Learning About bikes!!!!!!

[RCMakita4]

Okay so i want to start learning about bikes. I am getting a crf450r this summer and i love bikes but i dont seem to know too much about them. I know the regular basics but alot of my friends are really good with bikes and can rip them apart and stuff. I am a junior in high school so there are not really that many options for me to learn. I am planning on going to MMI once i am out of school but i want to try and start learing some things now. Are there any good websites or books or anthing that can teach me about bike engines, suspension and all that good stuff. When i am on this site and under the crf450r topic there is always alot of stuff that i dont know what they are talking about and i just want to be able to know what i am doing. Maybe even if i learn enough i can work on my bike so i dont have to pay $40 an hour a the local shop plus parts.

thanks

[2cool4u]

this should help u a little so u can understand what they are talking about

https://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=5

btw go RC ?

[CBus660R]

First hand experience is the only way to truely learn. When you get your bike, make sure you get a service manual to go with it and not just the owners manual and dig in. Most everything there is to do on a bike is easy to do as long as you take your time and read your manual. The important thing that a lot of newbies overlook is to keep the parts organized when you start taking things apart. Egg cartons, butter tubs, peanut butter jars (pretty much anything with a lid) are good to keep around the garage. Also, when you go to work on something for the first time, make sure you read through the procedure in the service manual before you spin that first wrench. What may look like the 1st step when you're looking at the bike could actually be the 3rd step with 2 less obvious things that need to be done first.

[kawirider]

Egg cartons, butter tubs, peanut butter jars (pretty much anything with a lid) are good to keep around the garage. Also, when you go to work on something for the first time, make sure you read through the procedure in the service manual before you spin that first wrench. What may look like the 1st step when you're looking at the bike could actually be the 3rd step with 2 less obvious things that need to be done first.

Not only that, but sometimes you may not have the neccesary tools to do the job. That is yet another reason to read through the WHOLE thing you are trying to do. It happened to me one time. I had stripped the bike down to replace the clutch cable before my next ride. (old one held together by zip-ties) So I took off the tank and seat and start fiddling and I got the old cable off. I put the new clutch cable on and started to hook it up to the perch when I realized that I had lost my 8mm wrench and I couldnt adjust it. On top of that I had already put the tank and seat back on. So I had to take it back off and put make the old cable work again.

So, what I am saying is you should make a plan before you do even the most basic stuff. Set out your tools and make sure you have every tool or part that you need. Then scribble a plan down so that you dont have to take stuff on and off. As CBus660R said, egg cartons are good for screws. If you get the cardboard ones you can even lable it. As far as manuals are concerned I would get 2 or 3 for your bike. I would go to your dealer and get the official honda manual and on top of that I would get the Clymers manual as well. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0892879289/ref=sr_11_1/104-4133181-9173530?%5Fencoding=UTF8

Here is a link to the clymers manual. The good thing about getting both manuals is that if you dont quite understand what a book is saying you can look in the other book. I would also suggest that you get this book.http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0760319758/qid=1144272445/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-4133181-9173530?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

I plan on getting it myself and by the looks of it it really shows you how to get the most out of your bike. BTW is this your first bike?

[bikedude127]

Well Ricky, ?

You could do what I did. And my team race partner did this also. Get a job in a shop. Chances are you will spend some time at the bottom of the totem pole, sweeping and dumping garbage, that kind of thing. Then before you know it, you'll have been working there for three or four years and you'll know more than you could have learned at MMI. JMO though. ?

Service manuals and hands on experience is the only way to go.

Fortune cookie say, "Practice is the best of all instructors!"

[Honda80]

as you go along with your bike youll learn pretty quickly how to fix it ?

[mikie]

Ride hard and Ride a lot. When things break, fix them yourself.

A good manual and proper tools will solve anything. ?

[RMXC51]

Suggestion 1:

You say you are a junior in high school who know little about bikes. Get a 250F, not a 450 of any kind, or you will never become a senior in high school.

[HrcRacing]

"alot of my friends are really good with bikes"

Along with the suggestions already given, asking your friends to walk you through something the first time is a great way of getting that hands-on experience which can't be bought.

