Motorcycle Basics Techbook (Haynes Techbooks) Hardcover – 5 July 2002

Being a young biker, and the only motorcycle enthusiast in my family, I have the difficulty of knowing absolutely nothing about how motorcycles work, and only learning from when parts on the motorcycle break and need replacing. I bought this book not too long ago, as i wanted to learn more about motorcycles and have got a fair way through it. Ive got to say it is a great book, the diagrams and descriptions are so easy to read and understand, and the understanding gained in just the first few pages is enough to atleast give someone an idea of how the inside of their engine works. Not only this but I find it a 'good read', where it is so easily understood that you can take alot of enjoyment on learning motorcycle basics and this book prevents it from being a stressful and confusing process. This is a definate buy for any beginner motorcyclist or anyone who takes interest in how motorcycles work, it is an in-depth techbook, covering topics such as: engine types, motorcycle transmissions, suspension, electrics, gearboxes etc. and in my opinion well worth the price for the amount of knowledge gained. This book may not make you a pro in the mechanics department, but it does give you the confidence that if something were to go wrong on your motorcycle, you will most likely know, or atleast have an idea of what the problem is, and this could potentially save you the hassle/money it takes for a mechanic to view the motorcycle and give you a quotation, and in some basic areas such as chain replacement it could cut out the price of a mechanic completely!

Great book for someone like me who had no previous knowledge or instruction of mechanics/engineering but wanted to know how his bike worked. NOTE: this is not a guide on how to fix bikes just how all aspects function.Assumes no knowledge so may seem like it's stating the obvious at time but is great for those with little or no previous knowledge or experience.Good illustrations and for the most part well explained.Chapters are well defined sectioning off different areas/functions to different chapters although this did mean for me at some points I was left wondering how something worked until it was explained in a later chapter.Great for those looking to understand how a bike works and thus why certain maintenance tasks are so important.Great buy

This 200 page book covers every subsystem of modern day motorcycles (even phased out technologies like carburettors). It's split up into 10 chapters each covering the major subsytems (engine, frame, transmission etc.). It doesn't present any of the information at an academic, engineering level. It also can not be used as a service manual, but I do believe it's the best book of it's (rare) kind. For someone looking for a more down and dirty approach I recommend the Honda Common Service Manual that has been republished recently. There you can find practical information on how to take a motorbike apart and tighten each screw back.I've detracted one star because the book does have some dated information, being published more than ten years ago. Oddly, the book is printed on different quality paper and only the pictures in the first chapter are coloured. I've contacted Amazon and it appears it's a general issue with the book. Also, there are quite a few spelling errors throughout the book.Overall, well worth the price.

I bought this book to better understand motorcycle mechanics and I have found it both useful and interesting. The text is not dry and despite this being a textbook it reads easily and provides well written, accessible and well illustrated introduction to the basics of motorcycle internal combustion engines, suspension, breaking systems and much more.

Well written for someone learning the basics. Only gripe is that the first 1/5 of the book is on quality paper in color and the rest is in low quality, thin, recycled, toilet paper looking paper. The content is excellent though. Have already resolved a few minor issues due to this book without having to drag it to a dealership.

As always a clear and detailed manual - I have always found 'HAYNES' to be good and can only advise any motorbike owner to invest in one - I still have a manuals for each of the seven 'bikes' I have owned - must be good!

Bought this for my partner for Christmas - he already had some knowledge of how a bike works as he a mechanical engineer, but he said he found it immensely useful and has learned a lot from it.

A nice book explaining the the fundamentals of motorbike mechanics. Straight forward easy to understand with many examples from actual motorcycles.

Great Manual for beginners

This book is great for a good grounding in things that make up a motorcycle. The number of pages is too few at first glance but the small font packs in a lot of information. Having said that, a thicker book with more detail would be nice, especially for the price. The graphics are inconsistent too: apart from some in the beginning that are in colour, they are all in black and white. Not only that, the base paper for the latter illustrations is noticeably darker in shade, as if it was from another, cheaper pile.If you're an absolute beginner and can afford it, go for it!

Good book for all who want to know more about motorcycle and engine. The book rxplain how the engine works and covers many aspects of it. It was very useful for me.

Very nice and detailed book. The content is clear and easy to read. There's a lot of pertinent information for all kinds of motorcycle. It's a book that could help as well as beginners than advanced mechanics. A great book !

For someone new to motorcycling, just coming to realize that riding a bike involves care and feeding, but who never maintained their own car, this book provides an essential overview. Read this book BEFORE reading through your owners manual and repair manual, if you're not already a grease-monkey. It's overview of each aspect of motorcycles is so clearly written, with plenty of detail and specs, that you'll enjoy reading it as much as you do your motorcycle magazines.