Welcome to the wBW Motorcycle Maintenance and Motorcycle Repair page! This page is a compilation of interesting articles to help you maintain your motorcycle.
wBW Maintenance and Repair Articles: Index of all wBW Repair and Maintenance Articles, with detailed information and photos on repairing BMW, Triumph, Moto Guzzi, and for articles on installing motorcycle LED lights, brake lights, modulators and more!
More: Motorcycle Tools page includes links to all of our motorcycle tool reviews | Motorcycle Nuts, Bolts & Fasteners page
Motorcycle Technology: wBW Book Reviews | Honda now has a motorcycle technology “picture book” website with photos and information on some of their creations | BMW’s ABS and Automatic Stability Control systems described in detail | New patented invention – counter-rotating front brake rotors claimed to reduce effort and tank slapping | Motorcycle Dynamics by Vittore Cossalter | Motorcycle Design and Technology by Gaetano Cocco | More motorcycle book reviews and information…
Motorcycle Chains, Sprockets and Adjustment: wBW tech articles – Replacing a motorcycle chain and sprockets | Triumph Tiger chain adjustment | Ducati GT1000 chain adjustment | Ducati Multistrada Chain Adjustment Tips | Article on how to adjust the chain on your bike | Gearing Commander is an interactive website where you can enter data about your bike and get gear ratios and lots of other information
Motorcycle Chain Cleaning: wBW articles on cleaning a chain and motorcycle chain cleaning solvents
Motorcycle Suspension Articles: Now on the wBW Motorcycle Shocks – Motorcycle Suspensionpage!
Motorcycle Repair DVD: wBW review of the Sportbike How-to Motorcycle Repair DVD set with 100 different maintenance and repair tasks described
Motorcycle Service Repair Shop Manuals: Cyclepedia has a selection of motorcycle repair manuals for different makes and models available for download; they write the manuals themselves and take their own photos | Big database of free online service and shop manuals at Carl Salter’s website
How to Make Carbon Fiber Motorcycle Parts: wBW Tech Article by Vin Heron; it’s easier than you think!
Breaking In New Engines: Here’s a good article on motorcycle engine break-in from Power News
Cylinder Honing, Brushes and Flex-Honing: The Brush Research Company site has information on different types of brushes and hones
Motorcycle Scan Tools: Reset service lights and view diagnostic trouble codes with aTechnoResearch Vehicle Diagnostic Scan Tool, available in versions for multiple motorcycle brands or individual models
Motorcycle Wheel Alignment: GMD Computrack has several sites around the U.S. for frame straightening and more | Motomorphic does wheel and frame straightening, modifications and fabrication | A brief but good article on using a simplified string wheel alignment method for aligning motorcycle wheelsAdjusting – Balancing Motorcycle Carburetors: Motorcycle Carburetor Theory 101 gives some good background info on how carburetors work
Motorcycle Fuel and Gasoline: “Bad Gasoline” article covering octane, ethanol and fuel information for motorcycles
Internal Combustion Engines: Here’s a link to a neat site that explains how engines work and has nice animations of the process | Check out this very cool website with animations illustrating thecombustion processes in many different types of engines
Video How-To: Make a $5.00 Motorcycle Camera Mount
Motorcycle Books: Motorcycle technology book reviews on the wBW Motorcycle Book Reviews
Motorcycle Tools: Now on the wBW Motorcycle Tool Reviews
Electrical Wire Soldering For Beginners: Article by Randy Glass on the BMW Airheads site is an excellent tutorial on why you should solder and how to do it; includes excellent photographs to guide you through the process | Big Al’s Soldering for Beginners (.pdf file) | Basic Electronics Soldering Guide
The Four-Stroke Cycle: Illustration from 1931: Check this out — a high-efficiency “T” head engine from the 1920’s; I scanned this illustration from Chapter V, “The Otto Cycle In Practice”, Internal Combustion Engines; Their Principles and Application to Automobile, Aircraft and Marine Purposes, by the Officers of the Department of engineering and Aeronautics, The United States Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland, Copyright 1925, 1929, 1931.
