My well meaning mother bought me this shortly after getting my first motorcycle. There was nothing of use to be found in the book when I had a problem. It merely contained generic references and useless pictures of bikes that I did not own. It did not have anything useful for MY bike.

This is a good book for complete beginners. I had the tiniest bit of motorcycle knowledge and I found the book a little basic. The main problem with it is that it doesn't tell you anything that a good shop manual doesn't; but it can't really be used on its own. So it's sort of superfluous.

I would recommend it to parents who are trying to get their kids into motorcycling (and teaching them to be responsible for their own maintanance). The pictures are useful and the tone of the book seems to be aimed at teenagers.

This book reminds me of a children's book in its style. While it does give good information, one would be better suited to go with the Essential guide to Motorcycle Maintenance. This book has lots of pictures, but too little text. You will rapidly "outgrow" this book. Mark Zimmerman's book is one that you can "grow into."

This book reminds me of a children's book in its style. While it does give good information, one would be better suited to go with the Essential guide to Motorcycle Maintenance. This book has lots of pictures, but too little text. You will rapidly "outgrow" this book. Mark Zimmerman's book is one that you can "grow into."

A pretty basic book which unbeknownst to me when I placed my order is printed in China on cheap stock. I try to buy made/printed in the USA products when possible and never buy Chinese. I know it's hard to do but I don't need anything badly enough to sell out my beliefs for a couple of dollars in savings for a lower quality product. Save your money. I'm sending this one back.

A pretty basic book which unbeknownst to me when I placed my order is printed in China on cheap stock. I try to buy made/printed in the USA products when possible and never buy Chinese. I know it's hard to do but I don't need anything badly enough to sell out my beliefs for a couple of dollars in savings for a lower quality product. Save your money and order a more thorough book such as "The Essential Guide to Motorcycle Maintenance" by Mark Zimmerman which Amazon carries. I'm sending this one back.

Although I consider myself a pretty proficient backyard mechanic, I've never owned a bike before so I decided to add this to my Clymer manual that covers my exact model. What a great combo! The Clymer covers the specifics of my bike while the "Motorcycle Owner's Manual" covers basics of all bikes and has excellent sidebars on how things work. I especially liked the explaination of the two-stroke engine and the four-stroke as used in a motorcycle. Plus, if I ever sell my Suzuki, I have a general manual that will still be useful for my next bike.

I give this a 5-star for the fact that it's clear and understanding and will be very helpful for someone starting out or interested in motorcycles. Wether your young or older and have no background on mechanics, this book will teach you the basics, and you wont have to kill yourself trying to figure out how to do something, because this book makes it easy. Its how a book should be.
Its for beginners of course, not for people who already know this stuff and still post bad reviews because they think there should be more, duh! what do you expect!
The author did a fine Job, my hats off to ya....

As a neophyte to mechanics, this gave me an introduction to motorcycles. Not one to just loosen bolts and see what is underneath, this proved to be a helpful and descriptive book with illustration. Anyone who has used and enjoyed the DK Publishing Travel Guides will appreciate the structure.

Note: There is only general information about how or why things work.

This is a very basic maintenance book. Like someone told here, a compilation of several user's manuals. Very well illustrated, nice pics, good advices, but falls short in going into the deep issues of bike maintenance. Buy it only if you're quite new to motorcycling.

I have read this book. Contains very bright beautiful pictures, but nothing more than that for ordinary people like me. I am sure you will love this book if you are accustomed to mechanics or an engineer. If not, don buy it!!

It is not that this book is really bad in anyway, but it is very basic and only skims the surface. A nice little introduction, but if someone is really going to do maintenance on their cycle, they need a book specific to that bike.

This book is a shallow and generalized regurgitation of any owner's manual which would accompany your new motorcycle. If you like 'flash and jangle', much space is taken up with big, glossy photographs and illustrations. Should you buy a used bike unaccompanied by it's manual, spend the money wisely by ordering one from the manufacturer! If you're looking for information on a level beyond that contained in your specific manufacturer's motorcycle manual, put the money towards your models' service manual; either from the manufacturer or aftermarket publishers. I returned my order promptly, and learned my lesson at the expense of the shipping costs...both ways!

This book is worthless, I'm embarrassed I ordered it. If you want a really good book on maintenance and trouble shooting, get the owner's manual to your bike. Also, there is a mechanic in Canada who has put together a great "book" on motorcycle maintenance etc. and sells it from his shop. His number is (416)744-2453 (I found it advertised on the internet so feel free to call that number and ask for the maintenance book). It has all kinds of great tips. No cheesy color photographs, just quality information. And no, I am not the mechanic selling the book (or a friend or relative)!

