(Part 3) Reddit mentions: The best motorcycles books

Capt. Crash Idaho has some good tips and techniques with his free videos.

Here are some basic parking lot exercises. A tip for laying out parking lot cones--get a bunch of bright yellow tennis balls and cut them in half. You'll get two "cones" for the price of one tennis ball.

There's a lot of good articles on Bike Safer.

There are some good books and DVDs if he's willing to spend a few bucks, get the Total Control or Ride Like a Pro DVDs. RLAP is mostly focused on slow-speed tight turning techniques (like the police bike "rodeos" do). More Proficient Motorcycling book is great for street survival tips. If he's willing and able to spend more money, then he could take a course, such as Total Control, MSF Experienced Rider course, etc. Speaking of MSF, you can get their book here.

When I took the MSF Beginning Rider Course, several of the other students already had experience riding and owned their own bikes. They, like me, were there to refresh the basic skills and maybe learn something new because we were all self-taught. BRC isn't cheap, but I think it's worthwhile, and being on a bike in a structured environment like that might be just the confidence-builder that he needs.

Edit: I found a link to PDF files from the MSF, including their textbook for the BRC.

That must have been incredible -- great pics!

I just finished the book Zen and Now, in which the author traces Robert Pirsig's famous motorcycle trip in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Cool book!

I hope you recorded your trip in words as well as pics! Did you keep a diary or blog or anything?

Don't just soak the whole deal... tear it down and rebuild with new gaskets, seals, and other replaceable parts.

If you don't know much about your bike, get a good DIY manual. It will walk you step by step through everything on it.

http://www.jpcycles.com/1996-honda-shadow-vt1100c/haynes/repair-manuals

http://www.amazon.com/Honda-Shadow-Owners-Workshop-Manual/dp/1563923130

This takes forever to load but if you want a free copy of it, save as a PDF on your computer: http://www.motorussia.ru/docs/217-honda-vt1100-shadow-85-98-haynes-service-manual-eng.pdf

4-11 is where carb removal starts.

Bikebuilds is a new site that catalogs custom bike builds. There are some similar builds indexed there.

As for reference, my experience was a little different because I was altering bikes for my own use in racing, so it's all really focused on handling, but still, you might find it useful: go-to books have been Bradley and Tony Foale.

That said, if you're really into understanding the implications of swing-arm lengths and rake angles, I have heard high praise for Cossalter's Motorcycle Dynamics, though I have not read it myself.

Boy, you know, most of what I have is antique books I've collected. Surprisingly not a lot of information has been collated and put up on the net, though a lot of it was lost in the depression.

Get this book if you want to see some really cool examples of the evolution of the motorcycle: http://www.amazon.com/Illustrated-Directory-Classic-American-Motorcycles/dp/0760310505/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1404841796&sr=8-4&keywords=classic+american+motorcycles

This site has some great early Ford drawings as well as a link to the Model T 'encyclopedia' that has tons of info about that particular car
http://www.mtfca.com/books/bookmenu.htm

Here's a motorcyle that you ride in like a car that's balanced by a gyroscope: http://www.douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/TRANSPORT/gyrocars/schilovs.htm

And here's a video of a Megola starting and running
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAQuljp-atA

Do some searches for 'monowheel' and 'diwheel' and 'orukter amphibolos'. That should set you off on a journey to free you from the confines of the modern four-wheeled sedan.

THis is a repost for me... but fits the situation. You will inevitably come up with the idea that you want to try to get sponsorship as well as everyone thinks it would be easy and I talk about that here:

Ok... From someone that is doing the same thing and has ridden on all but one continent, I will start off being blunt as I was initially told.