I can't over emphasize getting the RIGHT tools for the job. This can be expensive and, oftentimes you don't use them much but, when you do, they're priceless.

I'd get a book or do some research on just the basics of the fourstroke principle as well. It's one thing to know how to work on something, it's another to understand how it works.

Also, do a search on eBay for CRF450 DVD's. There's a seller there that offers DVD's on valve adjustments, servicing the forks and servicing the shock.

Finally, realize that some people are mechanically inclined and some aren't. Even if you're not, if you can do some of the basics and leave the suspension/trans (hopefully you'll never need that) work to the shops, you'll save yourself a lot of money.

Best of luck! ?

[Ninhil]

browse www.dansmc.com

there was another great site i was at today too.... lemme see here..

here 'tis

http://www.motocross.com/motoprof/

[Jaycycle]

Get a 250F, not a 450 of any kind, or you will never become a senior in high school.

Im a freshman in high school and I have a 450f? I hope im around to be a senior in high school. ?

[Flyin-W]

go with the 250 and trick it ouot. a 450 is much too big

[RMXC51]

Im a freshman in high school and I have a 450f? I hope im around to be a senior in high school. ?

And how long have you been riding? I bet the 450 isn't your first bike, is it?

[RMZ114]

"go with the 250 and trick it ouot. a 450 is much too big"

Gah, I see no reason why a 450 is too "BIG" or too "POWERFUL" for a teenager or even a small rider. I'm 15 and 145lbs and ride a 450 w/ no problems. A SMART rider can handle any bike, no matter how big or fast. I do agree with RMXC51, though, a beginner shouldn't be on a 450.

OKAY, back to the point of this thread. Practice, Practice, Practice!!!! No matter which way you slice it, the only way to become a good mechanic is through experience. Watch your friends if they are good at working on bikes and get them to walk you through it. Buy manuals, read forums. MMI is not how the majority of mechanics become mechanics. I have seen shop mechanics who went to MMI who don't know their way around an MX bike, only streetbikes and watercraft, and only the basics at that. On the flip side, I have seen mechanics that work in a hot warehouse by themselves covered in greasy jumpsuits who have never had formal education as a mechanic and they can spin wrenches with the best of them on ANYTHING.

[Jaycycle]

And how long have you been riding? I bet the 450 isn't your first bike, is it?

Nope, I have been riding for about 4 or 5 years. It suits me well for my kind of riding. (Mostly just for fun, trails, some mx)

[Jaycycle]

"go with the 250 and trick it ouot. a 450 is much too big"

Gah, I see no reason why a 450 is too "BIG" or too "POWERFUL" for a teenager or even a small rider. I'm 15 and 145lbs and ride a 450 w/ no problems. A SMART rider can handle any bike, no matter how big or fast. I do agree with RMXC51, though, a beginner shouldn't be on a 450.

I completly agree with you. ?

[yzrider071]

jos remeber rev it up real hard so it like pops dat is a good sound call over rev once ur in the zone dump the clutch u will get the hole shot ever time my friend

your welcome

[Fulch13]

Read up what and where you can until you get your bike. Once you do get it (whatever it is...though I'd have to agree that a 450 isn't a beginner bike), when soomething needs worked on, call one of your buddies to help you with it the first time. Just be straight up with them and tell them that you have no idea what you're doing, but you want to learn. If their worth anything as friends, they'll be happy to help you out.

Like was said above, you will learn the most by doing, not reading or studying. I know three different people that had worked on bikes a fair amount and then went to MMI. They all left early, didn't even finish the 'program' because they said a lot fo the stuff they taught was just stupid, and that nobody that actually knows what they're doing does things that way. To get really good at it, you just have to spin wrenches...a lot of wrenches.

[RCMakita4]

okay cool, thanks for the help. And no the 450 is not my first bike, i have been riding a kx250 that was my friends but he sold it.

[brokencrf250]

it is always good to have a mentor to help you out, and tell you about the bikes, like the person who taught you how to ride or something