Spline Lubes: See the wBW Motorcycle Oil and Lubrication Page
Forks and Springs: See the wBW article on changing fork oil | Tips on installing forks and springs(.pdf file) | Spring rate conversion chart
Cleaning and Re-finishing Aluminum Parts and Engine Cases: Alumin-nu is a product that some users claim can really help restore aluminum engine cases; one caution though: this product contains hydrofluoric acid, which is highly toxic — use all precautions and read the label! | BrightWorks, Inc. has all sorts of polishing and buffing tools; they also have an instructional video on re-finishing | Short article with photos on aluminum polishing (s) | Other polishing secrets – use at your own risk! Try Orange Pumice Gojo; reported to work on chrome and other metals – but remember that after the pumice it’s still unpolished. Plus, the bare metal is now exposed to air and can discolor quickly. Try Wenol, Simichrome (no website, here’s a source), or Mother’s metal polish to give it a final finish | More information on aluminum and metal polishes in theMotorcycle Polish section of the wBW Motorcycle Products and Accessories page
Motorcycle Painting: Cycle Color has some information on painting, blending and other painting techniques
Clear-Coating of Aluminum Parts: You can do it yourself; here’s how it was done on aluminum wheels; you can also clear powdercoat aluminum parts | The wBW Motorcycle Products and Accessories page has links to clearcoat paint you can purchase online
Doctorate of Motorcycling Theory and Technology: Ah, if only I was young (and smart) again… No, you don’t get this from riding Deal’s Gap in <10 minutes; The University of Padua is the only place in the world that offers this degree; see their library of highly technical articles about motorcycle dynamics – if you can understand these, you don’t need the degree after all! YES!! This site is back in operation!! Definitely check it out! (NOTE: This site seems to go up and down; if it’s not up, try again some other time, it’s worth it!)
Tony Foale Designs: Tony Foale has written many articles on motorcycle design, especially in the area of chassis design; visit his website; it has links to other technical articles and information; it also contains some of his articles available for viewing and information on his book
English to Metric Horsepower and Torque Calculator: “Convert” (Windows) is a small but powerful freeware executable application that easily performs all sorts of conversions; very handy, especially if you’re not online and need to do a conversion
Metric Nuts, Bolts, Screws, Hardware, Thread Identification: There seem to be very few online retailers who sell nuts and bolts directly, much less in small lot sizes | The Bolt Depot has a decent selection of metric fasteners and small quantities can be purchased online | Metric titanium nuts and bolts available through Aerotec Special Fasteners | Fastenal used to sell small lots of metric and inch fasteners, but their website seems to be down, are they still in business? | Here’s a nice site at Maryland Metrics with complete information on how to identify metric threads of all types | Metric Specialties has a huge assortment of metric nuts, bolts and fastener hardware; unfortunately, the lot size for orders is $20.00, but their site is a good resource for learning what types of metric fasteners are (or should be) available at your local hardware store | Coburn-Myers has a nice listing of specifications for nuts, bolts and washers; a good metric section also | Desmoparts has a selection of stainless steel hardware parts for Aprilia, BMW, Ducati and more | Nylon and plastic nuts and bolts at Plastic Nuts and Bolts
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Gasoline: A four-part article written in FAQ style with scads of info on gasoline. Try Part 3 for starters
Horns: See the wBW Motorcycle Horn Reviews
Transporting Motorcycles: See the wBW Motorcycle Trailer Reviews; also includes information on how to tie down motorcycles for transport
Motorcycle Oil: See the wBW Motorcycle Oil page for more information | The Internet BMW Riders website article – Is This The Right Oil For My Bike? | Chris Longhurst’s “Engine Oil Bible” | wBW Technical Article – Oil changing problems on a 1999 Triumph Thunderbird Sport
Motorcycle Spark Plugs: Now on the wBW Motorcycle Spark Plugs Page
Water Wetter: Read Redline’s technical article on Water Wetter; but remember, Water Wetter is no miracle cure – used in recommended dosages with a 50/50 water/glycol mix, it only reduces temperatures about 8 degrees F – according to the back of the bottle! Be careful reading Redline’s technical writeup on the product – it’s difficult to tell the amount of Water Wetter they are using when they are comparing it to straight water or water/glycol
Batteries: See the wBW Motorcycle Battery – Battery Charger page
Motorcycle Electrics – Electricity: wBW book review of “Haynes Motorcycle Systems Techbook” | “Electricity Hopefully Made Understandable” by Stu Oltman, Technical Editor, Wing World Magazine
Helmets: See the wBW Motorcycle Helmet Reviews | Also see the wBW Safety Page
Repairing ABS Bags: Here are some tips on how to repair ABS motorcycle saddlebags and top boxes
Lemon Laws: Some states exclude motorcycles from their lemon laws; check the Lemon Law Statutes at Car Lemon
Motorcycle Painting: Here’s a three-part article on painting motorcycles by Bob Wark of the Wark Shop
Master Listing of All wBW Motorcycle Product Reviews