YOU ARE NOT DOING ANYTHING SPECIAL!!! NOTHING!!! This goes for sponsorship... There are probably 10k people or more right now on Round the World trips in various Degrees. Some guys on prewar sidecars.. guys on scooters, sportbikes, people doing it 2 up, some with kids.. yada yada... You WILL NOT get a bike sponsorship at all... This will be assured. You may be able to get discounts on gear though, but even this is far fetched as you have NOTHING to bring to a sponsor. How are you going to get them a return? How are you documenting it? Are you filming? Are you a photographer? What gear do you already own? Basically you need to do it for yourself with your own money. Once you get a charity involved you need lawyers as how much of the donation will go for your trip and how much will go to whatever you are donating? 10%... 90%???? I am assuming you wanted donations to help pay your way, but I may be wrong. The only way you may is through your church, as most churches are gullible as hell and have money to burn when it comes to thinking about someone riding the world converting heathens on some mission.

Your bike choices are just meh and all aren't really RTW bikes. You are on a crap bike that will leave you stranded on a bike you are unfamiliar on. Also, getting a bike in and out of some countries is a PAIN IN THE ASS not to mention the cost of anything over 125cc in the rest of the world once you take taxes in to consideration. A non kitted BMW Adventure will run about 18k in the states... while in SE Asia, the bike is 38k-44k. Mind you this is a 1200 and a big bike. What you need to be looking at are Dual Sports be it a BMW or Honda. I'd look at a BMW Dakkar or Honda TransAlp for the budget conscious. Forget the sidecar as it just adds weight and can be a pain in the ass for a novice rider and stay as far away from an unreliable Ural for this type of trip.

I don't know what your financial situation is or your work situation, but it is something you need to save for. The bike being your most important asset. It is what will make or break your trip. Then you have all of the gear associated with this. Also, where have you ridden before? Is your longest trip 1500km? 10000km? 50km? Have you ever been on a bike for 2 months straight? How mechanically inclined are you. Can you do your own maintenance? All of these are musts. You will need to be as self sufficient as possible. This even comes down to first aid and being rescued. Do you have evacuation insurance? Insurance on your bike in each country? Are you getting a Sat Phone? GPS tracking with rescue ala a Spot tracker? Do you know how to travel in different countries, like where to keep money, carrying 7 or eight copies of your crucial documents, carrying multiple copies of an international DL as well as. Do you even know what an International DL is?

I am not saying you that your trip is impossible, but the way you are thinking about it is very very unlikely. Why did McGreggor and Boreman get shit??? Well it is fucking Luke Skywalker and the money behind the name. Rewatch Long Way Around again and notice how THEY almost didn't get a bike sponsorship and were bluntly turned down by KTM. This is with the backing of the BBC. I was told long ago, you need to do this trip for yourself if you want it, not for someone else. This comes in everything. I know guys that have climbed Everest with sponsorship.... their second time. Once you show you are able to do something on your own, and show a viable product... this is when sponsorship will come. But then, it is only helping you do what your passion is. right now, from the rest of your posts it seems that you are 2-3 years of really getting into this before I would even recommend this to you. This is after you have ALL of the gear and about 80k USD in the bank. You never know what will happen. Plus, some of the coutries you mentioned mandate you have a Carnet of Passage. This is basically an insurance policy stating that everything you have with you will be with you when you leave or you will pay for it. This alone cost me 50k bond to be held by the company holding my Carnet. I am not including this mandatory 50k in the 80k you should have in your banks.

When I mentioned 80k that was for a RTW trip and being gone for a year. It won't be as much for you as you are not having to take into account the $1k it costs to ship bikes between continents and then your airfare. Also, this is purely a rough estimate and a reserve fund. Your trip will probably cost about $10-15k depending on how fast you travel and where you stay. Camping isn't normally done unless you are out in the severe outback, as most of where you are going will have fairly inexpensive hotel lodging. Always have double the money you think it might take as a reserve. So if you think it would cost you 15k have 30k at your disposal in case of injury, bike breaking down, the grand or so for tires you will need, accidentally killing some farmers goat, ransom, bribes... all have a chance of happening.

