Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Hey guys, once again, I need some help... some very basic help so I hope you don't mind or laugh at me, lol. Ok, well I've never ridden a motorcycle or even looked at one up close but I wanted to make sure I knew what certain parts were (not from a general book or anything) and how to operate them before I actually hopped on the thing to try and learn how to ride it (I just got a bike). Here are links to pics, I hope they just show up in the forum though.



Ok, in the above pic, I believe I'm pointing at the choke. 1) Correct me if I am wrong, but I basically pull this black nob out as far as it goes. Then turn the ignition on (I have a kick start, it is an 81 suzuki gn400), then kick start the bike. Then when the bike starts sounding different I push the nob in halfway, and then all the way? Is this right? 2) Does anyone know what the choke actually does or is doing in this process so I can understand what I'm actually doing? Thanks.



Ok, in the above pic I believe I'm pointing at the rear brake lever? Is this right? 2) Is this the only control for the rear brake? 3) When braking should I apply equal pressure to both the front brake and the rear brake? 4) Is the rear brake more powerful than the front?



Ok, this is where I start to get worried. From reading a motorcycle booklet I believe that in the above pic I am pointing to the clutch? It is slightly hard to push in and I don't know if it is supposed to be difficult to press. I'll explain why I'm confused about this in the next paragraph. By the way, this pic is of the left handlebar (the one your left hand would touch).



Ok, in this pic I have no idea what I'm pointing to. This thing is hard to push in at all. But I could have sworn when I bought the bike that the guy told me that this little thing was the clutch. Well if this was the clutch, then what was the bigger lever above it? Haha, I must sound ridiculous to you guys (once again, pic is of left handlebar).

Ok, four more general questions, 1) My kick start has compression release on it, but when I try to start it sometimes, the kick start lever will give me a lot of resistance, so much so that I could stand on the lever and it wouldn't budge, I have no idea why. But sometimes it goes down smooth as butter and then the bike will start right up. Does anyone know why?
2) How are you supposed to correctly start a kick start bike? With the center stand down and then stand on one side of the bike and kick the lever down with your dominant foot? Or do you put the center stand up and just kick it down with your right foot while sitting on the bike like you would normally ride it?
3) Does anyone know what happens if you have 5 spd bike and once you're in fifth gear if you press up on the thing to shift the gears (don' t know what you call this lever)? I assume nothing since you can't go up anymore gears.
4) Ok for general shifting, do you just push down on the shift lever thing once for first gear while holding the clutch down and then slowly let go of the clutch while giving the bike gas? Is there a certain RPM that you should rev to for the shift? Do you always have to use the clutch for every gear? If you are in a high gear, let's say 5th, and push down on the shift lever thing, will it go to 4th or straight to 1st?

Ok, sorry for such a long post and all the questions, I just really want to understand my bike a little better before hopping on it. Trust me, none of my friends or many people in my area ride bikes, the closest friend to me that owns a bike lives about 25 miles away so I have no one else to go to for advice. Thanks for any advice you guys can give me, I appreciate it.

amodoko wrote:Hey guys, once again, I need some help... some very basic help so I hope you don't mind or laugh at me, lol. Ok, well I've never ridden a motorcycle or even looked at one up close but I wanted to make sure I knew what certain parts were (not from a general book or anything) and how to operate them before I actually hopped on the thing to try and learn how to ride it (I just got a bike).

Sounds like a wise thing to do to me... I won't laugh

amodoko wrote:Ok, in the above pic, I believe I'm pointing at the choke. 1) Correct me if I am wrong, but I basically pull this black nob out as far as it goes. Then turn the ignition on (I have a kick start, it is an 81 suzuki gn400), then kick start the bike. Then when the bike starts sounding different I push the nob in halfway, and then all the way? Is this right? 2) Does anyone know what the choke actually does or is doing in this process so I can understand what I'm actually doing? Thanks.

