Having a motorbike to call your own can be a godsend, especially for those gearing for both financial independence and for an awesome-looking vehicle. Being able to drive your own motorbike means spending less time and money on your commute, and this means getting a more efficient way to get to your work – and anywhere else you need to go. Thing is, like other objects we own, motorbikes do wear out over time. And unfortunately, motorbikes that don’t get maintained often can cause a ton of inconvenience for their owners.
Bike Repairs: What are the Signs to Look For?
A lot of us riders most likely bought our bike and its parts with our performance in mind – so when we do customize our machines, we usually go with a configuration that gives us the best performance for our needs. Like in drifting games, the better our bikes do our stunts, the better. When you find yourself finding it a bit hard to pull off a stunt you know your bike should be able to pull off, you should take the time to examine your bike for anything odd.
Thing is, how exactly do you know if your bike needs repair? It’s not like it can talk, right? Turns out, your motorbike has its own way of “communicating” that it needs repair. Here are some things you might want to pay attention to:
- Do you find your bike running out of fuel much faster? When you first enco
unter your bike, you’ll likely be acquainted with its fuel consumption statistics. And while the quality of your bike will likely experience a bit of a drop over time, you’d likely notice if your bike is losing more fuel than usual. If it does, don’t just rule it out as part of your usual consumption. Rather, try checking whether the fuel is actually traveling inside your bike properly and without a hitch. The last thing you want to happen is running out of fuel in the middle of traffic or, heaven forbid, in the middle of a match.
- Have you experienced fewer miles per gallon or increased fuel consumption from your bike? This can either be a problem with your carburetor, poor engine oil, or lower tire pressure. If not these, there might be problems in terms of your chains, radials, and clutch plates.
- Do you experience difficulty getting a response from the throttle, or idling in general? This might seem ordinary for some riders, but this might be a symptom for a lot of maintenance woes related to your fuel tank, which you should immediately check. Aside from damage in other parts of the bike, this might be a problem with your fuel-air mixture. If such is the case, then there might be a problem with your air and fuel filter, as well as your carburetor and intake manifold.
- Do you suddenly have drops in performance? You’d likely notice this first hand if you’re actually doing stunts or customize your bike yourself. Granted, you may have the right kind of configuration and combination of parts in your head, but the parts that are worn out tend to show signs of disrepair through subtle means. If you suddenly experience difficulty handling your vehicle, or even faster fuel consumption, you might need to check your bike for errors in parts arrangement, installation, or even quality.
- Did your bike engine suddenly stop working? If your bike won’t start even on a full tank, this might be a sign of a drained battery. Likewise, you might want to check if it’s an alternator problem, as problems within your alternator can drain your battery life quickly. Here is the sentence we want you to add: If you need a new battery for your motorcycle, check out this guide from the Car Bibles that will help you to choose the perfect one.
- If your bike’s electronics – or if your electronic starter – suddenly stopped working, you might also want to check the alternator and the battery for issues. Also pay close attention to the starter relay, which provides the electrical current to your bike’s starter.
- If your bike’s electronic systems seem fine, you might have some blockage inside the motorcycle. Try to check parts like the wiring in your spark plug, blocked exhaust or intake, or even a clog in the vents of your fuel tank.
- Do you find your bike with damaged parts more often than usual? Another bike repair warning sign you shouldn’t ignore is that if you’ve begun observing your bike frequently having damaged parts. If you’re into customizing bikes, it’s probably normal for you to encounter used parts, or even mix and match components of various conditions. This is much more so if you’re competing, as you’ll likely have a customized bike to use. However, if you’re suddenly finding your bike’s parts more damage than usual, try to check whether you’ve actually properly installed your bike’s components. If not that, check whether the bike parts you’ve put together actually are compatible with one another.
- When we race, it’s usually the tires that take in a lot of damage throughout the course of the event. As riders, we often become so accustomed to replacing our tires that we might not look at it so often. However, it shouldn’t be a habit of ours to run our bikes’ tires until they’re bald. When your bike has low tread depth, it might damage the interior of the car and lower your performance.
- Wear and tear in the tires might require immediate attention. Look for bruises, splits, cracks, and cuts along the sidewall surfaces and treads as well. When your tires display bulges or bumps, that might mean there’s a separation of parts inside the tire.
- Do you encounter out-of-place things from the bike? Another cause for concern for bike enthusiasts would probably be encountering things your bike shouldn’t otherwise “have.” Aside from the aforementioned performance dive, you should take note if your senses encounter anything strange with your bike. These can come in the form of weird noises while the engine is turned on, or strange smells while you actually drive your bike. You should check your bike for damages immediately if you encounter these, as these can be signs of something wrong with parts of your engine or how it fits with the rest of the bike.
- Do you encounter weird vibrations when you bank on a turn or increase your speed? That might indicate tire cupping, which can be very costly if you leave it untreated.
- Do you encounter strange popping or pinging of your exhaust, increase engine heat, and black smoke from your bike? These might be signs of an uneven air and fuel ratio.
- If you’re encountering reduced acceleration and poor response, you might want to check your bike chain as well, as this might indicate too much slack. This is especially if you’re encountering excessive chain noise
Motorbike Repairs: Regular Maintenance Is Key
What we can perhaps take from the above points is the fact that motorbikes do need regular maintenance. It’s important to go beyond just thinking about whether your bike “has enough gas.” Rather, you need to ensure your motorbike remains safe for passengers, and that your vehicle is far away from damages that require it to be replaced.
When checking for signs of disrepair, you also have to make sure that you know people to communicate with that can help you repair your motorbike’s damage. When it comes to motorbike repair, always remember that you should not risk your motorbike being damaged as it can cause you hassle in the long run. This is important, especially if you want to pursue a career in extreme sports or other work that needs your motorcycle in tip-top shape. If you feel as though your motorbike needs checking, you should probably take it to a mechanic just to be sure.