How many people? Another bike? Or Two up with your significant other? Even the best friendships will get strained just being with one person for months. I have been there... hell even in LWR they couldn't stand each other for the last legs of the trip. It happens and if you say it won't, you are being VERY NAIVE. Also, what is your nationality? This makes a huge difference too. Americans can't travel into some countries that you have planned. Well, at least not with a ton of red tape and finding people that will help you.
What gear do you own? Plan on buying quality gear as it will make your life so much easier. Don't worry about spending $500 on those riding pants or $900 on your jacket as you will be in them EVERY DAY for a couple months and they could save your life. You must be safe. Read this thread. Clayton became a quadriplegic after hitting a burro in mexico on his way to South America. After a while of living in this state, he killed himself. Shit happens.

You need to read, and read a lot. Buy these and use them as your bibles:

Adventure Motorcycling Handbook

Jupiters Travells

Two Wheels Through Terror

Or Glen's other book One More Day Everywhere

Get them and read. Can you ride offroad? There is a reason nearly everyone does a RTW trip on a dual sport. This is why I said 3 years. Gear costs money...

It is basically said:

PLan on a 6 month planning time frame for a trip in between countries, 1-2 years of planning for multiple continents. Also remember, that bike you buy has to be paid off. No leans. this means you have to come up with the cash for this upfront.

My last trip across North America was 28k km, lasted 3 months and cost 10k after I already had my gear. This is also camping everywhere in the US and Canada and hoteling it in Cental America. My trip to South America was about 14k for a similar time frame. Remember everything cost money. You want to go to Machu Piccu... that is 150 bucks. MMMMM.. wanna see the Nazca Lines from a plane, that will be 200. There will be tons of things you will want to see as well on your trip. And you can't say FUCK I dont have the cash to see it. That defeats the complete purpose of the trip.

Having the will is great and so is optimism. But Blind optimism gets you injured or killed. Where have you ridden before? What is your longest ride? Honestly you sound like every other person that has seen LWR and made their way to the net with grandiose plans only to realize that it is A GREAT DEAL harder than you thought. Even if you had the funds.. which you don't as you probably balked at having 80k in the bank... a multiple continent motorcycle ride is difficult. But the benefits are AMAZING!!!

All That being said, it is the problems you overcome that will be in your memories and stories forever. Nobody ever remembers that day where you rode and stopped at a little restaurant for coffee then pulled up into a hotel. No, they remember the time you ran out of gas and blew a tire 200km from anywhere and you had to put your bike in the back of a military truck to get to help. That story you will tell FOREVER!!! The adventure begins with the adversity.

Sorry for the long wall of text...TLDR READ IT ALL....

OH... all my cost are in USD

If you're looking to tune the suspension on your stock bike, I'd suggest making sure that you first understand what you are about to do. I like this book a lot:

http://www.amazon.com/Sportbike-Suspension-Tuning-Andrew-Trevitt/dp/1893618455

Adjusting the pre-load for your weight is likely the most important tuning that you will ever do on a bike intended for casual riding. Depending on how aggressively you ride, you'd probably be completely fine if you never touch any of the tuning away from stock settings.

One suggestion that I will make is to make sure that you have the rear brake configured so that it's difficult to lock up the rear tire. When I got my monster, I felt like the brake lever was too high up and adjusting made using the rear brake feel better for me. Your manual has instructions for adjusting all of the controls.

I guess the head of the dragons MC(an all black club) is also an apologist as well? http://www.amazon.com/Soul-Bikes-Tobie-Levingston/dp/076031747X

Quote from him:

>>Tobie Levingston who formed the black motorcycle club East Bay Dragons MC wrote in his book that he and Sonny Barger have a long-lasting friendship and that the Hells Angels and Dragons have a mutual friendship and hang out and ride together.

I'm sure you know more about how racist the HA are better than a black man who ran with them right?

