Off Topic Approved

Thanks a lot for the linky. Now I can read in it my cell phone whenever I can get time!!

EDIT: Of course nothing beats a real hard copy. It doesnt need a battery which has to be charged regularly .

Thanks for the bottom of my heart. I always wanted to read this book, but laziness kept me from buying. You've given me something free. Appreciate it.

the link doesn't seem to work!

Worked perfectly & I've a copy with me & have read about 140+ pages now

yup its working now all of a sudden...
thnx for sharing

The Route to Being Self Sufficient in Motorcycle Maintenance

Hi All.

Not sure if this question has been asked before. I attempted searching the forums but unable to find similar queries / answers, I finally decided to create a new thread. So, apologies in advance if this is an old topic.

I own a Bajaj Discover 150 and it is now in its third year. The first year, of course, I had no choice but to get the compulsory services from an authorized Bajaj service centre. An Annual Maintenance Contract offer came by me and I decided to let the second year go through this way. But I am now opening my eyes to the horrible reality that the chances of finding someone ready to fool you are truly high. Arbitrary explanations of various problems, arbitrary solutions, high expenses! A little thought seems to suggest that

1) One must know to do the basic things yourself.
2) One must know enough to ensure the mechanic has done his job right when you send it off for some repairs that maybe you are unable to do yourself for some reason (lack of equipment, time, etc.)

My next stop was to revisit the Discover 150 manual. And I was disgusted. "Please make sure your chain is well oiled." Hardly any useful instructions about doing this yourself. "Make sure your brakes are tight." Okay, not a single diagram of which nut tightens the brake and which one loosens it. I remember my father having manuals of Bajaj Priya/Super which had detailed instructions for doing this. But I guess modern manuals leave everything out other than maybe what might later become a point against them in a court of law!

Anyway, I wish to do as much as possible on my own now. And if there are things I cannot do, I must at least have the minimal know-how to be able to watch out for attempts of engineers/garages cheating me. My question - where do I start?
a) Book/s that I should be reading?
b) Video/s that I should be watching?
c) Or should I spend some dough and join a maintenance course, if available (I am from Pune and I have been told of a certain such workshop training is being offered at a certain institute. Would it be worth it?
d) Or should I just keep posting queries at xBHP?

There is too much material out there. It should be easy to get lost. Hence my request to experts in this forum to help give me some direction to get started.

Sincere Thanks.

Re: The Route to Being Self Sufficient in Motorcycle Maintenance

Approved and Merged

Youtube helps a lot!

Re: The Route to Being Self Sufficient in Motorcycle Maintenance

Not to discourage you and your enthusiasm, the main idea by the manufacturers is to make you take the bike to their "A.S.S" "Authorized" service station. What does that mean, well all authorized service stations are run by people who pay the brand (manufacturer) and get mechanics trained by the brand. This does not mean all mechanics are trained by the brand. There will be a chief mechanic who would have been trained (though not promised). Thus lot is at stake here. If the A.S.S is serious they will do good job. But if they see the customer base is low, their work quality also take a beating. Same is also true if their customer base is large as is the case with popular 150 CC brands. Since India does not have strong escalation mechanism and penalty score type system most of the A.S.S play this at their will and fancy. I still remember the days when I used to service my dad's TVS 50 XT with the manual that came with it. It used to take me 18 full hours to do the complete assembly with sweet results. Todays manuals are dumb as a retard. They are fine for average biker, but what about us? I have seen bikers blasting chief mechanics in service stations and calling them fraud. Sad state of affairs.

Re: The Route to Being Self Sufficient in Motorcycle Maintenance

Nice one.

Well, I have my doubts about whether the average biker even reads the manual other than to rip out "Free Service Coupons" pinned at the end. I have had so many people come to me and ask - "Can I drive at X speed? I have not yet completed Y kms? I heard that there is such a convention." And when I ask them - "what does it say in the manual?", they say, "Oh, is that mentioned in the manual?"

Anyway, my proposition here is simple in principle, though may not be easy to execute. Either a) in this thread, b) another existing thread or c) a new thread; we could start sharing materials which help bikers like us learn the principles of motorcycle maintenance. These could be articles written by enthusiasts, videos uploaded on Youtube, scanned copies of books no longer in production, Amazon.com / Flipkart.com pages of copyright protected books and/or information about training courses offered in specific cities. The seniors in the forum could help beginners like us separate out the better material from the average.

I am not sure if such an activity is already on-going in this forum. If it is, I'd love to frequent such a thread. Else we can consider a new initiative. Love to hear other's thoughts on this.

Cheers.

Re: The Route to Being Self Sufficient in Motorcycle Maintenance

Nice one Prith,

But in today's world, one does not need manual. Everything's on YouTube or in general on Google
Also, in today's world people are not ready to get their hands dirty and work hard towards some thing that they like. They rather pay the money and get the job done
So the brand (manufacturers) are just catering to the majority..

Re: The Route to Being Self Sufficient in Motorcycle Maintenance

I totally agree with both of you guys. My thought is, a brands success and long line of rider loyalty is only achieved when brand supports to all needs of riders. When I was in Germany, BMW/Ducati/Yamaha used to arrange yearly meet to understand the pain points of riders and educate them about their bikes. Their manuals are exhaustive and are in various grades of education levels. Their master mechanics are so passionate, they spend long hours attending to tough issues and well networked.

I wish to dream of such situation in India someday.

Basic DIY Tool kit

Hello DIY'ers...just brought the following tools to start servicing the bike myself from now on

1. Cutting plier - 120/-
2. Nose plier - 160/-
3. Double ended spanner(8 x 9, 10 x 11, 12 x 13, 14 x 15,16 x1 7, 18 x19, 21 x 22) - 199/-
4. Ring spanner(8 x 9, 10 x 11, 12 x 13, 14 x 15,16 x1 7, 18 x19, 21 x 22) - 460/-
5. T-Spanner - 8,10mm - 120/-
6. Allen keys - 6mm,10mm -20+50= 70/-
7. Screw driver(combination type) - 60/-
8. Wire guage - 100/-
9. L-handle - 140/-
10.Socket 19mm - 70/- (Had to buy this as 19mm spanner is not available)

Total Cost : 1499/-





Had to put off buying a torque wrench spanner for now(2350/-) and slip guage set(around 5000/-) as they were a bit above my budget.

I think this will help me in doing the basic set of servicing periodically without having the need to take it to the service station every couple of months.


P.S : Inspired by the book 'ABC of servicing and maintaining your Honda Unicorn'...hats off to the guys who authored this book

Re: Basic DIY Tool kit

Get a decent plug spanner, and also an impact driver/wrench