Your motorcycle needs routine attention and maintenance to keep it in a roadworthy condition. Learning how to carry out routine maintenance yourself will save you time and money!
Many routine maintenance jobs are straight forward and explained in the owners handbook-
All bikes need a regular service – the manufacturers set a recommended interval of 5000 miles whatever, assuming that the bike will cover something like this every year. The problem is that a lot of people don’t do this many miles and the bike doesn’t get looked at for a year or two. Now, things like oil tend to deteriorate with time, especially if the bike isn’t used too much. Lots of short journeys i.e., to the pub or the coast can cause problems as the bike doesn’t always get up to full working temperature. When you put your pride and joy away in the garage or shed, condensation forms in the oil;this is not a problem if your next journey is fairly long and/or on a warm day – why? The oil needs to reach the boiling point of water i.e. 100oC at least so as to boil off the water/condensation. If this condensation is allowed to build up it can cause corrosion of important bits inside your engine, which can be nasty and expensive to sort out afterwards.
All decent oils have anti-oxidisation additives to help prevent these effects, but after a while they get used up. So a regular change of oil will help prevent these and other problems.
More difficult tasks may need to be referred to your dealer
Regular checks
You should check the following items on a regular basis
Controls
* Brakes
* Clutch
* Accelerator
Electrical Systems
* Lights
* Horn
* Indicators
Suspension and Steering
* Front forks
* Shock absorbers
* Head stock bearings
* Tyres
* Wheels
Fluid levels
* Engine oil
* Gearbox oil
* Brake fluid
* Battery
* Fuel level
Basic Cleaning
In order to clean your bike you need to have some basic equipment. These are as follows
* A bucket
* Sponges
* Water
* Various rags
* Toothbrush
* Soft bristle brush
* General car shampoo don’t use washing up liquid, it’s not designed to be used on paint
* Wax (MER) is very good
* WD40
* A large amount of elbow grease and patience (cleaning acruiser takes time!)
Cleaning your motorcycle is very much like riding it, everyone does things their own way and has preferred methods.
Wash the bike with a liquid soap designed for washing cars/motorcycles using one of the sponges and a soft bristle brush, wash the whole body work, engine, rear sub-frame and then the wheels.
Rinse and use a shammy cloth to dry before applying the polish. Allow the polish to dry and then polish up.