Reddit mentions: The best motorcycle repair & performance books

(1) Ok so licensing and basic training is pretty easy in the US but it still varies state to state.

All states use a rider training program, the majority of them being of the MSF curriculum, a small handful of them being run by the MSF themselves. other states will have their own, but the process is usually more or less the same.

you take a 2 day course that takes you from the point of never having sat on a motorcycle to being a licensed rider (some states will still make you take the DMV written exam however) some states will REQUIRE you to take this class if you are under 21. best to check with your state on the process.

This is where you should start. this is not where you should end however. these courses will give you the skills you need to operate the motorcycle, but before being road ready they need to be drilled down in a parking lot. after getting your bike hopefully you can ride it home in a light traffic hours or have it delivered, and be prepared to get out to an empty parking lot and practice the exercises taught before getting into full blown traffic.

in addition to this, your rider education should not stop. i advise you to check out some books from your local library if not purchasing a copy yourself. i will link below

(2) the clutch in a manual car is more difficult than on a bike, but the same interplay between the clutch and throttle applies. most bikes are also designed with wet clutches which allow them to slip more and take more abuse than dry clutches, also gives them a more linear release (although some Italian bikes have dry clutches) . Bikes can also move off easier without throttle which makes things easier in the beginning. hills starts are not as much of a problem on a bike than a car. one advantage a car has however is a mental one, you dont have to worry about keeping the vehicle upright while you are learning. doing this plus learning the clutch could make things challenging. for the most part, though, a motorcycle will be easier than a car.

(3) at your height most bikes will fit well. there's only a few bikes that you can be too tall for, most of the time its the other way around, where as a beginner you want to be able to flat foot the bike. so a lot of this comes down to which bikes you like.

the other things is that a lot comes down to body geometry so not all 6'2" are going to be equally comfortable on the same bike. best it to go and sit on a few bikes. if you are into sportbikes/sport standards, most of the entry level 250cc-300cc bikes actually fit taller people better than say, a 300cc cruiser.

that being said, when you go to take the course. expect to be slightly uncomfortable. a lot of these bikes used at courses tend to be bikes with very low seat heights so that shorter people can still flat foot them...while you are learning you will have to put your foot down a lot, which can be make a taller person feel cramped on the bike. once your riding, these bikes are mostly fine for us taller folk but in the course with so much stop and go, and bike walking exercising, with such a low seat height, its kind of uncomfortable.


Recommended reading:

Proficient Motorcycling: The Ultimate Guide to Riding Well
by David L. Hough
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1620081199/
This book is pretty popular and its VERY good. your local library probably has it. I was actually able to get an ebook from the library to read on a tablet in full color without getting off my butt.


The Follow up:
https://www.amazon.com//dp/1935484869/

If you are into sportbikes:

Lee Parks Total Control https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00R31222S

Nick Ienatsch Sport Riding Techniques https://www.amazon.com/gp/1893618072/

You are looking for part #24 on this fiche: http://www.bikebandit.com/oem-parts/1981-suzuki-gs450l/o/m21417#sch263854

While you are at it, I would replace the clutch cable, and all of the screws/bolts holding that in and in the area. I hope you have good metric tools, or be prepared to buy some new wrenches!

Here is the Clymer book for your bike, it is truly an invaluable resource.
http://www.amazon.com/Suzuki-GS400-450-Twins-Chain-1977-1987/dp/0892872373/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413214095&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=clymer+81+gs450

If you have more questions, head on over to www.gsresources.com , that is a great forum for these bikes. There you will find a member by the name of bikecliff, he has a great website/guide for these bikes, located at http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

I have used his guides for everything I have done on my bike and it hasn't led me wrong yet. It is always better to do your own work!!

I am also moderator of a small subreddit called /r/Suzuki_gs . we would love to have you over there!

Where are you located?

I'm going to recommend something a little unconventional around here: an actual paper book.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0760313318/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_6wgwybXHCREVS

I bought this sort of on a whim when I started riding and was in the same position as you, and it was unbelievably informative and interesting to read. Its slightly out of date in that it precedes the advent of common electronic aides, but 100% of the stuff in the book is useful.

Also, while I'm recommending books for new riders, Lee Park's "Total Control" (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0760343446/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_Mxgwyb3MVM3CF) is an absolutely brilliant book. Its specifically about street riding (as opposed to track) and is targed towards newish riders. This book basically singlehandedly changed me from a hesitating novice to a confident (though a little reckless, it taught me to ride well but doesn't teach thoughtfulness the way Keith Code does) rider.

