Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

Can anyone recommend a good newbie book about bike mechanics?

Thanks!

I would recommend -
Essential Guide to Motorcycle Maintenance

but you do need some basic mechanical knowledge as well..


hth

i'm downloading the zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance if u want i'll send u a copy once finish downloading

damn!!!! F@@#$!!! just finished downloading and it's a bloody novel not any mechanical book

hidepenny wrote:damn!!!! F@@#$!!! just finished downloading and it's a bloody novel not any mechanical book

Classic

I could have told you that you dick

I could have told you that you dick

really?? so u read it already??

Classic

i thought the first few pages were preface and it happened to be the same for the rest of the 400 pages too!!!!!!

esie wrote:Can anyone recommend a good newbie book about bike mechanics?

Thanks!

go and visit your local library

you could be very surprised at what is in there , i know i was this week

pick up any manuals that you can see on a variety of bikes , also try to get books published by different manufacturers as eg haynes has a similar format through all their manuals so different publishers show different things

my local library in blacktown i picked up a couple of interesting things
I went there for a book about the lawnmower and surprise they had it

as well i found

Sportsbike performance handbook , a late model book with a zzr11 doing a wheelie on the cover, havent had a good chance to read it yet but some very good info covering a variety of supjects including how suspension and chaissis works

useful for you Haynes Techbook small engine repair , plenty of great info and techniques , not motorbike based but a lot of useful info

Haynes Motorcycle electrical techbook 3rd edition , plenty of theory and how all the electrics work and test and check

and also picked up a couple of car custom stuff , again not bike specific but things in there you can adapt

hidepenny wrote:

I could have told you that you dick

really?? so u read it already??

Classic

i thought the first few pages were preface and it happened to be the same for the rest of the 400 pages too!!!!!!

ha ha
yep its a pretty hard read allright.
the motorcycle riding stuff was ok and he raised some good points about fixing your own stuff and about bike riding in general but all that psyching out he does got a bit too much.

He outta just pull his head in and harden up instead of worrying about all that shit.

sorry for laughin, but BAHAHAHAAHA, oops!!

get a haynes book for your bike, also there are a few introductions to motorcycle maintenence too.

Also another thought, ask around and see if a local shop near you (that is known to be good by people on forums) that is prepared to put a "basics of motorcycle maintenence" course together if you get sufficient numbers at $10-25 a head for a 4-5 hour session (pay for their spanner twirler and a slight profit for them too).

There used to be a few of these things going. One was run by a local near me, but the gu went back to uni fulltime and gave up being a spanner spinner.

I just downloaded Motorcycle Mechanics Guide, not had a look at it yet, 45mb or so, let me know if you want it.

mick_dundee wrote:I just downloaded Motorcycle Mechanics Guide, not had a look at it yet, 45mb or so, let me know if you want it.

Hey Mick where did you get it from?

esie wrote:Can anyone recommend a good newbie book about bike mechanics?

Thanks!

*newbie* books are pretty rare for bike mechanics.......they all assume a basic mechanical knowledge in the first place. The Haynes and Clymer manuals often cover these basics in the first chapter (simple things like changing oil, changing plugs, cleaning/replacing air/fuel/oil filters etc etc.) Its *definitely* worth getting a Haynes/Clymer for your bike, as well as the factory manual, because of the additional basic info.

Brake pad changes, fork oil replacement, greasing swingarm bushes/bearings, packing/replacing wheel bearings, greasing steering head bearings etc etc, often need a technique that is specific to the bike, but the basics of the job itself are similiar for anything with a motor and a wheel at either end........

then you get to the interesting stuff like valve clearances, carbie/DFI balancing, replacing camchains, top-end rebuilds, gearbox rebuilds etc etc its a lot of fun.....

stay away from crank rebuilds/pressing, case splitting, frame modification etc for the first few years....

Thanks for your replies everyone! Jeff has a (very) basic mechanical knowledge, but he is looking to expand on this because of the CBR600 that we were given. It probably needs to be completely stripped, cleaned, and then put back together, before he even works out what is really wrong with it. He would rather do some reading first, as well as have a ready reference, before he starts atyacking the bike!

hidepenny wrote:damn!!!! F@@#$!!! just finished downloading and it's a bloody novel not any mechanical book

Thats zen for you; not what you thought it was when you first started...