Sounds about right. basically it adds a little more fuel into the engine, so it starts up easier

amodoko wrote:Ok, in the above pic I believe I'm pointing at the rear brake lever? Is this right? 2) Is this the only control for the rear brake? 3) When braking should I apply equal pressure to both the front brake and the rear brake? 4) Is the rear brake more powerful than the front?

yup, thats a rear brake, and yes its the only control for it.
When braking in very slippery conditions, you want to be as even as possible on the brakes. However the better the road surfaces are, the more you should be using your front brake. (I know this sounds strange, but it really is the right way. If still think I'm an idiot for saying this, take a look at some sportsbikes. They usually have 2 huge discs on the front wheel and 1 small one at the back)

amodoko wrote:Ok, this is where I start to get worried. From reading a motorcycle booklet I believe that in the above pic I am pointing to the clutch? It is slightly hard to push in and I don't know if it is supposed to be difficult to press. I'll explain why I'm confused about this in the next paragraph. By the way, this pic is of the left handlebar (the one your left hand would touch).

Now usually that would be correct, but seeing the extra little lever in the next section leads me to think differently. Its very possible that the bike controls have been altered for a previous owner who had a problem with their right hand. Usually the front brake is on the right bar and the clutch on the left. I suspect that the large lever on the left is your front brake, and the little one the clutch as the owner mentioned. Should be fine to ride, but may take some getting used to. if it is the brake, I'd expect it to be hard to push in.

amodoko wrote:Ok, in this pic I have no idea what I'm pointing to. This thing is hard to push in at all. But I could have sworn when I bought the bike that the guy told me that this little thing was the clutch. Well if this was the clutch, then what was the bigger lever above it?

Could well be the clutch. Shouldn't be too hard to push in though. It may easy a little when the bike is moving, but it may also be worth getting someone to give it a quick check over first. The stiff ness, may be just the cable needs oiling, but it could be mechanical too.
My biggest concern is that whilst it may ease up after the bike has moved a little, it also may not, meaning it could get stuck in gear meaning you'll have an interesting time stopping when testing it. Is there anyone near you with past biking experience who could test it for you the first time?

amodoko wrote: Ok, four more general questions, 1) My kick start has compression release on it, but when I try to start it sometimes, the kick start lever will give me a lot of resistance, so much so that I could stand on the lever and it wouldn't budge, I have no idea why. But sometimes it goes down smooth as butter and then the bike will start right up. Does anyone know why?
2) How are you supposed to correctly start a kick start bike? With the center stand down and then stand on one side of the bike and kick the lever down with your dominant foot? Or do you put the center stand up and just kick it down with your right foot while sitting on the bike like you would normally ride it?

Having never had a kick start bike, I can't help you here. I'm sorry

amodoko wrote: 3) Does anyone know what happens if you have 5 spd bike and once you're in fifth gear if you press up on the thing to shift the gears (don' t know what you call this lever)? I assume nothing since you can't go up anymore gears.

It just stops you shifting

amodoko wrote:4) Ok for general shifting, do you just push down on the shift lever thing once for first gear while holding the clutch down and then slowly let go of the clutch while giving the bike gas? Is there a certain RPM that you should rev to for the shift? Do you always have to use the clutch for every gear? If you are in a high gear, let's say 5th, and push down on the shift lever thing, will it go to 4th or straight to 1st?

sounds about right... no particular revs, you'll make sense of it as you go along. and yes down changing from 5th takes you back to 4th not 1st


I hope this helps
Andy

Well first off, I'd suggest taking the BRC as this will cover all your questions. But in the meantime, I'll try to help.

The choke adds more fuel to the start-up process. Also you do not want to rev the engine while the choke is engaged because this adds even more fuel.

Yes, that is the rear brake lever. You should apply both brakes in most conditions. The only time I wouldn't use the front brake is when I am doing any tight turns, then I would use the rear brake only. When both brakes are applied, the front brakes should be doing about 70% of the work. You should apply enough pressure to both brakes without locking up the tires.