Hugo Wilson has put together the essentials for learning to maintain a UJM (Universal Japanese Motorcycle;) though many of his techniques apply to many or even most bikes, his examples are all Japanese models, such as Yamaha, Honda & Suzuki.

This small book has many attractive, full-color photos, showing exactly the bits in question, and the tools used to fix them. There are also areas which explain the basics of how items like spring/damper suspension units work, which many people new to the inner workings of motorcycles will surely find interesting.

Wilson's text is easy-to-follow, and informative. The book may contain some information that well-acquainted riders don't know, but is, I believe, most useful for those who are relatively new to maintaining their bikes.

I'm new to bikes (3,500) miles and even newer to bike terminology and design. Placing a handle on motorcycle language, design and parts, and concepts comes fairly easy with this short and simple book. I'm giving 5 stars because of Hugo's simplicity, clarity, and useful graphics. As such, his overall presentation is very comprehensible by the average reader. It will take the inexperienced rider-mechanic from ground zero to a respectable distance up the learning curve, considering the cost and time required by the text. I do recommend it for the novice, especially the electrical explanations.

Your new motorcycle came with an owner's manual. Why in the world would you need a more general one?

If you are like me, you do not really know very much about motorcycles other than how to ride one. The manufacturer's owner's manual assumes more knowledge than you really have, and encourages you to get professional maintenance for all but the most routine matters. But if you love your motorcycle (and who doesn't?), you want to take good care of it.

Here's where Mr. Wilson's guide is valuable. It simply explains keeping your motorcyle clean and safe. It also provides good background on how motorcycles are designed and the parts work. Even if you never plan to do any repairs, you will find this interesting. The photographs are very clear and detailed, and allow you to see what he is talking about.

My only complaint about the book is that some of the explanations assume a level of knowledge above what I have. "If you can rewire a plug, you can work on your bike." Well, I still don't know what "rewiring" a plug is, even after reading the book. My guess is that he is referring to adjusting the gap for the spark, but I'm not sure.

I did come away with a sense of what needs to be done with motorcycles. I recently read a similar book by the same publisher on bicycle maintenance. I found that there are more differences than similarities between bicycle and motorcycle maintenance. Also, because you will be riding your motorcycle at higher speeds than a bicycle, I came away thinking that professional maintenance is not such a bad idea.

The economic benefit from this book will come mostly from helping you be more aware of the importance of preventive maintenance (so you are more likely to do it) and spotting repair needs before they become more expensive. But I doubt if all but the most ardent do-your-own-repair people can hope to recover their money by owning this guide right away. Rather, the return will mostly come from improved knowledge and the comfort you have in knowing that your motorcycle is safer because of your enhanced awareness.

How much conscious competence is valuable to you? You probably don't know much about electricity, but you can turn on the lights. I suspect that you can improve your enjoyment of life if you learn more about how things work that you love . . . and use all the time. A good place to start is to seek out books like this one that explain and photographically illustrate the basics in simple ways.

Have a great ride!

This is a good book to go along with the manufacturer's manual. On it's own, its not that great. It gives more basics than the owner's manual that came with your bike, but if you're hoping for something to help you in a job that's more than just routine maintenance, you're SOL. I rented this book from the library. I'm going to buy the OEM (original equipment manufacturer's) manual and see where I end up. If it's too hard to follow, I'm going to buy this one. The photos are great, they are more helpful than most drawings. If you have a Suzuki 500cc twin, this is a good book. He uses that bike for most of his illustrations because it's so simple.

when i bought this book i really thought i would enjoy it, but i was very wrong.All in all this book has been no help to me, i was hoping for more but all i got was a very dull boring and totally useless book, i really found more info from the idiots guide to motorcycles! i really hate to think that ppl will buy this book thinking there getting a useful book but then after reading it they find out that they bought a useless book

The April issue of Motorcyclist does a great review on this book. It spans the gap between seasoned monkey wrencher and the novice shop tinkerer. A deffinate must have for any bike owner.

This is a well written book for those wanting to know how a motorcycle actually works. The author states that " this guide should be used in conjunction with an owner's manual" and he is absolutely correct. Basic maintenance is well documented and the photographs are fantastic. A worthy addition to any motorcyclist's library.

I was expecting much more from this book. It did cover the basics of most maintenance items, but it is a far cry from the manufacturers maintenance/service manuals. If you are completely inexperienced in mechanics I think it would be a good book.