Learning to Repair?

[MattyRider]

What is the best way to learn how to repair bike motors??? anything helps. Very new at this.

[mark manley]

Is there a college or night school course you could do? If you have the space and money how about buying a cheap old bike that is fit for the scrap heap, study the workshop manual, take it apart and try to rebuild it, not necessarily replacing worn out parts but just for the experience. If you have a friend who knows mechanics ask them to help.

[*Touring Ted*]

Do you have any home mechanic friends ???

If so, offer to help... Making brews, holding tools etc. Get involved...

If not and you have your own little garage; you could buy a cheap rat of a bike and strip down and restore it.

It's best to buy a cheap RUNNING bike to begin with. A non-runner will have you giving up..

Ted

[othalan]

Tech days are a great place to start. People get together to work on their bikes for the day and you can hang around and learn from what other people are doing. Some common and easy to work on bikes have dedicated tech days, which make for the best learning environment (lots of expertise on that specific bike). The Kawasaki KLR650 in the USA is a good example. If there is no tech day any times soon, ask around the riders in your area who work on their own bikes and see if anyone would help you work on your bike in exchange for some .

Also great to just get a bike that is easy to work on (carburetor is best, they are a lot simpler than fuel injection!), the owner's manual, and (if available) the Clymer manual. Then start doing your own maintenance. Look online for more guides for your bike. Take things apart and put them back together again to figure out how they work. Be slow and methodical and take lots of notes when necessary to be certain you can get everything back together again!

Join a forum for your specific bike so you have a place to ask questions!

And of course.....have fun!

[Threewheelbonnie]

I took an MZ I'd been meaning to ride for 7 years and got it back on the road. Also ran an Enfield bullet for a while.

Why are you wanting to learn this? If you are worried about breaking down in the middle of no where a mechanics course is going to be of limited use. If your drive shaft splines strip you are walking unless you've got a trailer full of what-if bits with you. Regardless of what you read on the internet this is rare, people just don't post in their blogs about days where the bike runs. The days of having to reset timing with fag papers is back in the dark ages.

What you probably need to know is how to tell if bike is in need of a service and possibly how to do some bits of it. Drop the bike in a river and the oil goes brown. You can learn that from the trip reports on here. Brown oil needs changing ASAP. The book that came with the bike tell you how and someone will have put a film of themselves doing it on YouTube. Pick this level rather than having some old boy at night school showing you how to strip a gearbox unless that is what you want to get in to. There are professionals all over the world who'll have the tools and parts to sort the major and rare stuff.

If you want to be free of dealer waiting times, service charges and corner cutting, that is a good reason to try and keep an old hack running for five or ten years. You pick it up as you go along and things break.

Andy

[Threewheelbonnie]

Originally Posted by othalan

Also great to just get a bike that is easy to work on (carburetor is best, they are a lot simpler than fuel injection

:

but I would disagree. Carbs are 19th century analogue mechanical technology with silly bits of rubber and BS where old boys rub o-rings between their fingers to decide if they are swollen and stare at spark plug colours like witches with a mixture of tea leaves and chicken entrails. They then fiddle until it works or siezes up.

FI has a fuse that you check, a pump you listen for, an injector you try to use to soak yourself in petrol and a diagnostic connector you connect to get the exact answers on anything more complex.

The carb wizards just don't own OBD readers and find bird guts cheaper to buy.

Andy

[still.southern]

Originally Posted by Threewheelbonnie

but I would disagree. Carbs are 19th century analogue mechanical technology with silly bits of rubber and BS where old boys rub o-rings between their fingers to decide if they are swollen and stare at spark plug colours like witches with a mixture of tea leaves and chicken entrails. They then fiddle until it works or siezes up.

FI has a fuse that you check, a pump you listen for, an injector you try to use to soak yourself in petrol and a diagnostic connector you connect to get the exact answers on anything more complex.

The carb wizards just don't own OBD readers and find bird guts cheaper to buy.

Andy

Something of a fair comment, but, with my carbureted bike in Kyrgyzstan i can rig parts using wire and rtv sealant where only recourse with fuel injection is order failed part from Europe. That said every cold winter morning I try to ride I wish for fuel injection. But if the goal is learning how things work, then carburetor is the way to go and cheaper to fix. For the record I'm only 29 but thankful my first Ranger pickup as a 16 year old in America was a carbureted stick shift.



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[*Touring Ted*]

Maybe I should do two day training course for over landers... I'm a BMW techy and been a bike mechanic for over 10 years..

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[marcm]

Completly unintentionally spending a lot of time from about age of 14 onwards roaring around the South Downs on semi clapped out machinery that would fall to pieces quite often was of much more educational use than most of the junk they attempted to teach us at school..
I've never realy worried too much when rattling around on 30 year old machinery,obviously some things be a bit of a stopper but most of its possible to get over given a few days and some ingredients..

[Endurodude]

Originally Posted by *Touring Ted*

Maybe I should do two day training course for over landers... I'm a BMW techy and been a bike mechanic for over 10 years..

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Not sure whether this was a serious comment, but if it is I'd be interested! I tried to do the 'local college' thing, was accepted onto the (free) course, but it was cancelled due to lack of participation! IT WAS FREE!!! My local BMW garage are excellent, but a little under staffed at the moment, so it's unlikely they'd want anyone hanging around. I even considered the Off road skills course (they run a two day maintenance course).

I've not been riding for that long really, have never had a car, and am NOT mechanically skilled - I've never had the opportunity! I'd love some basic mechanical knowledge about my F8GS; so, yes, if you're serious, I'd be interested!

[*Touring Ted*]

Watch this space.. In talks with someone about hosting a Overlanders basic maintenance and repair course weekend. Camping, BBQ , learning how to keep yourself rolling.

[ridetheworld]

Originally Posted by MattyRider

What is the best way to learn how to repair bike motors??? anything helps. Very new at this.

Buy a Royal Enfield

[travelHK]

a great way to learn is to do your own maintenance , if you can do oil change , brakes, valves, tires change , you will be on your way . if you do a lot of off road join a club , dual sport guy like to ticker thier bike ( no BMW )

[othalan]

Originally Posted by Threewheelbonnie

but I would disagree. Carbs are 19th century analogue mechanical technology with silly bits of rubber and BS where old boys rub o-rings between their fingers to decide if they are swollen and stare at spark plug colours like witches with a mixture of tea leaves and chicken entrails. They then fiddle until it works or siezes up.

FI has a fuse that you check, a pump you listen for, an injector you try to use to soak yourself in petrol and a diagnostic connector you connect to get the exact answers on anything more complex.

The carb wizards just don't own OBD readers and find bird guts cheaper to buy.

Andy

I disagree that there is anything mystical about a carb. It is extremely simple and easy to understand. That said, I am a firm believer that both carb design and fuel injection have their own distinct uses:

In my opinion:

Carburetor is good for: field repairs, decreasing overall machine complexity, low quality fuel, low cost and learning how a motorcycle works (because it keeps thing simple). But.....they have relatively bad fuel economy, low power, and sometimes need fiddling with to maintain.

Fuel Injection is good for increased fuel economy, increased power, and simple maintenance. But....they require a computer to diagnose problems, are not as tolerant of bad fuel, and repair can mean replacement of expensive components. Overall complexity is a lot higher than a carburetor as well.

Personally, I love each for different uses. As someone who finds himself traveling to really obscure places at times, I like the simplicity and ease of repair of the carb. But when I lived in the USA, I preferred fuel injection. I am actually considering a fuel injection bike if ever I get something new for travel....but that is something I need to put a LOT of thought into as it is important to me that I be able to repair it myself anywhere in the world.