Motorcycle Electrical Systems: Troubleshooting and Repair (Motorbooks Workshop) [Paperback]

Tracy Martin (Author)

Book Description

Series: Motorbooks Workshop | Publication Date: February 15, 2007

A motorcycle’s electrical system can be daunting to even the most adept home mechanic. And yet, the more complex these systems become—and the more important to a motorcycle’s function—the more useful, even critical, it will be to know something about them. That’s where this book comes in with a user-friendly guide to understanding, diagnosing, and fixing the electrical systems and components that make a bike run . . . or falter.

 

Veteran technician Tracy Martin explains the principles behind motorcycle electrical systems and how they work. He details the various tools, such as multimeters and test lights, that can be used to evaluate and troubleshoot any vehicle's electrical problem. And in several hands-on projects, he takes readers on a guided tour of their vehicle’s electrical system, along the way giving clear, step-by-step instructions for diagnosing specific problems.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Cycle News, March 7, 2007

“Martin simplifies the complex language and operations of electrical systems of motorcycles so that the diagnostics and repairs can be done with ease.”

 

WebBikeWorld.com, March 2007

“What is important is to use the book to develop a basic knowledge of electricity, how it works and how it helps our motorcycles live and breathe. Then when the time comes, I think it is reasonable to expect that with a little brushing up, you’ll be able to solve many of the electrical mysteries that would have you stumped in the past.”

Iron Works, May 2007

“Tracy Martin explains the principals behind 12 and 6-volt motorcycle electrical systems. Electrical theory is kept to a minimum as the author focuses on a more practical, hands-on approach to explaining an otherwise complex topic.”

                                                                                                                                                                  Tourexpo.com, May 29, 2007

“Author Tracy Martin presents a fun, easy-to-understand talk on how electricity works on your motorcycle, how to read a wiring diagram and covers the basics of 12-volt motorcycle electricity.”

 

American Rider, December 2007

“It’s written in a friendly, conversational manner in layman’s language, not dry engineer-speak … I co-authored an electrical troubleshooting manual for Haynes some years ago, so I have some experience with this subject. Mr. Martin has done an excellent job providing the basic principles involved with motorcycle electrical systems in an applicable, practical and useful manner … We recommend it for anyone who works on Harleys, or wants to learn more about how they work.”

 

Motorcycle Consumer News, October 2007

“Provides a sound foundation for any enthusiast to work on their electrical systems … His explanations and illustrations are both clear and concise, and the flow of the book is geared towards building the confidence level of the reader … Tracy’s 25 years of experience in the automotive field resonate through the pages of the book, and give credibility to his explanations and assessments. I’d recommend it for both the library and the workshop of any enthusiast.”

Book Description

A user-friendly guide to understanding, diagnosing, and fixing the electrical systems and components that make a bike run—or falter—this book explains the principles behind motorcycle electrical systems, details the various tools, such as multimeters and test lights, that can be used to evaluate and troubleshoot their failures, and offers several hands-on projects that demonstrate fixes for specific problems.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Motorbooks; 1st edition (February 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760327165
• ISBN-13: 978-0760327166
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #65,337 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #13 in Books > Professional & Technical > Automotive > Motorcycles > Repair & Performance

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good instruction manual with only a few faults, July 30, 2008

By 

JRC1515 (St. Paul, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Motorcycle Electrical Systems: Troubleshooting and Repair (Motorbooks Workshop) (Paperback)

The book is straightforward and easy-to-read. It covers various aspects of critical test instruments, electronic components, troubleshooting techniques, and shortcuts. It has a chapter with practice problems designed to improve the reader's ability to use circuit diagrams. In particular, the sections on testing by voltage drop and using wiring diagrams are particularly useful.
The book is a bit marred by a few (not too many) mistakes and weak explanations. The author gets the relationship between dwell angle and point gap backwards, and at one point he describes a test method as "place the red lead here, and the red lead here". He clearly meant one of the leads to be the ground (black) but it could prove confusing to the target audience. He gives short shrift to CD ignitions and magnetos. His states his coil testing procedures will work on all coils, without clarifying if that includes capacitive coils as well as inductive types (CD coils are a special case, as they do not have 12 volt primaries). His stator testing heuristic -wattage divided by four equals output AC voltage- is useful but given without information as to why the rule-of-thumb holds true.
These lapses are not indicative of a lack of knowledge on the author's part, but point toward a need for a better review of the draft manuscript prior to publication.
Even with faults, I give the book a "B+". It is worth reading, with the caveat that a reader may have to crosscheck a topic with another source if it just doesn't seem right.
It goes without saying the best use of the book is to read and study it *before* the information is needed. Absorbing the knowledge during an emergency repair situation is difficult at best, impossible at worst.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Motorcycle Book, February 4, 2007

By 

MC Dirt Guy "motoguy" (Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Motorcycle Electrical Systems: Troubleshooting and Repair (Motorbooks Workshop) (Paperback)

I don't do much with electrical stuff on my motorcycle, usually take it to the dealer. This book made made it easy to understand the electrical system on my bike. I like the chapter on wiring diagrams. This chapter really explained how to read the wiring diagrams. Good info on motorcycle batteries as well. I would recommend the book, even if you don't plan on doing your own electrical repairs.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Motorcycle Reference, February 9, 2007

By 

Zina Deretsky (Wheaton, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Motorcycle Electrical Systems: Troubleshooting and Repair (Motorbooks Workshop) (Paperback)

I bought Tracy Martin's other book on automotive electrics, and as a motorcyclist, I was really excited when this book came out. It's more of the same high quality of work. He's got a real knack for explaining concepts in plain language I can understand easily. His illustrations are also very easy to follow. This book is great because there are lots of new material on motorcycle specific topics such as battery tenders, accessories, rebuilding starters, points ignition (where else can you find a current book that covers points???), and fuel injection.