MOTORCYCLES

So you’ve decided to buy a new motorcycle! What an exciting time this can be especially when you go into a dealership with a little bit of knowledge! It is important to know what you want, and to make sure your motorcycle fits your needs. Do your homework and understand completely what you’re looking for before you talk to a salesperson. There is a great web site called CycleBuy.com where you can find out the dealer invoice price and obtain a report on each bike. Remember the dealer is in business to think money and he will try and make at least 10% profit on your sale. Some of the more common fees are set-up fees, documentation fees, destination charges and taxes. It is difficult sometimes to find out what a dealership’s profit margin is, but it is somewhere between 5 and 15%.

Also know that the salesman will always try to sell you extra items including an extended warranty and all the accessories, because obviously the dealer makes money on this, too. It is a personal choice on which accessory or additional item you would like. If you are doing a trade-in, remember to do your homework as well. Check out this web site, www.kbb.com (Kelly Blue Book), as this will tell you what the price of the vehicle is when either selling it outright or trading it in. Try keeping the rule in mind that the dealer always wants to make at least 10% profit on each deal, so doing your homework means you may be able to talk them down substantially.

Most dealers are favorable to cash deals, but if you are financing try to put down a good portion of that in cash. You may want to use a personal line of credit or get a pre-approved loan from a lending institution before approaching a dealer. Some dealers may have low percentage loans they can offer you on certain models, and this may definitely influence your decision. If you sell your bike privately rather than trading it in, you are probably going to get more for it. Remember, the dealer wants to work with you so play hardball with him. Give them some of your other business such as riding gear and accessories as this can be used as a bargaining tool. After you will finalize the deal, you can almost always get them to sweeten it a bit more by throwing in the helmet or a jacket, since the salesperson has spent a lot of time and doesn’t want to lose the sale.

By Terry Price- Remember to visit http://www.motorcycle-atv-exhaust.com/sitemap.html for other fun articles on motorcycles , motorcycle exhaust, and other performance enhancement products. 4 into 1 bmw motorcycle exhaust sytems are engineered and tested to improve the overall efficiency, appearance and performance of your stock BMW motorcycle. http://www.motorcycle-atv-exhaust.com/130-4-into-1-bmw-motorcycle-exhaust-systems.html

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When troubleshooting a motorcycle, first start with the basics. These simple tests can work for any small engine. All engines need three basic things to run fuel, spark and air. These simple things can cause your motorbike to not start up or run poorly. First start off with the fuel remove the hose off the tank and make sure the fuel is flowing properly. Some bikes will have to turn the fuel selector to prime, not on, or fuel will not flow. Take a flashlight and look down into the tank, is the fuel varnished or is there dirt in the tank? Older motorbikes had a problem with tanks rusting inside and would plug the screen up inside the tank. Fuel delivery may still be a problem but we will come back to that later.

Next remove the spark plugs, you may need to remove the tank to reach them. Inspect every spark plug as you take them out. All the spark plugs should look the same. If a plug looks white colored, that cylinder may be (lean) and not getting enough fuel. If you have a plug that looks wet and black, that cylinder may getting too much fuel (rich) or not sparking good. Remove all the spark plugs and snap the plugs back into their wires. Set the spark plugs on the engine so that they can ground themselves. Crank the bike over and watch the plugs for sparks, preferably somewhere dark. Make sure you look at all the plugs to make sure they are all sparking. If one spark looks weak check the wire and plug, if old or worn replace them. If their is no spark the coil may be bad.

If you have any test equipment such as an ohm meter, you can find out what the resistance reading should be for your bikes coils. This way you will know for sure if the coils are o.k. If the ignition system looks fine move on to the carburetors. First, if the bike has not been maintained recently (a problem in itself) make sure the carbs are synchronized. To do this you need a vacuum gauge made for this. Remove the small rubber plug located between the carbs and the cylinder. Attach the gauge and take the readings from each cylinder. Replace the caps when not measuring or it won’t run right. Adjust the throttle screw or linkage for that carb until they all read close to one another.

Refer back to inspecting the spark plugs. If one cylinder looked lean or rich check all hoses for cracks and air leaks. If the motorcycle has not been run in awhile the carbs may be (gummed up). Remove the float bowl off the bottom of the carb. Look in the bowl for dark varnish looking gas. If the fuel looks dark you will probably have to remove the pilot and main jets and carefully run a wire through the center hole to clean them out. Be careful to not bend the float as the height needs to be correct to run well also. Check that the small needle attached to the float between the pivot point, is moving up and down. If it doesn’t move smoothly the carb will not fill up with gas or will run low as your driving down the road.

Make sure you check the battery also, if they become weak the ignition system won’t have enough power to keep the bike running smoothly. If you still haven’t found anything make sure you valve lash has been checked at the correct mileage intervals. If not this can cause many problems with the way it runs. Also you can screw a compression gauge into the spark plug holes and check that they are within 5-10% of each other. If one is way down you have a serious problem either with the pistons, bore or valves. This should be a good start to finding a general problem with your motorbike.

Jerry Lemke is the owner of http://www.freeengineinfo.com
A site commited to repair and information of all types of vehicles.

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