The essential guide to motorcycle maintenance: tips & techniques to keep your motorcycle in top condition

Introduction: Maintain your bike ; Motorcycle-specific tools ; A place to work ; Big ticket tools ; Hand tools ; Safety concerns

1. Engine design & basic theory: Two-stroke basics ; Four-stroke basics ; The bottom end ; The top end ; Valves & cams ; Engine layout

2. Engine cooling & lubrication: Air & oil cooling ; Synthetic vs mineral oil ; Liquid cooling ; Detergent vs non-detergent oil ; Changing coolant ; Engine oil & lubrication ; Oil change ; Lubrication: four-stroke engines

3. Ignition: Basic battery & coil ignitions ; Adjusting ignition timing ; Installing spark plugs ; Maintaining your ignition system

4. Intake, fuel, & exhaust systems: Carburetor types ; Installing an inline fuel filter ; Adjusting idle speed ; Synchronizing carburetors ; How carb circuits work together ; Adjusting idle mixture ; Fuel-injection system ; Maintaining fuel injection ; Air boxes & filters ; Adjusting throttle cables ; Maintaining the fuel system ; Exhaust system ; Cleaning petcock strainers

5. Clutch: Automotive-style clutch ; Adjusting clutch cable free-play ; Adjusting the clutch ; Replacing the clutch ; Maintaining the clutch ; Improving your clutch

6. Transmission & primary drive: Constant mesh transmission ; Basic transmission theory ; Shifting gears ; Oil additives ; Maintaining transmission & primary drive ; Transmission oil change

7. Final drive: Chain drive ; Chain cleaning & lubrication ; Chain adjustment ; Belt drive ; Sprocket replacement ; Rear-drive oil change ; Shaft drive

8. Suspension: How springs work ; Conventional fork oil change ; Front suspension ; Cartridge-type fork oil change ; Replacing fork seals ; Rear suspension ; Suspension tuning ; Improving suspension ; Setting ride height ; Adjusting rebound damping ; Minimizing stiction ; Aftermath spring kits & dampers

9. Wheels & tires: Wheels ; Changing tubes & tires ; Checking & adjusting wheel alignment ; Tires ; Changing tubeless tires ; Checking & truing spoked wheels ; Maintaining your wheels & tires ; Replacing wheel bearings & seals ; Wheel building & truing ; Improving wheels & tires ; Balancing tires

10. Brakes: Drum brakes ; Replacing brake shoes ; Disc Drum brake basics ; Changing brake fluid ; Bleeding brakes ; Installing braided-steel lines ; Changing brake pads ; Maintaining brakes ; Rebuilding calipers ; Improving brakes

11. Frame & steering: How the frame influences handling ; Checking steering-head bearings ; The motorcycle frame ; Adjusting steering-head bearings ; Frame types ; Replacing steering-head bearings ; Rake & trail ; Checking linkages ; Checking & adjusting swingarm bearings ; Wheelbase ; Maintaining the chassis ; Bolt checking ; Crash damage

12. Charging system & battery: Electrical basics ; Battery maintenance ; Installing a new battery ; How wet-cell batteries work ; Quick charge test ; Battery breather

13. Lights, switches, & instruments: Light bulbs ; Checking resistance ; Basic wiring technique ; Basic circuit facts ; Maintaining electrics ; Electrical dos & don'ts ; Troubleshooting electrical system ; Checking sending units

14. Cleaning, setting-up, & storage: Washing, waxing, & polishing ; Saturday morning bath ; Spray painting ; Paint basics ; Setting-up the bike to fit you ; Touching-up paint ; Winter storage ; Storage procedure

Troubleshooting: What to do when the bike won't start ; Go with the flow ; Checking for spark ; Checking compression ; Running problems ; Removing a seized bolt ; Basic how-two ; Removing a stuck screw ; Heli-coil installation ; Lubing a control cable ; Hand-packing a bearing ; Applying gasket sealer ; Removing & replacing a seal ; Changing hydraulic fluid

Appendix: Tools

Appendix: Building a library

About the author.