Hey…A new blog!
Seems to me that when posed with the task of doing a “monthly” blog I seem to automatically lose track of time. A friend was cruising our website and mentioned she liked the blogs, which spurred me into realizing that I had forgotten to do one recently. So here it is. This will be the dry blog about bike maintenance. If you’re tired go find some other more interesting blog because this one will most surely put you to sleep.
Still here? Well ok then let’s get to it. On metric bikes you should – in the state of Michigan change your brake fluid yearly. Most bikes take a DOT 3 or 4 which can and will soak up minute traces of water. This will affect your brake system, even you think your brake fluid looks fine, change it yearly. It’s cheap, and it adds a lot more stopping power. Harleys in Michigan should do the same, but most Harley guys think girls can’t wrench and that metric bikes are shit, so I won’t be addressing Harley’s today. But girls can and DO wrench, so stuff it Harley guys!
Oil and air filter changes. You need to keep an eye on your air filter, it is usually very easy to get to and can improve your bikes performance a lot. If your air filter has fuzzy things stuck to it or is a bit dirty, change it. Clean air makes a big difference to your bike, just like it does to you when you breathe. And that is exactly what your bike does, breathe. Oil changes should be done once every three thousand miles, or in some cases closer to five thousand if you use certain synthetic oils. If you ride three thousand miles a month then you need to change your oil once a month. Capiche? Your oil is vital to keeping your bike running smoothly and happily. Once you have done a few devoted and religiously kept oil changes you will find you can tell when you ride, that you need to change your oil by the way your bike is running. It sounds stupid, I know, but you really can. It’s crazy.
You also need to keep and eye on all the rubber parts on your bike. Fork seals should always be and look like they are in perfect shape. Any cracking or pieces missing means that you are getting dirt and condensation in your forks. That’s not good. It is a pain in the butt job. It takes time and some weird equipment. But if you don’t do it you are risking screwing up your bearings and fork springs. That costs a lot more than the seals, trust me on this.
Changing your pipes. This is always best to be left to a professional to do. If you take the baffles out of your pipes and don’t adjust the engine you have essentially changed the back pressure in your engine and the way the engine runs. You do the same thing if you change your pipes and don’t adjust your engine. The engine was built to operate within certain specs, and changing the pipes will affect these specs and cause unnecessary wear on your engine parts. So keep an eye on these few things, and if you liked this blog let me know and I can and will continue to do little maintenance blogs periodically!
Keep the rubber side down!
HBom