For a little more than what you spent you could get this and learn to do all kinds of crap to your bike. Some easy stuff you should learn to do to save money on bike maintenance. 1) chain maintenance 2) replace air filter 3) replace battery 4) remove wheels (when it come time to get new tires its always cheaper to just take in the wheels instead of the whole bike. 5) oil and oil filter changes (after you're comfortable with all that other stuff this is easy too). This will save you cash so you can buy more bikes :D

indeed. In fact someone made a book of my friends BMW collection called The Art of BMW. All the bikes in it are from Peter's collection. He gets zero proceeds from the sales, and simply let someone make this book to help the world see his wonderful collection.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-BMW-Motorcycling-Excellence/dp/0760333157

http://www.amazon.com/Motorcycle-Camping-Made-Easy-Woofter/dp/1884313833

I'm in the process of reading this book. Theres a lot of good tips here, and its a good all-around reference for any skill level. Its worth its weight in gold. Because there's always SOMETHING you forget at home, and this book will steer you straight. I recommend you pick it up

Here's a link to the book. I got the title slightly wrong, but man, it brought back a lot of emotions and memories seeing this old cover for the first time in decades. I recall it being an excellent read, and maybe even if you don't ride a bike or motorcycle. Let me know what you think if you do read it! Staying alive on your mototrcycle

Hah nice! I just took my cbr250r to the Gulf Islands for a week! We were practically neighbors. First on and first off the ferries if they load them right :)

Having only 600km or so experience the roads made me nervous. Lots of gravel and deer. I read Proficient Motorcycling over the week and had some extra confidence though.

People have said you're asking for a book, and they're literally right.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Ultimate-Harley-Davidson-comprehensive-specifications/dp/0754824918

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-ultimate-harley-davidson-hugo-wilson/1006139868

The company has been around since 1903 (upstarts! Triumph since 1902! :) so there have been a lot of bikes.

I've only travelled between Canada and USA, so I haven't gone in-depth into the research, but this book is both a great read and will cover a lot of what you're asking for:
https://www.amazon.com/Adventure-Motorcycling-Handbook-Planning-Trailblazer/dp/1905864736/

This is pretty fun: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cycle-World-Total-Motorcycling-Manual/dp/1616286075/ in case, for example, you ever need to know how to strap a pig onto a motorbike.

I found an online download manual for my 440. Looked for a 400 and found this but when I downloaded it, it only listed the kz500. Probably close to identical bikes but not completely sure.

More traditionally, Haynes has a 400/440 manual you can buy on amazon.

For mechanics, I actually got lucky and work with a lot of bike guys. One turned me on to this little shop ran by 1 guy and an assistant. Went there and he told me stories of the 400, 3 different 440s, and the 500 he owned in the past. He basically could work on my bike with his eyes closes. Ask around and look up some lesser known shops. I have also found that factory sales/mechanic shops tend not to touch older bikes like these.

I have an older edition of this one. Not super detailed per se, but great photos and general info that gets kinda detailed.

This book is Non-fiction, but an amazing story.

tuning suspension is a lot harder than tuning a motor or really anything else on the bike to get right. I do not tune my own suspension nor do I know much about it, but I do know you do not set 'sag' on the front forks you set preload and that is based on the springs. Also 5 inches of sag seems like a LOT in the rear. You should read a book not make a thread I'd suggest this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Sportbike-Suspension-Tuning-Andrew-Trevitt/dp/1893618455/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422042366&sr=8-1&keywords=suspension+tuning+sportbike&pebp=1422042392314&peasin=1893618455

Modern version of the one you mentioned.

Got the modern one :).

Also recommend the Race Tech Suspension Bible. There is much to learn.

I can personally recommend this book if you want to know the physics of what adjustments or design changes do to the performance characteristics of a motorcycle:
www.amazon.com/How-Why-Motorcycle-Design-Technology/dp/8879113445

http://www.amazon.com/Sportbike-Suspension-Tuning-Andrew-Trevitt/dp/1893618455

More Proficient Motorcycling. No joke, that's how the sequel is called :p

http://www.amazon.com/More-Proficient-Motorcycling-Mastering-Ride/dp/B0057D9YKW/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2

your dad has no idea what he's talking about. if a bike had no suspension, it would have no grip, be sliding everywhere (and crashing), and absolutely destroy its tires. you should read this book if you want to know more. it's not very long and is pretty simple and easy for a beginner.