Four-Stroke Motocross and Off-Road Performance Handbook (Motorbooks Workshop)

The guys that wrote this book really know what they are talking about. It is a great education, especially for young riders but experienced guys will learn a thing or two as well. I like that it has a mix of practical how - to advice and theoretical explanations. I'm a career mechanical engineer on automotive powertrains and I still learned a lot of stuff specific to motorcycles, and my 15 yr old learned a ton. Now he knows WHY we are doing all those maintenance jobs.This is not a shop manual, but study this book in addition to your model-specific shop manual, and you will know 99% of what you need to keep your bike in top condition and improve as a rider as well.If this book came attached to every new dirt bike, it would drastically shorten the learning curve for every rider.Jim in Green Bay.

I have motor work done by this man and have been buying his books for the past few years. Top notch in every detail, pertinent information. States facts then gives his opinion. I find his opinion valuable because of his past career and his current level of workmanship on my motors. Good buy for valuable information for getting the most from your current four stroke, regardless of brand. He does go into specifics on the most popular selling bikes but keeps it fairly general too considering most of the applications can apply to any four stroke motor.

I thought this was an excellent book both for a novice and someone how has been riding a while and wants to fill in their knowledge. I found it very easy to read and understand.

Fantastically informative and detailed book. Great guide for someone exploring what dirt riding is all about, and the motorcycle maintenance involved. The section on how a performance 4-stroke engine is designed is particularly "over the top" in terms of knowledge transfer!

Got to page 23 before I couldn't stand it anymore. Multiple times in the first pages it contradicts itself. The information is very vague also. (Ex. Page 13: "No matter how much travel a dirt bike has, the ideal feeplay is .5" measured when the swingarm is parralel to the ground." Page 24: "...the chain should have one to two inches of free play. Don't make the mistake of checking chain Freeplay when you are not on the bike.") That is only one example. I most certainly know how to work on bikes because I've been doing it for quite a while. I bought this so maybe I could freshen up on forgotten tricks or maybe learn a couple new ones. Instead I find myself finding error after error. I have never had a problem setting chain free play while off the bike. In fact, most manufacturers specify their free play in their manuals while the rear wheel is at full droop. Another part of this book talks about replacing a seat cover while using rare tools like a pneumatic stapler which unnecessary because I've done just fine without one. It will recommend tools like that but will fail to recommend a tool that will make the job infinitely easier and cleaner, a heat gun. You heat the seat cover with a heat gun, stretch, staple, repeat. And when the material cools, it shrinks cleanly to the foam. So many people have positive things to say about this book but I don't think they were paying attention.

But not a ton more than that in my opinion. I found it to be mostly a superficial fly-by of the different topics. If I see "Performance Handbook" I expect to see a pretty detailed treatment of the technical aspects of the topic.

I was hoping for a mare detailesd suspension section, however the book is loaded with a lot of good info.

I'm sure there are those that already know this stuff(or think they do) but I found a wealth of info in here(and even learned several new tricks, while being an old dog)

Ottimo manuale, da avere in officina!!!

Great

Bought as a present but having flicked it over it certainly looks a good informative book and will be useful in due course.

Lot of learning in this book!

Not bad. Already know a lot of info in this. It's good to look at when nothing else to do.