motorbike maintenance

[Fats25]

As I posted on here the other day apart from the following:-

Checking tyre pressure & tread
Checking and adding oil
Checking and adding to Scottoiler

I know absolutely nothing to help me maintain my bike. I read about all of you on here that do your own services, up to much more technical things that I don't understand!

(Thanks for the response to everyone that answerd)

I have decided to do something about it , so I am looking for some type of further education class to help me understand the basics, anyone got any ideas? or even just ideas to help me find somewhere?

Not interested in learn at home as there are too many distractions - definitely needs to be an attendance course

[empty]

Some colleges do evening classes for motorcycle maintenance, that would be my first place to look if you wanted to take that route.

My personal experience is simply to give it a try. Start with basic stuff (like that you have listed) and try to work out what is going on and what you need to do to achieve the end result. Then work up from there. To be honest, as long as you have the right tools for the job, motorcycles (and cars for that matter) are not that complex (with the exception of electrics, which can be a real pain). Most of it is about the right tools, experience and confidence. You might want a Haynes Manual or the service manual off this site (see the FAQ) to give you guidance.

With regards to the things you listed...

Tyre pressures - buy a gauge (I have a Halfords digital one, you need one with some kind of right angle end so you can get to the valve without hitting the discs), take cap off of valve, push gauge on, read reading. If below pressure (33 front/36 rear) pump up with foot pump, if above, push gauge lightly (rather than the whole way) on the valve to let a bit of air out.

Tyre tread - most tyres have a wear level indicator (a little block in the tread that is about 1mm off the bottom of the tread. Can be a bit hard to find, might be a marker on the side saying "indicator" or similar. If top of tyre is level with indicator you don't have much tread left, time to change tyre. You can also buy gauges to measure tread depth.

Check oil - there is a little window on the rh side of the bike on the engine with a Full and Min mark. Hold the bike up vertical (either sit on or on a auxillary stand if you own one), if oil is between two marks, all is good. If it is below min, there is a twist off cap behind this, untwist and pour oil in here (says what type either on or near cap, think it is 10w40). Make sure it is bike oil. If it is above max, you need to let some out, if you're not confident I'd get someone to help here, it's a simple (if messy) job but if you make a mess of it you could strip the thread of the sump.

Scottoiler - Look in the clear bit, if the oil level looks low, pull the rubber bit with the tube off the side, fill up using oil (scottoiler blue works and comes in an easyish to use bottle with tube, but any heavy oil you like), fill up. Replace rubber bit/tube. Start engine, turn dial at top all the way round to prime, check oil comes out of nozzle, put back to your setting, if oil doesn't come out follow the instructions for the scottoiler (which can be downloaded from their website if you don't have them).

There are some bits in the bike owners manual as well, these show some of the routine maintenance you should do (like chain adjusting etc).

HTH,
MT

[northwind]

The absolute best way to learn how to work on a bike, is to work on a bike. A course would be great, but if you approach it sensibly you can pick up the neccesary skills quite easily just by using them. I did a little basic stuff with my wreck of a 125, but most of what i know I've learned hands-on with the forum, the Haynes, and a bit of common sense... So in around a year i went from nervously fitting an anodised bolt kit, to fitting a GSXR front end.