Yes that is the clutch lever and it should take some pressure to push it in, but be too hard either. If it is very hard, the clutch cable may need some lubing.

That big lever is the clutch. That little lever I have no clue about.

When you are in top gear and you try to shift up nothing will happen. When you shift, you will normally feel a "clunk" when it goes up or down in gear. You won't feel that when you try to shift up from top gear or push down when in 1st gear.

Yes, you should use your clutch when changing gears. It is possible to shift gears without the clutch, but I won't go into it as you have enough to worry about when first learning how to ride. Every time you push down on the gear selector it will drop one gear except when you are going from 2 to first. Most bikes are 1 down and 4 or 5 up. The gears are keyed this way, 1 N 2 3 4 5 6(on some bikes) When are in 2 and push down fully, it will bypass N and go straight to 1. Same when in 1 and you push fully up, it will bypass N and go to 2.

Again take the BRC it is very helpful.

are there any levers on the right handlebar? Normally the front brake lever is on the right handlebar.

On that little lever, where does the cable connect to? If the lever connects to the front caliper, then it controls the front brake.

I think that little lever on the left handlebar is a compresion release. Use this while kickstarting. This will make life much easier. Course not having a pic of the right side handle bar makes this just a guess.Have never seen a bike with both clutch and front brake on the same side.

Thanks for all the info so far guys, this is helping, but to answer some of your guys' questions, I took some pictures of the bike and will describe what they are to you.



The above pic is a picture of the right handlebar. I believe this is the front brake lever since there is that brake fluid box and the cable from the lever goes to the front brake caliper.



Ok, in the above pic I have taken a picture of where the cable from the larger lever from the left handlebar (picture can be seen in orginal post at the beginning of this discussion) goes to. You can see the black cable wire attaching to this metal part (maybe this part is the transmission box, but I don't really know anything yet).





Ok, in the above 2 pics, I have taken pics of where the smaller lever's (from the left handlebar, pic can be seen at beginning of discussion) cable goes to. First pic is a close-up pic, and second pic is from far away (maybe it is a compression release, I don't know though).

Oh, and can anyone answer this part of my original question for me: "Ok, four more general questions, 1) My kick start has compression release on it, but when I try to start it sometimes, the kick start lever will give me a lot of resistance, so much so that I could stand on the lever and it wouldn't budge, I have no idea why. But sometimes it goes down smooth as butter and then the bike will start right up. Does anyone know why?
2) How are you supposed to correctly start a kick start bike? With the center stand down and then stand on one side of the bike and kick the lever down with your dominant foot? Or do you put the center stand up and just kick it down with your right foot while sitting on the bike like you would normally ride it?"

Thanks guys, so far this posting has already helped me a bunch. I appreciate the help.

my old bike was only a 350 but

I would straddle the bike like I was going to ride it,
support myself and the bike with my left foot,
hold down the choke with my left hand(it was on the left carb),
have my right hand on the throttle to give it gas,

and kick like mad

When you say "hold down the choke" did u have to actually hold it out? When I pull the choke out, it stays in place so I can have a free left hand and then I figure when it runs good I would push it back in.

Also, did u hold the throttle down before you kick started it (I thought this would flood the carburator with fuel) or did you do it after you kicked it (cuz maybe then it would sound like it wanted to start and you would then give it gas to keep it alive). Thanks bud.

The small lever below your clutch lever is the compression release. It's been a few decades since I've seen one. You should pull this in, then kickstart the engine. This is what keeps the kickstarter from being hard to move when you attempt to kick it over. It opens a small valve to relieve some of the pressure built up in the piston on the compression stroke. Without the compression release, you have to kick through the compression stroke using leg muscles. This can be a bit difficult on some bikes.

1st pic front brake lever
2nd pic transmission where the clutch cable engages the clutch mechanism
3/4th pics compression release cable.
From the looks of the cables in the pics I'd recommend you go out and quickly buy some cable lube. You're going to need it.