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Learning mechanic basics on a pocket bike ? Learning mechanic basics on a pocket bike ?
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Old 15 Jul 2010
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Learning mechanic basics on a pocket bike ?
Hey guys,
This is my first post after reading quite a bit through the massive information contained on HU! So here goes:

In about 9 months I'm heading off on a working holiday in Australia and I seriously plan on buying a bike once there to tour around Oz (thinking a dualsport 250 like an XT250 or similar).

In the 9 months left, I would really like to learn as much of the mechanical side as possible, starting with the very basics, so how the motor runs and everything. So I thought, how can I get some kind of hand-on practice without buying a real bike (so cheaply) and without caring of messing it up by disassembling everything and putting it back together…a pocket bike maybe? Since there are a few 2 stroke 49cc pocketbikes at about 100-150$, I wouldn't mind messing it up if it can be a useful and practical experience.

I don’t know if it’s a stupid idea or a good one, what are your opinions on this?

Thanks guys!!!

PS: In Quebec, Canada, the legislation is a bit weird as from I read, it seems very hard to find just a basic motorcycle mechanic class, hence the reason I'm asking.
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Old 15 Jul 2010
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The best thing to do is find a bike of your interest then read up via the internet to find how things work, a 49cc two stroke bears very little in common with multi cylinder four stroke, just learn a few basics, like if the bike stops/wont start, check for fuel/battery leads connected, because apart from that, nowadays there is very little you can do on most modern bikes.
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Old 15 Jul 2010
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Most bits of bikes are fairly common, but there is a huge difference between a two and a four stroke engine.

As above, it would be best to find something similar to the kind of bike you intend to hire, that way it'll be less of a surprise!
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Old 16 Jul 2010
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Another option & possible cheaper, is to buy a wrecked single cylinder four stroke engine, prerefably SOHC or DOHC.

Remove a few engine covers & rotate the crank to see what happens, especially the valve gear. Check out the valve adjustment, clutch & primary driver operation etc. Hands on experience is the only real way to learn.

By using a wrecked engine, it should be cheap & you won't need to worry about requiring special tools to remove rotors etc or making a mistake & damaging a component.
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Old 18 Jul 2010
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Motorcycle maintenance courses?
Hi guys,

I'm in a similar situation to Th3G33k, in that I'm about to take possession of my first bike but don't have a CLUE about how motorcycles work. Given my intention to ride across Africa at some point (!), I really need to get to grips with all things bike so I can troubleshoot problems on the road.

Rather than buying a guinea-pig bike or engine and experimenting on it, though, I was wondering if there's such a thing as motorcycle maintenance courses that you can go on? Or else some other means whereby someone can show you hands-on where everything is and what to do with it! I've bought Alan Seeley's The Motorcycle Book (Haynes, second edition) to get me started, but I feel like I still need expert/real-person guidance to make sense of it all...

Jeanie
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Old 18 Jul 2010
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If you've got a local motorcycle group, in my area we've got a sportbkes club, sometimes they will have whats known as a "tech day" which basically is a day to service bikes and learn how to do stuff.

tech days are an excellent place to learn stuff about the bike, and its mysterious inner workings.

once you understand how it works, and how to fix it, it all seems VERY unintimidating, and quite easy.
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