Snippets (Tips & Tricks;-)
Tips and tricks relating to motorcycle maintenance and servicing, riding motorbikes, workshop stuff – any tips, tricks and recommendations that’ll make life a bit easier.
Please use the Contact Form to send me your favourite tips and tricks.
I’ve picked up loads of handy tips over the years and have worked more than a few out for myself the hard way….trial and error 🙂 Just a few to kick things off but I’ll add more when I get time and of course you’re free to send me your tips and tricks. As the list grows I’ll break it down in to categories.
♦ Maintenance Tip Always tie your front brake down so the bike won’t move forward and slide off the side stand. If the bike moves it tends to fold the kickstand up and thats a no no. Binding the front brake has always worked well for me. Ride safe….Les (lesbrownjr59)
♦ No Time for a Proper Polish Job? Use a spray household wax furniture polish – spray on to a clean rag to avoid overspray you’d get applying direct to the bike. Quick wipe over, leave a few minutes and buff up…..quick, effective and effortless.
I’ve found I can just wipe away any tarnish or water marks on my Titanium cans with Pledge Orange (and I guess any Orange polish), much easier than conventional auto polish.
♦ Cleaning your motorcycle A soft clean cloth soaked in WD40 is good for lifting greasy stuff and buffing up exhaust pipes etc. White Spirit or Parafin are good for lifting tar spots and won’t damage paintwork. Pledge Orange Furniture polish is great stuff for getting a nice finish quick!! (and cleaning screens and visors – spray on, leave a few minutes and polish off with a soft clean cloth 🙂 [more cleaning tips]
♦ More cleaning 🙂 Wash/wax the bike often. On top of making it look good it gives you a close up inspection of the bike. You can find a lot of potential ills while you are down there drying it off. Makes maintenance less of a chore when you do need to wrench on it also (anoman)
♦ No time to clean If I don’t have time to clean it b4 parking it, lay a wet towel over your windshield, in the morning just wipe the bugs clean! (GsChris) Works great for your helmet as well
♦ Accessories / aftermarket parts My philosophy is that you should bling out the bike as much as possible, limited only by your credit score LOL (oldbaldsob)
♦ Toolkit – ok, most bikes don’t have much room for carrying additional tools but good editions for day to day riding include:
Electricians insulating tape and Duct tape (pull some off the roll and wind it round a
suitable plastic card to save space e.g. old membership card).
A few tie wraps (various sizes)
A length of string or twine
A cheap ‘multi-tool’ – you know the type of thing with blades, gouge etc
Pencil torch
Piece of clean rag
♦ Brake lines Anodised aluminium / aluminium fittings are for competition use only and are not legal for road use. Never Use Aluminium Fittings On Braking Systems (extract from HEL’s website) “Some people sell aluminium brake line fittings for brake hoses. Not only is this a dangerous practice but you will also notice that they are normally sold with a ‘for race use only’ label as a possible legal get out clause for the company involved. HEL Performance have never and will never use aluminium fittings on brake lines – Why ? When two metals with different electromotive force are placed together and are subjected to an electrically conductive fluid, ‘electrolytic’ corrosion takes place. If you are looking for a light weight, corrosion resistant high strength alternative to stainless steel then we suggest you check out the HEL Performance Titanium fitting“
♦ Chain Lubing Try lubing after a ride. The chain is warmer and the lube can sneak into the tiny gaps (wipe the chain over first with a rag soaked in WD40). Then overnight the lube will ‘dry’ and will be much less likely to fling on your next ride. Lubing just before a ride doesn’t allow time for the lube to gel and guarantees fling. Also with an O-ring chain you just need enough lube to cover the rollers. The sideplates and pins have lube in them sealed by the O-ring. Don’t bother lubing the sideplates, unless you have installed a non-O-ring chain or you’ll be riding in wet or salty conditions. Do a Google search on chain lubing for lots of info.
♦ Getting Chain Lube Off The Rear Wheel WD40 is the excellent stuff for removing chain lube. To avoid lubing the rear brake instead of directly spraying the wheel, spray into a small piece of rag, saturate it, then wipe the WD40 on the wheel. Wait 5 minutes and wipe the WD40 off. WD40 is a great cleaner, but never mistake it for a lubricant. Pledge Orange and similar household furniture polishes are great also!
♦ Scottoilers If you’ve mounted the reservoir under the pillion seat make sure that anything carried in that space such as your tool kit cannot move around. I nearly had a crash on my SV1000 due to my tool kit moving around and adjusting the oil flow up to max…….rear tyre soaked in oil!!
♦ Insurance renewal Go online or phone your existing insurance broker and get a quote as a new customer – it will be a lot cheaper than your renewal quote! Then contact the renewal dept and give them the quote reference .(£240 renewal quote from Carol Nash down to £190 for me this way). Good tip if you don’t have the time or inclination to shop around.