[Schiavelo]

So I've been riding for a little while now and bikes have become my main hobby...well they've taken over as my only hobby really..I'm obsessed!

Anyways I want to pick myself up a beaten up/crashed cbr9 or zx10 or something similar and have a go at building my own fighter.

My question is would it be a stupid idea to pick up a bike and a wrench and just pull that motherfucker apart and read up how to put the bitch back together again? This is coming from someone who knows almost nil about the inner workings of an engine but want to learn.

Give it to me straight people


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[Whiplash]

Honestly? Fuck no! If the engine is good leave the thing alone until you get more skills under your belt......

....that being said don't be afraid to remove the engine if neede for modding and cleaning, Just remember the Internet is your friend, there is infinite knowledge and info here on CF and most parts sites have exploded views of parts which will show you how everything goes together, alot of guys that dive in ultra deep like you are suggesting get overwhelmed and end up failing or losing interst, start mildly with your first one, it will make progress a little faster giving you satisfaction in meeting small goals in your build that will in turn keep you interested and proud of your accomplishments as you go, after you've done your first one and get it on the road you'll have honed your basic builder skills and be more prepared to sink your teeth into a more complex fighter build....

Along with your CBR and ZX...don't rule out the GSXR(SRAD) they have a shit ton of power parts are cheap(ECU's for $20 on eBay) and there's lots of knowledge about them here, also the bandits(oil boilers) are a good fighter foundation...

...anyway hope this gives ya some food for thought, good luck! I'll be watching to see where this goes


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[planningoncrashing]

Without a lot of further context, "I rebuilt the engine" is one of the few phrases that will make me immediately walk away from a bike.

There's a lot to it, and most of it won't be covered in the manual. Unless you're blueprinting, stroking, or otherwise modifying the engine, there's no benefit, and I guarantee that 99 times out of 100, unless it was horribly abused, a factory engine with 30k miles on it will be better than an amateur rebuild that's just past break-in. (More often than not, the 30k factory engine will be better than a "professional" rebuild.)

Everything else? Go ahead and dive in. If you want to learn how an engine works, get an old lawnmower or something.

 

[shinyribs]

I guess I'm the other point of view. I say dive in head first and have a go at it. You might screw up, but that will just be a learning curve, and that's what it takes.

When I was 15 I got my first truck and I couldn't tell you the difference between a spark plug and a rotor button. But I wanted to learn so I started asking questions whenever anyone would stand still long enough to listen to me. This was before internet was a big deal so lots of my info came out of car craft, hot rod and other magazines. Anyway, I jumped in head first with absolutely ZERO knowledge. Within a year that engine was putting out over 500 HP. And before too long it was pumping out four digit HP numbers. On pump gas. And I had rebuilt its automatic transmission myself.

I say go for it. You can do it. Don't let any part intimidate you, but STOP and research if you don't know what you're looking at.

Good luck dude.

 

[RaZed1]

If you look at this bike as a project, not an investment, go for it. As said, it likely will have slim to no resale value, since you're almost guaranteed to make a lot of mistakes along the way, but that's the only way you learn. Grab a service manual (you can find .pdf's of them online for free for almost any bike) and just read it. Some brands have better ones than others in terms of clarity, but you'll at least be able to link pictures with parts and piece together how the magic box turns liquid potential energy into forward motion. Some people, as I'd bet most people on forums like this would agree, find all this quite interesting.

If you want to learn the fundamentals of engines, I would suggest at least starting small and cheap. Pick up some chinese single cylinder bike on craigslist (these are literally given away when they fail to start) and rip it apart. If it's fucked, it was a learning experience. If you fix it, great. If it's something you have interest in, go from there. If not, it didn't cost you much money to learn.