Advice: The motorcycle maintenance sins we've all committed

Far more so than with a car, regular maintenance is essential when it comes to owning a motorcycle – it's a key safety issue. After all, if something crucial fails on a car, chances are it won't send you sliding down the road, your soft and squishy body at the mercy of bitumen, other vehicles, and any number of hard immovable objects.

So, set aside 20 minutes every week to two weeks to check over your bike and ensure you've ticked off all the basics – because if you gloss over the essentials below, you're risking lot more than just a dirty bike...

To get the job done right you'll need the following items, all of which can be purchased at your local auto care store:

The benefits of keeping your bike clean are two-fold: not only will you restore that showroom gleam, the process of getting up-close-and-personal with your bike is an opportunity to pick up minor issues before they become major problems.

A basic wash doesn't have to be a major headache, either – just hose the bike down to remove excess dust and debris (and to prevent scratching), then go over it with a soapy sponge from top to bottom.

Specific automotive products are best to preserve that lustrous paintwork, and leave the wheels until last – they'll have attracted the most grime, especially the rear if you have a chain final drive (because you have been lubing your chain regularly, haven't you?).

Then rinse the soap off and use a decent chamois to remove any remaining water and leave a sparkling, streak-free shine.

Is your front fairing splattered with stubborn, suicidal insects? An automotive bug and tar remover will help evict your unwanted tenants – just spray it on, give it a bit to soak in and then buff with a soft microfibre cloth.

Want to go the whole hog? Waxing takes a bit longer but will help protect your paint over the long term – there are any number of automotive waxes to choose from, just be sure to follow the instructions on the bottle and make sure it's the right product for your ride. Personally, we've had good results from a number of combined 'wash and wax' products.

Protect plastics (like switchblocks) with products like Armor All (but avoid your seat unless you want it as slippery as an ice rink), and if your back wheel is liberally coated with chain lube, remove it quickly and easily with a soft cloth soaked in degreaser or a basic solvent like kerosene.

And with any of these commercially available cleaners, it can save you a whole lot of heart ache if you apply a small test sample to a less-obvious section of paint or plastic, just to make sure it's going to achieve the desired outcome (and limit the damage if it doesn't).

Related reading:
Advice: Understanding oil
Advice: How to adjust and clean a motorcycle chain
Advice: How a motorcycle engine works
Advice: Suspension setup Part 1
Advice: Suspension setup Part 2

We've gone into the importance of maintaining the correct motorcycle tyre pressures before but we'll say it again here – running over- or under-inflated tyres affects grip and handling, and going too far either way is downright dangerous.

Tyre manufacturers have invested a century of science and development into their products and motorcycle manufacturers know their bikes inside and out. Racers and motocross/enduro riders may tweak their pressures to suit the conditions, but for the rest of us it's hard to go far wrong with the manufacturer's recommended pressures.

Buy a decent tyre gauge instead of relying on an often-dodgy service station's pump and remember that the recommended pressures apply when the tyres are cold. If you don't have an air compressor to inflate your tyres at home, a short, gentle ride to the nearest service station shouldn't hurt.

And while you're there, run your eyes over each tyre to check for any cuts or punctures – better to spot a protruding screw or nail when you can plan to do something about it, than return to your bike to find a totally flat hoop.

Now's also the time to inspect your tyres' general level of wear. Most tyres have wear marker limits moulded into them as a visual guide, but the way the tyres have worn could spell replacement before the wear limit is reached – tyres that have been 'squared off' through lots of upright, highway miles can feel horrible through the bends, for example.

One last tip – while 'tyre shine' or 'tyre black' products can look great on your car's tyre walls, avoid it like the plague on your motorcycle (unless you're intent on assessing your riding gear's protective qualities!).

While your motorcycle's oil and fluid levels should be checked and changed or topped up by a service technician at each service, it's important to keep an eye on the oil level in particular on a regular basis. After all, when it comes to metal parts whirring around together at high RPM, oil is kind of a big deal…

Older, high-mileage bikes tend to burn a bit of oil and may need topping up several times between regular services, and are more prone to developing oil leaks. New bikes might not need topping up between services at all and shouldn't leak, but should still be checked regularly.

Check the oil when the engine is hot – like just after you've got home – but give it a few minutes for the oil to drain to the lowest point. Then, check the oil level with the bike upright.

