Continuing from the previous week’s blog post I am going to be breaking down each of the items on the maintenance checklist to make sure your bike will be safe and ready to go for the new season.

  • Oil change: Changing the oil prevents your motorcycle’s engine from getting damaged. This is because oil changes allow for the removal of debris and other corrosive impurities that build up in the oil over time. As such, every motorcycle owner must examine the engine oil regularly.
  • Chain cleaning: cleaning and lubing your motorcycle chain helps extend your bike’s lifespan. Adequate and proper cleaning, lubing and lubricating of the chain is essential to increase the functioning of the sprockets, chain, wheel, and other parts of your bike.
  • Tire pressure/tread check
  • Battery check:  Batteries have a finite life, so try to keep track of when your last battery was installed (check for date stamp on battery). Good preventative maintenance is simply to change a battery when it gets close to the end of its serviceable life.
  • Brake check: Most motorcycle manufacturers suggest that the brake fluid be changed or flushed every 2 to 3 years, and the level should be checked approximately every 100 to 200 miles. Air bubbles can infiltrate the master cylinder reservoir and affect the brake pads. The master cylinder should be filled with the right brake fluid.
  • Fork seal check: One of your regular maintenance jobs should be to check your fork seals for leaks, especially after you’ve been riding in dusty or sandy conditions. Knowing how to clean leaky fork seals may save you the unnecessary expense of replacing seals. Your bike’s fork seals are made up of two seals, the Oil Seal, and the Dust Seal.
  • Registration: you will need to register your motorcycle to make it legal to ride on the street
  • Insurance: you will need to have insurance on your motorcycle to protect you financially in the case of an accident.
  • Fresh gas: if you have old gas from previous years still in the tank it’s important to run all the old gas out and be replaced with new fresh gas to help you motorcycle run the best it can
  • Complete detail and wax- (optional of course) I personally give my bikes a regular wash and wax to help them look as good as possible when I am out riding.

Each of these steps is what you can follow to insure that your motorcycle will be great shape for the upcoming riding season.