While buying a dirt bike doesn’t cost more than money, maintaining it perfectly can.
Yes, that’s a thing with automobiles. Especially when it’s something as rough and tough as a dirt bike.
Indeed, it goes up and down through puddles and whatnot!
Maintenance can certainly take a toll on the owner. But don’t worry. This post will help you in need.
Here are five maintenance tips for keeping your dirt bike in perfect condition even after extensive use.
1. Know When It’s Time For a Bath
Unlike a cafe racer or cruiser that spends most of its time on a clean road, needing not more than a dry wipe, dirt bikes get dirty. Well, their name has dirt in it. We can’t expect utter cleanliness on the track.
Clearly, your dirt bike is going to have lots of dust and mud covering most parts of it.
This calls for a decent wash. And so, you must go for it.
Letting dirt settle on your bike’s body will attack its paint and stickers. And if too much dirt is present around the mechanics like chain/belt, their life along with the engine will be adversely affected.
So, after every track ride, make sure you give your dirt bike a good wash.
2. Lube Regularly and Smartly
Washing your bike may mean that water goes into the chain and around the sprockets as well.
Although it’s important to be cautious about it, if it does, you must let it dry for some time. Apply a chain lube in a small quantity. Ignite the engine and give the bike a small parked run (where you let the rear wheel spin when the bike is parked at one place).
This will make sure that the lube is evenly spread across all locks of the chain and sprockets.
After this, use a chain cleaner and give another quick parked run, with an old toothbrush (that you don’t intend on using) placed head to head with the chain locks.
This will clean up the chain, and after this, we finally apply the chain lube in advisable quantities (depending on the lube and the bike).
Also, note that lubrication isn’t required only after you wash your bike. It’s also important to lube the chain after regular intervals.
For example, some bike models require lubrication after every 400 km, while some require it after every 1,000 km.
Get in touch with the manufacturing company, and they’ll let you know what exactly is required for your model.
3. Note Chain Tension
Apart from lubrication, your chain also needs some space for a comfortable and efficient movement.
For this, it’s important that you check your chain’s tension.
It should neither be too tight or too loose. In both the extremes, your bike’s performance will be hindered, and sprocket and chain health will also go down.
Note that the ideal chain free-play is half-an-inch (13 millimetres) when the swingarm is parallel to the ground.
You should set up the chain tension to satisfy this criterion.
4. Tighten Loose Bolts
Another chore you must add to your maintenance routine is tightening the loosened bolts after every ride.
Every time you take your bike out on the track, it goes over several bumps and rough paths. This can leave you with a bunch of loose bolts and to ensure optimal performance and a number of other problems; you must inspect your bike and tighten all the loose bolts.
5. Clean/Replace Air and Oil Filter
As you spend a lot of time in dirt and mud, you and your bike are surely going to get dirty.
While you can keep yourself safe with the right fox racing riding gear, your bike will ask for maintenance and care.
So, clean up the air and oil filter after every one or two rides. And when the dirt is too heavy, know that it’s the time for a replacement.
Maintaining a dirt bike may come off as a tricky task. However, if you are regular, you will sail easily. And with this post, we tried to help you do that.