Haynes Motorcycle Basics Manual [Paperback]

Pete Shoemark (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1986 | Series: Haynes Motorcycle Basics Manual

All common engine, chassis and electrical systems fully explained and illustrated. Topics covered include engine cycles and layouts, carburettors and fuel injection, ignition systems, clutches, gearbox, engine lubrication and cooling, wheels, tires, braking systems, suspension, steering, handling, design and electrical systems.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 164 pages
• Publisher: Haynes Publications (February 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1850100837
• ISBN-13: 978-1850100836
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 8.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,137,171 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thorough overview, April 11, 2001

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Haynes Motorcycle Basics Manual (Paperback)

This book is not and does not try to be a shop manual. What it is, is a well-done primer on the theory behind the various systems in a motorcycle. The chapter on engines was fascinating to me. It explains, in rough historical/chronological order, the development of various engine designs, and how each was a reponse to weaknesses in previous designs and how each one introduced it own problems (while at the same time older designs were tweaked in various ways to minimize problems). The design variations include number of cyllinders, number of crankshafts, orientation of cyllinders with respect to each other, orientation of the crankshaft with respect to the motorcycle, ratio of bore diameter to stroke length, various arrangements of valve trains, etc. Two stroke engines are also covered. Illustrations are extensive, but tend to be pulled from other books or from manufacturers manuals, so sometimes include unnecessary detail, especially in the carburation chapter (which was very complex and a little over my head). Some chapters (e.g., exhaust systems) were not as detailed as the engine chapter and were slightly disappointing.

I followed this book up with Keith Cameron's Sportbike Performance Hankbook, which explains some systems in more detail. Cameron's book is ostensibly a book for souping up your motorcycle, but in the end managed to convince me that I want to keep my bike stock unless I don't plan to use it on the street: the manufacturers generally know what they are doing.

One caveat about Motorcycle Basics Manual: the book was authored in England and uses U.K. terminology. A glossary at the end gives U.S. equivalents, but a few things are left out.

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Reference, September 6, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Haynes Motorcycle Basics Manual (Paperback)

I was delighted with this book for two reasons: one, it answered all the random questions I had from talking to bike owners or mechanics (What IS a desmodromic valve? How does a clutch work, exactly? Why is the exhaust pipe length critical to tuning a 2-stroke?). Two, I love illustrations, and these technical illustrations are top-notch. There are beautiful section and cutaway views of engines and subsystems, all properly detailled and labeled.

Don't expect this book to allow you to fix your bike. But expect to gain a better understanding of how things work, motorcycle design trends and influences (often from a historical perspective), and why things break and wear out. And that will pay off the next time you're talking to your mechanic, or the guy at the auto parts store.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great intermediate-level book on motorcycle mechanics, August 27, 1999

By 

Andrew Dunn "Andrew Dunn" (Fort Myers, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Haynes Motorcycle Basics Manual (Paperback)

This is a good buy. Plenty of technical detail on all aspects of a motorcycle. No padding (just information). The book also discusses variations on the models described. The only complaint I can think of (and its minor) is that it would have been nice to see some troubleshooting information on the topics discussed.