on the assumption, NOTHING has been.. 'cos it probably hasn't! Especially on a 125, or of it had, it probably hasn't been done properly"
A few tools might be useful too... dont get over enthusiastic for multi-piece socket sets and power tools... humble hand tools are cheap, they work, and often work most reliably and offer most 'feel' whilst your at it.
Also donnt worry too much about torque settings or torque wrenches. There's not a lot on the routine maintenance list that begs a critical torque; and humble hand spanners are sized to proviode pretty close to the normal torque they need anyway.. hence the 'feel' thing, and on a motorbike, especially a little YBR, the critical torques are usually LOW ones, and quoted to stop you shearing them... gram a typical work-shop torque wrench, sized for the effoff tight torqques of stuiff like car cylinder head bolts.... thje scale probably wont go down LOW enough for much on a motorbike, and you'll pick the closest number on it, probably 3x or 10x higher than you really want, cos the units are different, and consequently actually start shearing stuff, perversely to why the torque settings were quoted to start with!
B~U~T, the answer is:-
1/ get the Haynes
2/ get a simple tool-kit, and follow the list of 'routine maintenence' covering all that should have been done, but probably never has.
____________________
My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[Kentol750]

What Mike said was, buy a decent socket set and good screwdrivers and hand tighten shit if you are a gorilla!
____________________
Some bikes.

[wintelf94]

[Andy_Pagin]

Once in a while Lidl do a mini socket set that includes hex sockets, covers just about everything you'll ever need to undo on any bike. Torque wrench is a good investment too, there's plenty of things on a bike you can easily bugger up by over tightening. Only other thing that springs to mind is a spark plug socket. Keep an eye on chain slack, my YBR125 needed adjustment ridiculously often, like every few hundred miles.
____________________
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

[Pigeon]