And, of course, the great grand daddy of them all, Twist of the Wrist 2 (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0965045021/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_aygwyb1BB573F). This book is so good and so dense that I still find new things to practice every page or two. The definitive riding technique book for good reason. No, you don't need to read part 1.

A few things, good choice on the bike! Love the SV650. Get it setup for your weight, it will handle better. We just did this to my son's SV650, he's 130lbs and we resprung it and did the racetech gold valves, and we set proper sag on it. You should be able to set sag, at least on the S model it has preload on the forks, they all have the preload on the rear shock. Also get the svracingparts.com moto frame sliders, they're the best available for this bike and will protect it when you drop it.


Secondly, pick up Lee Parks book, and read it. https://www.amazon.com/Total-Control-Lee-Parks-ebook/dp/B00R31222SConsider taking the intermediate rider course, or the advanced rider course since you've been riding for awhile. I assume you are in the states since you mentioned MSF. Here's the website to find courses in your area.


Thirdly, and this is huge to improving your riding skills, just practice. Find a local big parking lot and just do drills, slow speed u-turns, offset weaves, Emergency BRAKING (huge). Subscribe to Motojitsu channel on youtube. He's probably got the best practice videos out there, I found him when trying to explain countersteering to my son.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0FFFneMi9GwRHUsuBjM0jA


He's also got a couple books on amazon. He's a certified Total Control instructor, and knows his stuff. https://www.amazon.com/MotoJitsu-Master-Riding-Program-Widmar-ebook/dp/B07P8J6Q89


So, Bike setup, Book, courses, videos, practice. Repeat the last one as necessary. I am taking the ARC1 course December 8th (San Diego). Should be fun, I've been off the bike for 15 years, need to blow off the rust.

If you haven't already, get the Clymer manual. I can't seem to find a Honda Service Manual, so this one will probably have to do.

Bike Bandit seems to have a good availability of parts for your carb. The gasket set looks cheap, as that's the most likely thing that'll need replacing first. Give the whole assembly a good cleaning and inspection.

Check for cracks and tolerances in both brakes and the chain, any looseness in the steering and wheel bearings, and pitting on the travel area of the fork tubes. Put some new fork oil in if the seals are ok (probably not, but who knows?).

Check for corrosion on electrical contacts (especially grounds) and sand them clean as required. Use dielectric grease to prevent future corrosion.

There is a much bigger list of possibilities, but that's part of the fun of owning an older bike. You get to know it like the back of your hand and will feel ever so satisfied when you fix something and it actually works. The more complex the bike, the more rare this is in my situation.

Just get it running and stopping properly and ride the shit out of it, you stupid lucky bastard.

Read.
You can start off with this:
http://www.amazon.com/Motorcycle-Basics-Techbook-Haynes-Manuals/dp/185960515X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333517762&sr=8-1

Here's a website with a lot of good stuff:
http://www.dansmc.com/mc_repaircourse.htm

If you're going to buy a used bike, here is a great source of information for doing an inspection:
http://www.clarity.net/~adam/buying-bike.html

When you narrow your selection of bikes down to a few models, look around for internet forums that relate to those. You'll get an idea on how much online support you'll be able to find, maybe people with the same bike that live in the same city, and you can familiarize yourself with problems common to that model. That's going to help you decide how much someone's "pride and joy" is actually worth to you.

When you buy the bike, go out and buy the shop manual for it as soon as possible.

Google everything else.

http://www.repairmanual.com/product/used-1978-1982-honda-cx500-factory-service-manual-u6141505/

Also try ebay for a Haynes manual, Clymer makes one, but I prefer the Haynes, if it's available...

Here you go: https://www.amazon.com/Honda-V-twins-Haynes-Repair-Manuals/dp/1850101574

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=Honda-V-twins-Haynes-Repair-Manual+CX+GL+500&LH_BIN=1&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.X1978-1986+Honda+CX500+GL500+CX+GL+500+650+Silverwing+HAYNES+REPAIR+MANUAL.TRS0&_nkw=1978-1986+Honda+CX500+GL500+CX+GL+500+650+Silverwing+HAYNES+REPAIR+MANUAL&_sacat=0

Seriously, if you go to the library, they can order it in if it's not on the shelf... and you can read all about it. I like having my own.

Good luck. That other rider is right, the forums are great.

(1977 stock naked Goldwing Gl1000)

Start off with a Haynes manual like u/Kartious said. It's as good a starting point as any and will familiarise you with your machine and the procedures which can be mostly repeated across all machines.

