If you’re like a large portion of adults, you love feeling the wind in your hair and on your face as you zip around own on your bike. But a lot of motorcycle owners do not take care of them, ensuring that they will not last as long as they could. Things as simple as replacing some fluid are sometimes all you need to keep your baby in tip-top condition.
Here are the six things that you have to stop doing in order to be on top of motorcycle maintenance and to make sure it is around for a long time to come. That will give you plenty of time as well as peace of mind when you take it out for a leisurely drive.
1. Get the Tires Checked Out
One thing a lot of motorcycle owners do is wear their tires down. They end up bald and leaking air before many people even think of them. The tires are one of the most essential parts of a good motorcycle, so you want to make sure they are rotated regularly, kept pumped up and replaced when they show large bald spots. Bald tires can not grip the road properly, making this already dangerous activity that much more so.
2. Listen to the Machine
Another thing often neglected in motorcycle maintenance is simply paying attention to the bike. Maybe that means listening for squeaky brakes or a faulty muffler. Either way, one way to keep up on the maintenance part of owning a bike is making sure it keeps purring like the day you got it.
3. Have a Professional Take a Look
Many people with motorcycles think that they can handle all repairs and maintenance that it needs. Sometimes, though, it is nice to have a check-up by a professional. Even if you do not have a pressing concern about the look or performance of your bike, it is still reassuring to have the good upkeep checked on by a professional. They can also do the difficult or dirty stuff for you, so you do not have to.
4. Keep it Well Lubricated
One thing that all bikes have in common is a huge amount of moving parts. You do not want these parts to grind against one another, creating friction, damage and awful sounds. Instead, you want to keep the whole machine, every part of it moving smoothly.
Lubrication for auto parts is what you will need, and it will both make for a more pleasant ride and extend the life of the moving parts on your bike. A bike with smoothly moving parts will glide down the street like a warm knife through butter.
5. Are the Wheels True?
There is an easy way to check if your wheels are ‘true’. Simply flip your bike around and spin the wheels. Do they flutter from each side? If this is the case, then your tires must be ‘trued’. The process involves a technician to use some special equipment, so it is probably for the best that you do not attempt to do it yourself. However, any shop that performs maintenance for motorcycles can do it for you for a small fee.
You want your wheels to be ‘true’ because just as they can sway from side to side in the air, they will do that during our ride, skidding across the road and putting you at risk high enough that not even your motorcycle insurance can save you.
6. How is the Air Filter?
Air filters are a thing that even the most diligent of maintenance workers forget about. However, the air filters are very responsible for keeping a lot of debris from being blown in there by the wind. Changing your air filter might not be an arduous task, but it might just be a long one. Every bike is different, so every bike places their air filters in a different location. Some are easy to locate, and some are buried beneath other devices. It is really easy to replace the air filter and then put back anything that you removed.
Keeping your bike in the best possible condition is a source of pride for you, and well it should be. But many motorcycle owners get lazy, they neglect the air filters or lubrication, two things that are really easy to fix. If you, like many adults, want to give your motorcycle the best life you possibly can, very long and well kept, then you will be on top of motorcycle maintenance. These six tips are easy things to do, and a regular visit to a professional can both put your mind at ease while you are on the road and make sure that the maintenance is performed correctly.