Suggestions for a new motorcyclist...

Greetings,

I just recently got by first bike, a beautiful twin-cylinder Suzuki GS450T. The only problem is, I'm no mechanic, at least not yet. I'm very interested in understanding the concepts of bikes and what makes them work and, of course, not work. I have the maintenance manuel for the bike....the only problem is most of the lingo I don't get. Also, I can't seem to trouble shoot a problem that I already have. Can any one suggest any kind of reading material I can look into to get a better handle on the mechanics of motorcycles? I would be very grateful.

Thanks

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Mdon...,
For idiots like you, there is a book called The Complete Idiot's Guide to Motorcycles , plushere (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw...p;sprefix=moto) is an Amazon list of lots of material. Most of them are less than $20.00.

Go for it!

RonK :)

if you have some sort of torrent tool, google "sport.riding.techniques.pdf" (you could exclude the "." if you like). It's between 56-59MB. I'm in no way familiar with how to use torrent tools, nor am i too inclined to learn at the moment.

Anyway, I've read the first few pages, and started to fall asleep. But that doesn't mean it's a "boring" read by NO means. It just means I'm a bit illiterate and each word takes me 2-3x longer than the next person to read. it does have some good color pictures... i like pictures.

the text is about 115pgs, so lots of reading :)
good luck!

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I'm not sure exactly where Super... was refering to, but this site (http://www.sportrider.com/motorcycle_riding/index.html) has a lot of free tips, too.

RonK

Two things that I found absolutely necessary when I got my first bike:

1. The Clymers manual for your bike.
2. The Essential Guide to Motorcycle Maintenance
http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Guid...104&sr=8-2

The Clymers, combined with your service manual, will give you detailed specifics on how to do work on your bike in particular. I've found that both lack in some respects. I couldn't just use one, I've really needed both on several projects. Sometimes the Clymers is more detailed but sometimes the service manual puts it in a way that's more easily understood.

The second book I recommended will walk you through the basics of how motorcycles operate and give you run down on every component in your motorcycle, how it works, what happens when it doesn't and gives a pretty comprehensive list of troubleshooting techniques. Fortunately, after the initial reading to figure what everything was (I've never worked on anything mechanical prior to my motorcycle) I haven't needed this book too much yet but when I have, it's been great. Edit: Also, I should mention the language is very simple and easily understood for us non-mechanics! :)

Also, and I hope this isn't frowned upon, but I recommend finding a forum specific to your make and model. I come here for riding questions, general discussions and I'm sure there are people here who are knowledgeable about the Suzuki GS450T but if you finding a model-specific forum, they'll be the most helpful for technical issues and there'll be a repository of information there for you to search through. I'm also a member of a Suzuki Savage forum and any mechanical/troubleshooting issue I've ever had has already been asked at least twice there. :)

Hope this all helps. :) Ride safe!

I subscribed to cyclepedia.com. Very helpfull

I have the two books that are listed in the prior post from misterdub. The only thing that I would add is to get and read your owners manual. For most cars, the only technical part of the manual is how to change a flat. Most motorcycle owners manuals cover all of the required periodic maintenance items very well, as well as a few more indepth issues.

I'm a new rider looking for my first bike and I will have to make sure to check some of these out. It'll give me something to do while the snow is flying.

I can't post links yet but a site I really like is DansMC dot com. Scroll to the bottom and click on the index. One of the first links on that page is his free MC repair course. tons of useful information, pictures, and links.

I can't post links yet but a site I really like is DansMC dot com. Scroll to the bottom and click on the index. One of the first links on that page is his free MC repair course. tons of useful information, pictures, and links.
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While there is a lot of bike info on his page, (http://www.dansmc.com) there is a lot of plain old entertainment. Could take two days if you read it all, I suppose.

RonK