Maintenance, one word the Indian bike driver does not understand. Every now and then you tend to see people on Indian roads who have made various modifications to the bodies and engines of their bikes, not realising whether its good or harmful for the bike.
Every bike, or lets say any machine requires regular maintainance. The owner has to cater to its well being whenever it asks for.
Any bike, whether a Royal Enfield, Hero Honda or Bajaj requires proper maintenance. No bike comes maintenance free although a lot of manufacturers claims to sell such bikes, specially in the case of low end entry level segment bikes.
Before I go ahead, I would like to say that it is the owner or the rider who should develop a kind’ve liking for the bike. Without this he or she will lose interest as time passes by and the bike will depreciate in quality. People who believe in using and throwing bikes are not welcome to read this review.
Every bike comes with a Users Manual, which at first has to be read and understood properly. It is noted that more the power (cc’s) of the bike, more is the wear and tear. Therefore, a 180cc bike like he Bajaj Pulsar will have more maintenance to cope up with than a 100cc Splendour.
Bike maintenance should be taking part of the whole bike on the whole and not a specific part. For example if a glossy good looking bike with a useless engine is of no use.
Maintenance begins first from the Engine. Its components, the gear box, tappet, oil, pistons etc. Keeping the body of the vehicle is also necessary in looks and working capability
The engine requires the following from the owner:
1) Regular oil change.
2) Checking regulary on engine head and sides for Oil Leakes
3) Check the functioning of clutch plates
4) Check for a knocking noise emmited thanks to a loose tappet
5) Keeping up with a suitable Engine Oil Grade
6) Cleaning and changing of Air filter and Oil Filter and Spark Plug
The rest of the body requires the following from the owner:
1) Regularly Polishing and Rust Treatment
2) Daily and tri weekly cleaning of Bike
3) Checking Brakes
4) Checking and Changing front fork Oil
5) Greasing movable parts like swingarm, levers etc.
6) Periodical Fastening and Tightening of all bolts
It is very necessary to give your bike for services prescribed in the Manual to avoid a warranty lapse. After that its best if the owner himself knows the basic job of servicing and maintaining the bike. It is also very neccesary to give the bike a proper running in, or else things can really be horrifying at times.
The things to done at the appropriate meter readings:
0kms. Check the bike before accepting delivery. After that get the bike teflon coated to prevent rusitng, other alternatives like turtle wax etc are good.
10000kms: Till here get the bike serviced according to the manual. Its now essential for you to intervin and know more things about your bike. Get a teflon coat, change the spark plug (whether working or not), clean the air filter, tighten bolts, check and change cables, grease properly, Get the front fork oil changed for smooth functioning of the suspension. Clean the carburetor and get it adjusted from a reputed guy for a proper air/fuel mixture. Clean and adjust chain slackness. Change broken rubber gaskets and get the tappet adjusted to a proper compression ratio. Wheel bearing and swingarm oiling. Get the engine oil changed
After this repeat these activities every 10000kms and keep changing the engine oil every 2000-2500kms for smooth and refined functioning gof the engine. Keep checking for tyre wearing, cable strength. Change the clutch plates as soon as you experience a drop in power and mileage. At this juncture there will be severe knocking an dragging inside the gear box on the left hand side of the engine. The plates genrally tend to wear out after 15000kms depending on riding habits
If one buys a bike, one should be prepared to fall. Even the best bike driver has to fall one day, if one says he has not in a lifetime, he is either lieing or is speaking the truth, which happens in only 5% of caes
Remember there are two types of Bikers: First, those who have fallen and second, those who are going to fall
Well guys thats all I can think about for the time bieng. Hope this helps and yes! please be open to comment if I have gone wrong somewhere by mistake.