That's easy if your bike has a centrestand, but if it doesn't you'll require a race stand or a mate to hold the bike upright while you check.

If your bike only has a sidestand, a race stand – which holds the bike upright by its swingarm – is a good investment. It makes lubricating a chain a whole lot easier, for a start.

Use a ring spanner to undo the oil filler bolt, top the oil up to the correct level as indicated on the dipstick or sight glass, and re-tighten, taking care not to over-tighten (as a guide, finger-tight then another quarter turn is pretty well right).

On modern bikes there shouldn't be much need to mess around with brake fluid and coolant levels – they should both be checked off at each service – but again, while you're in bike pampering mode it can't hurt to check.

Does your motorcycle have a shaft final drive or perhaps a belt? Congratulations – you've just saved yourself the hassle of keeping a chain correctly tensioned and lubricated, so go and put your feet up.

For the rest of us, chain maintenance doesn't have to be an especially laborious affair, but it's an important one. How often you lube a chain is down to how much you ride, but if you're riding most days – commuting to work, for example – once a week or every 500km is on the money.

Like checking your oil, it's best done with the chain is hot, and the more expensive chain wax products tend to stick better than cheapo sprays, which are more prone to flinging themselves off your chain and all over your back wheel.

Put your bike on its centrestand (or the race stand you just purchased) and, while rotating the back tyre, spray the lube on the inside of the chain – the bit that actually comes into contact with the sprockets.

Yes, it can be a bit messy, but if that's a concern you can always use a pair of disposable nitrile gloves (available at most auto stores and tool shops), while placing a piece of cardboard underneath the chain will stop the lube from going all over your shed's floor.

Chain tension, while important to preserve a balance between smooth operation, efficient power transfer and maximum service life, should only need adjusting sporadically.

Again, it depends on how much you ride, the weight and horsepower of your bike, and the age of the chain – an older chain will need adjusting more regularly than a new one – but if it's obviously getting a bit too slack and progress at lower speeds is getting a little jerky, it could well need attention.

You'll find our guide on how to adjust your motorcycle's chain here, but take care not to over-tighten. There should still be a little vertical freeplay in the chain when the bike is supporting your weight – if you can barely move the middle of the chain up or down, it's too tight.

Riding on an overtightened chain will accelerate wear for both the chain and sprockets, will rob the bike of power, and could potentially lead to the chain breaking.

It's a good idea to clean your chain occasionally too. Use a chain cleaner to break down the gunk, then scrub the chain with a brush before wiping the chain clean with a rag.

And if chain links are starting to freeze up, the chain's time is nigh – get a new one fitted, and fit a set of new sprockets (front and rear) while you're at it. It may cost more, but in our experience fitting a new chain to older, semi-worn sprockets is a false economy – do it all at the same time and the new chain will last longer, while also restoring that new-bike feel.

If you service your motorcycle according to its factory schedule then you should never be caught out by worn-out brake pads, but if you're not so meticulous – or if you've just bought a bike second-hand – then it only takes a few seconds to check they're okay.

If you can't view the pads through the tops of the calipers (on some calipers you might have remove a dust cover), get down on the ground and look up underneath the bottom of each brake caliper to physically inspect the pads (use a torch – even the one in your smartphone will do – if you're indoors).

If there's no or little material left on each pad, get them replaced – it's not a difficult operation per se, but the ability to stop effectively is critical, so if you're not mechanically minded get a trained technician to do it.

Are your brakes making a horrendous graunching sound whenever you use them, or does the brake disc look scored? Chances are the pads are already gone – you're now trying to stop by using the pads' backing plates to grip the brake rotors. Not only is this ineffective, but you could be up for new discs as well – and they cost plenty.

And a final note on getting your motorcycle serviced… Servicing your bike according to its recommended intervals is probably the single best thing you can do to keep it running just as its maker intended.

Observing the factory service schedule is essential for maintaining any existing warranty – provided, of course, the servicing is carried out by an authorised dealership – but if the warranty has expired then shop around for a service outlet to your heart's content, with 'word of mouth' and Google ratings a good a place to start.

Don't, however, fall into the trap of thinking that a service every so often is all your bike needs. As we've outlined above, a little regular TLC will go a long way as far as consumables go (like oil, tyres, chain and sprockets), and will also help you pick up any potential issues that may crop up between services.

The age-old mantra still holds true: look after your machine and it will look after you…