1. Saddle bag
   Muffler
2. Auxiliary tank
   Luggage rack

Although some bikes can be outfitted with small storage compartments like a trunk, a lot of bikers choose to use saddlebags to store their gear. Just as the name suggests, they're inspired by saddlebags that used to be on horses back in the day.

1. Battery
   Carburetor
2. Catalytic converter
   Turbocharger

Like any car or truck, a motorcycle needs a battery to provide power for the electrical components. The ignition system, the starter motor, the lights, the radio and all of the electrical parts run on battery power. This is especially true of an electric bike.

1. Struts
   Rear shocks
2. Highway pegs
   Crashbar

Shocks have two functions on a bike. The first is supporting the bike with a spring that softens those bumps in the road. The second is to control the up and down movement of the bike with provides stability to a ride by damping the friction caused by bumps.

1. Brake pads
   Rear differential
2. Shocks
   Struts

The brake pads on a bike, or any brake system, are what apply the friction to the wheel by clamping down when the brakes are activated. That pressure stops the wheel from turning, stopping the vehicle. No brake pads means you're going to create a lot of heat and squealing when you try to stop.

1. Air cleaner
   Choke
2. Kill switch
   Pillion

Like the air filter in a car, the air cleaner from a bike filters the air that mixes with the gasoline in the carburetor. It's likely your bike will still work fine without an air cleaner, but the engine will wear down much faster as it's exposed to more airborne pollutants and dust.

1. Cylinder head
   Front master cylinder
2. Crankcase cover
   Pillion

The crankcase cover can be found in different places depending on the type of bike and may also cover additional parts where the cam and pinion gears are located. You generally want to look at the right side close to the bottom end of the engine to find it.

1. Sidecar
   Saddlebags
2. Highway pegs
   Cylinder head

Motorcycle sidecars are remarkably old and were first invented in France back in 1893. In fact, sidecars are older than motorcycles themselves. They were first invented to be used on regular old bicycles.

1. Carburetor
   Headlight
2. Gas cap
   Reflector

Not all headlights are LED but many of them are these days because they're both very bright and very energy efficient. When headlights first showed up in the 1880s, they were fueled by acetylene or oil. Even when electric lights were invented, the flame kind lasted for a number of years just because people were used to them.

1. Choke
   Clutch
2. Carburetor
   Crankcase

When you pull out the choke on your bike, it alters the flow of air into the carburetor. It's best done in cold weather to improve the air-fuel mix and help the bike start when it's cold. Once it's going and warmed up, you can put the choke back in place.

1. Highway peg
   Crashbar
2. Cylinder
   Clutch lever

Highway pegs aren't on every bike, some bikes will have floorboards for resting your feet. Those that do have highway pegs will have the pegs located in a position that allows the rider to stretch their legs on a long ride.

1. Air cleaner
   Crashbar
2. Luggage rack
   Front master cylinder

The master cylinder is used to convert force into hydraulic pressure. The harder you apply force to the brakes, the more pressure is exerted and the more abruptly you'll brake and come to a stop.

1. Road peg
   Clutch lever
2. Fairing
   Rear flange

You access the clutch lever with a squeeze of the left hand. It's connected to a cable that disconnects the engine and transmission so you can easily switch gears before reconnecting them again, allowing you to continue your ride.

1. Ignition
   Kill switch
2. Horn
   Muffler

Motorcycle horns are oddly quiet on most modern models and aren't that effective in loud traffic. Fortunately, they are easily upgraded with louder and more powerful models if you're concerned about being heard.

1. Stabilizers
   Fuel injection system
2. Exhaust
   Crash bar

Not every motorcycle has a crash bar, but those that do have them as safety features. They're located on both sides of a bike near the front and work by preventing the bike from fully falling onto either side on in the event of crash, protecting both the rider and internal bike parts.

1. Fuel petcock valve
   Signal
2. Breaker
   Taillight

All vehicles on the road need taillights, and that includes bikes. Taillights weren't really a thing before 1915 and while that's very early in automotive history it does mean there were a number of years when people were driving around with no lights whatsoever.

1. Gas tank
   Fairing
2. Trunk
   Pillion

A motorcycle can be easily made of just metal parts, but to make them look a little fancier a plastic shell called a fairing is fitted on many kinds of bikes. It gives them a sleek look and also makes them more aerodynamic.

1. Highway peg
   Handbrake
2. Ignition
   Gearshift

A gearshift in a car is pretty easy to locate on the steering column on the floor, maybe the center panel. On a motorcycle it's just by the foot peg and follows a standard 1-N-2-3-4-5 system in most bikes.

1. Footpegs
   Side stand
2. Rebar
   Breakers

Footpegs can be placed in several positions on a bike. Commonly they'll be directly under a rider, but they can be forward to allow for leg stretching or even further back if you're in a crouched-over position like on a racing bike. Some bikes won't have them at all.

1. Exhaust pipes
   Fuel line
2. Brake lines
   Catalytic converter

On a bike like a Harley-Davidson, the exhaust pipes will be thick and shiny chrome pipes running down the side of the bike from the engine to the back next to the rear tire, often capped with some kind of a muffler. Other bikes will have them hidden until the muffler is exposed at the back, but in either case they help direct fumes away from the engine.

1. Rocker box
   Breaker
2. Kill switch
   Shock switch

Also called the engine cutoff switch, a kill switch is an emergency device, most often a red switch located on the right-hand side of the handlebars. As the name suggests, if there's an emergency then flipping the switch immediately turns the engine off.

