Owning a new motorcycle is an exciting time. Just don’t let this excitement lead you to forget about motorbike maintenance. Proper motorcycle maintenance keeps your ride in excellent condition.
But where do you start with motorcycle maintenance? What are simple motorcycle repairs you don’t have to be a mechanic to perform?
You have questions, and we have answers. In this post, you’ll learn ten essential things every motorcycle owner must keep an eye on.
- Monitoring Tire Pressure
Like the tires on your car, your motorcycle’s tires also need tire pressure checks. Underinflated or overinflated tires cause traction and braking issues, two things no rider wants to deal with.
Use a tire pressure gauge to find the current PSI of your tires. Your motorcycle’s owner manual should include optimal PSI levels. Recheck their PSI levels with your tire pressure gauge after inflating or letting air out of your tires.
While you check your motorbike’s tire pressure, look over your tires for cracks, tears, or a lack of tread. Riding a motorbike with excessively damaged or worn tires is dangerous.
- Replacing Oil
Your motorcycle’s oil provides lubrication to your engine, keeping your motorcycle running smoothly. Over time, this oil loses its ability to lubricate an engine. Continuing to ride with old and dirty oil wears your engine down fast.
Fortunately, replacing a motorcycle’s oil is simple enough. Your owner’s manual should come with step-by-step instructions.The general oil change process is similar for most motorcycles.
- Remove motorcycle parts blocking access to its oil filter, drain plug, and filler plug.
- Remove your motorcycle’s drain plug and, with a drain pan on the ground, let all contained oil drain out.
- Unscrew your motorcycle’s oil filter.
- Replace your oil filter with a new one.
- Place the drain plug back on your bike, careful not to overtighten.
- Pour fresh oil into the designated container and avoid overfilling.
- Filling Up the Other Fluids
After checking your motorcycle’s oil, monitoring other fluid levels is your next step. Your motorcycle also depends on coolant and brake fluid. If it’s been a while since your last ride, draining and replacing these stale fluids are wise moves.
Look around and under your motorcycle for any stains or dripping fluids. These could be signs of a faulty part that’s leaking liquid. Seeing a dark stain could indicate that your motorcycle is leaking oil. Finding blue or green liquid leaking from your bike can mean a coolant leak.
- Cleaning or Replacing Your Air Filter
While it’s a small part of a motorcycle, air filters play a vital role in keeping your engine clean. Air filters block dust, dirt, and other particles from entering your engine. Old air filters eventually develop thick layers of grime, losing their ability to let clean air in.
You can either clean or replace a motorcycle’s air filter. A quick cleaning works well for keeping newer air filters clean after a ride in dusty conditions. If your air filter is over a year old, or you’ve driven 10,000 miles on your current filter, it’s time to replace it.
- Examining Your Cables
As you inspect your motorcycle, ensure your cables are in good shape. Occasionally applying grease or oil to these cables prevents them from rubbing together and wearing down quickly.
Your motorcycle’s cables shouldn’t be dragging the ground. But you also don’t want to see cables stretched so tightly they could snap.
Now’s also an excellent time to apply a small amount of oil to your cables if they look dry.
- Checking Out Your Motorbike’s Battery
Like a car, a motorcycle also depends on a battery. New batteries provide long-lasting rides—old batteries can leave you stuck on the side of a road or unable to even start your motorcycle.
Lightly used batteries can come back to life with a full recharge. If your battery is several years old or isn’t holding a charge, replacing it is the best option. - Washing Your Motorcycle
So far, you learned about keeping the inside of your motorcycle in like-new condition. Maintaining your motorcycle’s paint by regularly washing it is also imperative. A quick wash removes grime and dirt that damages your paint if left unwashed.
Skip the automatic car wash. It’s best to wash motorcycles manually. Automatic car washes are for cars. Also, avoid using a power washer. For example, cleaning a Harley-Davidson with a power washer could damage its paint and its Harley accessories.Here’s how to safely wash your motorcycle:
- Let your motorcycle’s engine fully cool.
- With either a low-pressure hose or a bucket of water, rinse the body of your motorcycle.
- Apply a cleaning solution that’s safe for motorcycles.
- Use your hose or water bucket to remove all cleaning liquid.
- Lightly dry your motorcycle with clean microfiber towels.
- Inspecting and Cleaning Your Chain
As you inspect your motorcycle, looking at your chain and its overall tightness is smart. A chain that’s too loose could detach from your motorcycle’s sprocket. Keeping your chain too tight can cause chain-damaging friction.
Keeping your motorcycle’s chain clean keeps this component in optimal condition. It also helps prevent potentially serious motorcycle performance issues. Your service manual should include chain cleaning intervals.
If your motorcycle’s chain is dirty, go over it with a soft brush. Washing your chains with water could cause them to rust. You can also apply a bit of lubrication after cleaning your motorcycle’s chain.
- Checking Your Brake Pads
Your motorcycle depends on a clean set of brakes and brake pads to stop properly. While you inspect your bike, it’s a good idea to check out its brake pads. Brake pads apply friction to your motorcycle’s brake rotors, ensuring this vehicle stops.
Remove your brake pads from your motorcycle to measure how much padding is left. If the padding material on your brake pads is less than 2 millimeters thick, they need replacing.
- Tracking Annual Inspections
Taking proper care of your motorcycle is great, but more complicated issues can be challenging to resolve. So, it’s best to be safe and take your motorbike to a trusted mechanic yearly for an annual inspection. Professional mechanics can check for and resolve harder-to-find motorcycle issues.
Whether you use a calendar, your smartphone, or something else, keep track of when your motorcycle needs an inspection. This simple tip can save you a small fortune in preventing motorcycle issues before they worsen.
Motorcycle maintenance takes time and effort. But following these steps helps save you from a poor-performing motorcycle and a stack of bills from your local mechanic.