I dreamed about motorcycles since I was a kid. But that dreaming was somehow equivalent of kid who wants to be an astronaut. Practicly I didnt had an idea that it might come true. Times passed and somehow the dream had reborn. After learning to ride with my friend's light cruisser for some time I've decicded to pass A class driving license exams and buy my first bike. It's my 2011 year objective no1.
The thing is I'm not only want to buy and ride, but to learn how to repair it and know how everything works. I never had much experience with tech, so I need to start from something.. most likely I could really use some starting literature. Except from few old books I found this: http://www.dansmc.com/
But what I want to know, maybe in this community is someone who is working/riding with motorbikes and have some experience. I would be very greatful if you would share it with me on this topic. Your first bike expierences, first brakes, first days in garage, first taste of uguent and similiar stuff.
In the mean time I have an idea to start a blog where I would share my woes and experiences of having and taking care of the first bike. But until that, I think it would be very wise to ask people around, who maybe already had experiences with these little beasts.
Uh...find some e-books or go to local library and try to find real literature.
My advice : If you know someone to be a mechanic or have a mechanic store nearby you can ask them to learn and help them from time to time.
I learned a lot about cars while listening to my father when he was repairing it, enough to solve easy problems if I end up on the road with broken car in middle of nowhere:D
Dont try to do any stupid tricks, or drive fast on your first bike right away. Dont be like those people that get a bike and then the same minute are like "yeaaaahhhhh Im hitting the road right away with max speed baby!".
Thats how I ended up in a ditch the first day...Spend a couple of weeks getting to know it, learning how it behaves in turns or on particular types of roads. Learn how far you can push it while keeping an eye on road conditions. Thats the key to driving safe, getting to know the bike.
You need to know how to repair basic things on your bike, if it somehow "ditches" you on the road. For instance, how to replace the drive chain, check the brakes, the oil in your engine etc. You should also know what parts to clean, and what parts to change when you cross a certain mileage, and how to change them.
Its not hard to learn these things, you basically remember them right away if someone shows you how to do what for example.
Literature is fine and dandy, but the best thing you can probably go is visit your local mechanic frequently on a daily basis, watch him, see how he does his work on different bikes. Once you think you have a basic idea, ask him questions about your own bike, he'll probably be happy to tell you. In stuff like bikes, it's much better to do the things rather than read about them and know theory.
Of course, be very sure about your bike, as Igor said, before going out on any long trips (>100km). Drive locally, get a grip, and if your bike develops some trouble (unlikely, but possible), help is at hand, and if you mess up something, it isn't a far walk;)
Everything mechanical no matter how complicated has a set line of things that you need to do in order to successfully complete a task.
I myself am hopeless at following such things as like my father, I was allways tinkering with engines from a young age. (Using a welder probably screwed my eyes up somehow in the beginning)
However, as I said, google anything you want to find and no matter how old or.. stupid the engine/part you are looking for, there's a good chance there's about a million pages telling you how to do it.:)
' Wrote:Literature is fine and dandy, but the best thing you can probably go is visit your local mechanic frequently on a daily basis, watch him, see how he does his work on different bikes. Once you think you have a basic idea, ask him questions about your own bike, he'll probably be happy to tell you. In stuff like bikes, it's much better to do the things rather than read about them and know theory.
Of course, be very sure about your bike, as Igor said, before going out on any long trips (>100km). Drive locally, get a grip, and if your bike develops some trouble (unlikely, but possible), help is at hand, and if you mess up something, it isn't a far walk;)
I did 4 years of mechanic classes and just to give an example afterwards; I used to run a taxi business and even though I already had 4 yrs of classes and a bunch of experience in the shop already I am not Tim the Tool Man Taylor enough to have thought I could simple start putting my Crown Victoria back together from a crash. The reason is simple; proprietary manufacturing. Some of these companies make it so that you need to buy specific tools from them because standard ones don't fit the parts you need to have taken out and replaced.
Get yourself a book for your specific model of bike and year, if your a master mechanic you probably already went and bought it the same day you received the bike.
Ech.. so I've checked the driving road rules again. And as it seems since I'm 21 years old (in this summer I will be) I won't have any power limits for motorcycles I can drive. As for a frist bike I'm thinking about Kawasaki ninja 250r
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