Haynes also do some great general workshop manuls like The Motorcycle Tech book and the Motorcycle Electrical tech book both of which are on my wishlist despite a certain degree of mechanical savvy from years of tinkering and a father who was father engineer.

You've also got things like Diploma Motorcycle Maintenance and Repair which is going to be more advanced and in depth. It's an academic text book at NVQ lvl 2, so it's advanced but shouldn't be dauntingly so after you're familiar with common procedures, fault finding and mechanics and will provide an excellent overview and in clear stages of progression as well.

I'm reading Maximum Control and Motorcycling Excellence. I've been riding for 10 years and for the $13 dollars spent on Motorcycling Excellence, I've gotten a great refresher. Plus, the chapter on wheel geometry has given me more confidence in the WNC twistys. Totally worth $13 IMHO. Not Started Maximum Control yet.

Theres lots of stuff on youtube as far as tune up, carb cleaning, oil changing, that sort of thing. Like you said you can find stuff thats not running and fix it. They can seem overwhelming but if you break them down system by system then all of this is really easy. Ive never read this one but Ive heard its pretty good. https://www.amazon.com/Engine-Repair-including-engines-Manuals/dp/1850106665

Cant find any specs for a VM14 or VM14SH, but it should get you 1. great mileage and 2. awesome low end power, assuming its re-jetted correctly, or using a adjustable jet.

Your not going to have much top speed though since it will probably be hitting max flow at about 7-8k rpm. (for 50->70cc that is, after all its a 40% normalized volume increase. in reality its much more because of how the bypass-puschback exhaust compression on a 2stroke works, but meh.)

here, have some reading:

http://www.mopedarmy.com/wiki/Carburetor

http://iheartstella.com/resources/manuals/tuning/Graham-Bell-Two-Stroke-Performance-Tuning.pdf (Page 93 and on, esp page 112 which illustrates the carb sizing i mentioned,, but really, this entire PDF is the GO-TO document of 2 stroke theory, setup and tuning. get the book if you dont like on-screen reading

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.

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.

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

I followed directions in Zinn & the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance, which is a great book for all kinds of maintenance and building tasks.

But here's a great guide I just found, which has as much, if not more, information than the book on the subject: http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/hub-overhaul-and-adjustment

One of the learning challenges is that there are a ton of different bike models, so based on your description you might get something out of the Haynes Motorcycle Basics Textbook. It's not about riding, but is about the mechanical basics that apply to basically every motorcycle in the world. Thorough explanations of every major component, the theory and history behind how they were designed, the different forms they may take in different engines, and how they interact with other parts. It's really an awesome book if you want to understand how a motorcycle works to a component level.

The downsides are that the book is a bit pricey and that it is a dense read; it is a textbook after all, not necessarily meant to be 'fun'.

https://www.amazon.com/Motorcycle-Basics-Techbook-Haynes-Manuals/dp/185960515X not sure if that would help but seems like it gives a basic rundown of common engines. Looks like something you might be looking for at least for now

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.

+1 Kevin Cameron's Sportsbike Performance Handbook is a really good read. A. Graham Bell has written two books on engine tuning (Two-Stroke /Four-Stroke Performance Tuning) which are good companions.

Space does not permit all the tips I've learned by reading this, this, this, this, and this.

But, briefly:

• watch out for "edge traps"--where road work or a 2x4 in the street or anything similar can catch your tire and turn it to the side.
  
  
• go somewhere safe, not on the road, and practice. Learn how hard you can apply your brakes, and how to ease off the back as you apply the front. Set up cones and practice various kinds of turns.
  
  
• look far ahead, look all around, predict what other vehicles are going to do in one second, two seconds, five, ten.
  
  
• Three words: Shots and wheelies.

> ... learn in general what's where in a bike, how it works etc.

This book is a good starting point for general knowledge about the various parts/systems on a motorcycle:

Haynes Manuals: Motorcycle Basics Techbook

If you have a motorcycle already, then the factory service manual or Haynes/Clymer manual for your specific bike will be helpful.

This book might give you some insight into the custom build process:

The Build: How the Masters Design Custom Motorcycles

Suggestion. I am told by various Harley & Goldwing owners that this is an excellent book if you are new to motorcycles of that size.

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

I have found Zinn's books good for beginners:

Mountain Bikes

Road Bikes

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

Motorcycle Basics Techbook. Covers all the major systems in detail and how they developed.

This book has a bunch of drills you can do yourself.

I've used this one as a guide for upgrading the suspension on my motorcycle and many more projects to come.

http://www.amazon.com/Sportbike-Performance-Projects-Motorbooks-Workshop/dp/0760313318/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279671110&sr=1-1

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.