1. Crash bar
   Pegs
2. Side stand
   Brace bar

A side stand, sometimes called a kick stand, is the little arm that braces your bike to hold it up when it's parked. Many bikes can't start unless the side stand is flipped up, and you never want to put one down on a soft surface like mud.

1. Luggage rack
   Pillion
2. Struts
   Foot pegs

A luggage rack on a bike works the same as a luggage rack on a car. It's a simple metal framework that you can use as a mooring to hold things down with some rope or bungee cords when you're driving.

1. Oil filter
   Tachometer
2. Gas cap
   Spark plug

Motorcycle gas caps usually come in one of two styles. They can be hidden away behind a door like on your average car or they can be quite ostentatious and chromed out to be part of the general esthetic of the bike. You can even get decorative ones that look like skulls or crowns.

1. GPS
   Side mirror
2. HUD
   Headlamp

Every modern vehicle is made with side-view mirrors so it's strange to think that the first patent for a side-view mirror was only in 1921. That means there were several decades without the convenience of seeing what was behind you.

1. Ignition switch
   GPS
2. Spindle
   Speakers

Motorcycle speakers are typically not nearly as effective as those in a car for obvious reasons, but there are some aftermarket speakers that can be installed which will provide an impressive audio experience if you need to listen to tunes while you drive.

1. Carburetor
   Fuel injection system
2. Muffler
   Farin

A muffler on a bike takes the exhaust gases from the engine and diverts them away. The whole exhaust system accomplishes that task, but the muffler specifically also tones down the noise that it produces at the same time.

1. Windshield
   Side view mirror
2. Shocks
   HUD

Windshields on bikes serve two purposes. The first is to protect from precipitation or bugs on the road, but the second allows the bike to be more aerodynamic as it diverts air up and around the rider in a more streamlined way. This, in turn, increases fuel efficiency.

1. Fuel petcock valve
   Ignition system
2. Tachometer
   Carburetor

Not all bikes have a fuel petcock valve. As the name suggests, it's a valve you can turn to control the flow of gasoline to the engine. It needs to be in the ON position if you want to get the bike running.

1. Pulley
   Choke
2. Clutch
   Front brake lever

The front brake lever connects to the master cylinder, which in turn controls the front brakes on your bike. The front brakes are where much of the stopping power in a bike is found, so it's important to keep them in good working order.

1. Cushion
   Saddlebag
2. Sissybag
   Seat

A motorcycle seat is a pretty easy-to-spot part of the bike. A lot of stuff can be stored under a seat on some bikes from fuses to tools to the owner's manual, so you'll want to make sure you know how to remove the seat to have a look under it

1. Cylinder head
   Mudguard
2. Front suspension
   Axle

Like your rear shocks, the front suspension helps stabilize a ride and make the whole thing more smooth. Telescopic forks are just one kind of suspension while there are also girder forks which are older and less common these days.

1. Oil filter
   Front disc brakes
2. Spark plug
   Carburetor

As in any combustion engine in a car or a truck, the spark plugs in motorcycles provide the spark that causes the combustion part of the combustion engine. Unlike cars, the plugs can be readily visible on a number of motorcycles.

1. Oil filter
   Carburetor
2. Alternator
   Differential

Thanks to a carburetor, when you hit the gas in a car or a bike, what you're actually doing is allowing a greater amount of air to enter the engine which in turn pulls in more fuel vapor, which creates greater power as it combusts and gives you speed.

1. Rear brake
   Throttle
2. Choke
   Tachometer

Motorcycles don't have a gas pedal like a car. Instead, they have a throttle located in the right handle. Turning the throttle causes you to go faster, and it takes some getting used to in order to master it. You also need to be careful about other buttons nearby, like the kill switch.

1. Emergency switch
   Choke
2. Throttle
   Ignition switch

Like most vehicles, you need to do something to start a bike and that's put a key in the ignition and turn it. Of course, just like cars, a lot of modern bikes have also switched over to keyless ignition making this obsolete on some models.

1. Cam shaft
   Rotator
2. Tires
   Roll cage

Arguably the easiest part of any bike to identify, the tires are what provide traction and forward momentum. Tire technology has been progressing pretty steadily since the late 1800s when the first pneumatic tires were invented.

1. Carburetor
   Gas tank
2. Pillion
   Mudguard

A gas tank is obviously important on any bike but they're not always as they seem. Some bikes have what looks like a gas tank which is just for show when the real tank is actually hidden away beneath the skin of the bike. On a Harley, however, the tank is legit.

1. Wheel well
   Flap
2. Chaser
   Mudguard

Fenders or mudguards can be on the front or back or both wheels of a bike. As the dirtier name suggests, part of the purpose of a mudguard is to prevent mud and water from being sprayed up the back of the driver when the bike is moving.

1. Bucket
   Pillion
2. Slat
   Base

A pillion is a second seat behind the main seat for passengers to sit on. It's best to avoid having passengers at all if you're new to riding bikes but if you do have a second seat back there at least it's a good spot for carrying gear.

1. Starter switch
   Fuel valve
2. Throttle
   Clutch

The starter switch is usually on the right side of the handlebars, and may often say the word "start" right on it. With the ignition on and the kill switch off, the bike in neutral and the choke pulled out, this will start your bike up. A lot of modern bikes really simplify that whole process, though.