Summer Is On The Way, Is Your Motorcycle Ready For The Road?
Posted on: 4 April 2017
A lot of people are guilty of buying a beautiful motorcycle, riding a lot in the post-purchase glow, and then slowly pushing it to the back of the garage as life intervenes and steals their time to ride. For many, this happens as young families or new careers take up any available time. For others, an illness, divorce, or other change of life situation may have taken the focus off riding for a while. No matter why you stopped riding that gleaming black and chrome beauty that quietly sits gathering dust in your garage, this summer is the perfect time to recapture the rush of riding the open road. But before you look for your helmet and cross your fingers that your leather motorcycle chaps will still fit, remember that your bike will need a little pre-ride TLC, too.
Start with a good cleaning
When motorcycles are stored for long periods of time, they gather dirt and dust and can even become homes to small rodents, like mice. So the first thing to do when unearthing that beautiful machine is to go over it from end to end, carefully clearing away dust and dirt. In addition to spending some time with a cloth and bottle of chrome polish, motorcycle owners should make sure that tail pipes and other openings on the bike are clear of rodent or insect nests or debris that could interfere with the mechanical operation of the machine or cause damage to it.
Change fluids and filters, and grease the suspension
If the bike has just been sidelined for a few months, simply changing the oil, draining and replacing stale fuel, and lubricating the suspension may be all that is needed to get your motorcycle back on the road.
However, if the bike has been stored for a year or more, chances are that it will need the fuel system professionally drained and flushed and need new spark plugs in order to run smoothly.
Check the tires and replace them if there is any question about their safety
If the bike has been sitting for long periods of time with its full weight on the tires in a hot garage, it probably has at least some dry rot or other damage to the sidewalls of the tires that could make them blow out while riding and cause an accident. To prevent this from happening, motorcycle owners should always examine the tires carefully after storing their bike and opt to replace the tires if there is any question of their safety.
Getting your motorcycle back into road ready shape after being stored can take time and skills you may not have, so consider loading it onto a trailer and taking it down to a reputable motorcycle services and repair shop in your area. Then get out there and enjoy that open road!
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