So I've worked with a mechanic for about a year now as well as teaching myself about cars. I know a fairly good amount, yet hope to continue to learn more. I'm highly intereted in motorcycles though and I was wondering, for a person who knows a few things about cars, would working on motorcycles be a very big change or no? Any of you motorcycle mechanics could sure help me out haha. Thanks!

-Sam

 

Much easier to work on - easy to spin around when broken down - but very unforgiving when you get-it-wrong and your on the road.



KLX650C_2.jpg

 

Motorcycles are waaaayyyyy easier (especially if carburated). It is a completely different animal though. Electrical components are a million times easier to work with on the bike. Suspension components much more tricky on a bike. Access is generally simpler on the bike.

 

I see. So a motorcycle engine generaly works the same way as a car does though? I know there are the Harley engines that look like Vs, so I am assuming that they are like V-2s haha. The "crankshaft" is what the belt is attched to and the pistons in the engine move the same way they do in a car. Is that correct or no? Thanks for the help guys!

-Sam

 

Sorta kinda. Engine wise depends. If you look at Brian Brave's it looks like a carburetor 1 piston 2 stroke. My bike has a inline 4 4 stroke also carbuerated. There are different types of engines. V twins are usually most common on cruisers and Harleys. sport bikes usually have inline 4 cylinders (sorta like many smaller cars), there are even 3 cylinders like Triumphs. BMW like's to expirement with boxer engines so you have horizontally oposed 2 cylinder engines. You can have a single cylinder also. And yes, there are even 6 clyinder bikes (Honda Valkyrie for example). Majority of modern cars are fuel injection though and not carb. Carburaters work based on mechanical parts and IMO are simpler to work on than an engine loaded with electronics. The crankshaft is what the pistons spin on. And that eventually is connected to either a drive shaft (mostly big cruisers), a belt (also cruisers), or a chain (usually sport bikes and endurance).

 

Close - - 650cc, single cylinder, water cooled - four stroke.

 

Cheezits! 650CC?! Nice! That's larger than my 4 cylinder 599CC bike (Also water cooled).

 

Here is mine.........

 

I love my Triumph R3. 2.3 liter engine. State of art engine management. Design heavily influenced by English F1 engineers. I do all my own repair and maintenance. The result of a lifetime of doing so. as the MGA attests. Gary

 

Geese, I did not know that some bikes had six cylinders. Thats really big for a bike. Interesting facts though guys!

-Sam

 

You can also get a bike with a V8 engine






Now thats a FATTY!





How about a radial piston bike?

 

Geese haha. Those engines are huge!!

-Sam

 

You could even get em "Rotary" powered.
Suzuki RE-5 Rotary 1974-1976
Jay Leno even has one.
But I think NSU produced the first one.

 

I believe Harley Davidsons are a little different in that the rods from the two cylinder banks are attached to the same offset pin on the crankshaft. This is opposed to most other engines where each rod is given a separate pin on the crankshaft.

 

Now if you really want something fast and tricky to work on you could try and duplicate this bike. This must really sound good at speed.
Moto Guzzi V8

 

Hey Sam - this is a very late reply to your post but I only just saw it.

Having never worked on cars myself (not counting the endless duct and electrical tape jobs to my '62 Chevy II), I can say that working on motorcycles should definitely be doable for you. I did my first valve job on my '97 Ducati M750 (v-twin, air-cooled) and it was surprisingly easy. Bladecutter is a bike whiz and he coached me and it was rather fun. Until the temp dropped to around 40F (we did the work in an apt. parking lot and it got hard to hold onto the shims at that temp, lol).

 

BMW experiments with these engines?
Some experiment, its been years.

 

Mechanically, no. They are not different at all ... same things ... you need fuel, you need air, you need spark. The suspension is a bit different, but not drastically so. Electrical works the same way ... like cars, you learn little things about each kind of bike so it gets easier to figure out what's wrong, easier to do what you need to do to fix it ...

I never "learned" how to fix cars or bikes (or computers) from anyone ... I just figure it out and do it. Getting advice on specific forums helps a lot too!!

 

Some bikes have 8 cylinder Chevy engines!

Boss Hoss Cycles

 

There is a demand for bike mechanics. You need to pack your bags and head out to a bike school. I know there is a great one in FL.... They help with job placement. I know a lot of bike mechanics, and use to do a lot of work myself. I don't have the time since getting back into cars, but I spent a whole lot of time working on bikes, especially the old Harley Fatboy I brought back from near death... Always wanted an old Harley to putter around on, and found this old baby in sad shape, and 3 years of part-time work, I had one, at half the price of a new one, with plenty of chrome. But like mentioned above, a lot more electronics, ecu's and all on them now. I like my old carb back firing, Harley...but if speed you want, then you need Yapanese bikes. I was a Kaw man for years, Yamaha before that... In fact, I just lost a bid on a Yamaha R6. If I can steal one at a good price, I will have another sport bike...good luck kid, but Bike School is the way to go if you want to get a great job.