Why is motorcycle maintenance important?

There is a lot riding on your motorcycle – literally your life – so it’s well worth spending some time, money and effort to ensure your bike is on top of its game.

However, while different motorcycles have varying maintenance needs, there are many aspects to bike maintenance that are common across the board, and that’s what we’re detailing here.

Of course, the first question to answer is what sort of professional assistance do you actually need? Mechanically handy types who know their bike well may be happy to carry out servicing and maintenance themselves, but in an era when motorcycles are growing increasingly more sophisticated, and often require specialist diagnostic tools, for most of us it’s off to a motorcycle service centre we go.

Factory-authorised outlets may charge a bit more than an independent shop, but then they also have factory-trained technicians who will know your particular model and its foibles, and will use genuine factory parts that were specifically produced to meet your bike’s needs. And unless you plan on keeping it forever, maintaining a factory service history will also help preserve your motorcycle’s resale value.

On the other hand, a quality independent technician who does good work for a fair price is worth holding onto, so shop around, ask other riders for recommendations, and hit online forums for advice on where others have found good/bad/indifferent customer service.

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There are a gazillion different bits that go into a motorcycle, so which are the ones that need the most attention? Some service and maintenance aspects are more critical than others, so here’s what we recommend you tick off the list first...

You’re connected to the road via two tiny contact patches no bigger than the palm of your hand. Tyres are a non-negotiable – ensure they’re inflated to the correct pressures as indicated by your bike’s manufacturer and check those pressures weekly. Over- or under-inflated tyres will cause your bike to handle improperly, impacting grip and handling, and tyres should of course have more than the minimum legal tread depth (as indicated by wear marker limits).

And the tyres themselves should be in good shape, with a nicely rounded profile. Tyres that are ‘squared off’ through lots of highway miles won’t feel great when the corners come into view, and neither will a track-day bike that has tyres worn down to a pronounced point in the centre. Tyres that are perished, have splits in their sidewalls, or have a ‘scalloped’ and uneven wear pattern, all need to go.

Your local shop will be able to fit your tyres and balance your wheels too, applying tyre weights where necessary to ensure they’re spinning as smoothly as possible. And don’t forget to go easy until you’ve scrubbed the new hoops in – the preserver which coats new tyres is slippery!

Yes, tyres are expensive, but not as expensive as bike repair bills or medical costs – replace them before they become a liability.

Brakes, too, are critical – obviously! Ensure there’s plenty of meat left in your brake pads with a visual inspection and never let cleaning chemicals or oil come into contact with your discs – this can ruin the pads and significantly reduce braking performance.

The discs, or rotors, should also be of the required thickness – your owner’s manual will state the minimum before replacement is due. Replacing brake discs is expensive. But while original equipment is generally best, there are some quality aftermarket alternatives out there too – your local bike shop can advise.

And your brake fluid should be clean and replaced periodically as per your bike’s service schedule. Older bikes may need their brake system flushed and caliper pistons cleaned; potentially messy and critically important jobs we’d recommend leaving to the professionals.

We’ve already mentioned brake fluid, but there is another crucial liquid that keeps your bike running: oil. This should be of the correct manufacturer-recommended viscosity and filled to the appropriate level. Oil levels should be checked weekly – most bikes these days have a sight glass on the bottom of the crankcase to do this or a cap with a dipstick – and topped up if required. Buy a plastic funnel to help you do this without spills.

And the oil should be changed per your manufacturer’s service schedule – usually somewhere between every 5000km and 15,000km. The older the bike is, the more oil it tends to use, the telltale sign being the bike blowing a bit of smoke. High-mileage bikes will eventually need piston rings replaced and possibly cylinders re-sleeved, but if the bike has been looked after carefully then we should be talking well into six-figure odometer readings before we reach this point.

Other fluids? Don’t forget your coolant in liquid-cooled bikes. Leaking coolant is relatively rare, unless you’ve copped a stone through your radiator, but the system should be flushed and refilled as per your bike’s maintenance schedule, usually once every few years.

Your bike’s final drive is how the engine’s output is transmitted to the rear wheel. For the majority of motorcycles, that means a chain, but plenty of heavyweight bikes use a belt or fully enclosed shaft.

Motorcycles chains require regular lubrication and adjustment to keep them clean and operating as they should. As a rough guide, we lubricate the chain with a quality aerosol spray roughly every 500km or so, and check the chain’s adjustment every month, depending of course on usage. Harder riding, the heavier the bike, and the worse the conditions (rain, dirt roads etc) all mean more regular attention is required.

And yes, modern O-ring chains trap lubrication behind their O-ring seals, but the external surfaces still need some extra help to keep things smooth between the chain and the front and rear sprocket.

So, what to do? Stick the bike on its centrestand or race stand, or get a mate to lift the back of the bike up just off the ground by carefully pulling it towards themselves to the left of the bike, while the front wheel and sidestand remain firmly on the ground. Then, with the chain already hot from some use (which will help the lube penetrate better), spray the inner surface of the bottom section of the chain, just before it meets the rear sprocket, as you manually turn the back wheel. A little goes a long way.

The chain’s tension is important too – too tight robs horsepower and contributes to premature wear and stretching, too little and the bike will feel jerky and snatchy, especially at lower speeds. Around 3-4cm of freeplay in the middle of the chain is in the ballpark. But there are different chain adjustment systems that require different methods, so refer to your owner’s manual or click here for our chain adjustment guide.

Is your chain filthy? Clean it by wiping it down with a professional chain cleaner, or even a rag soaked in kerosene. Just mind your fingers around that sprocket, and don’t forget to lubricate it again afterwards.

And while you’re down there, inspect the back sprocket. If it's really hooked, with its teeth sharpened to a point, it’s time for replacement – and it’s generally better to replace both sprockets and your chain at the same time, as they all mesh together over their service lives.

So how long does a chain (and sprockets last)? It all depends on your riding and how well you look after the chain, but expect at least 20,000km up to double that, maybe even a little more.

Has your bike got a belt or a shaft drive instead? You’re in luck – both require far less maintenance than a chain, and generally last for way longer. A visual inspection every now and then of a belt is a good idea, to check for any signs of excessive wear or damage, but otherwise we’d leave its replacement up to your local shop – likewise oil changes for an otherwise maintenance-free shaft drive.

Is your bike’s engine running as it should? Are you roughly getting the right sort of fuel economy? Sometimes it’s hard to tell when issues creep into play slowly, over time. How engine performance issues are addressed depends on whether your bike relies on carburettors or electronic fuel injection (EFI).

While your local mechanic will be able to sort problems with either, most bikes utilise EFI these days and that means proper diagnostic equipment – and sometime a dynamometer – to identify and iron out any issues.

Do you feel a knocking sound just before braking to a stop, or when you rock the bike front to back at a standstill with the front brake on? Do your handlebars turn through their range of movement cleanly and without any notches? If not, your steering head bearings could be the culprit, and your bike’s handling and cornering will be adversely affected as a result.

General wear and tear, possibly exacerbated by hard landings after wheelies, could be the culprit. In any case, getting those bearings replaced will improve the bike’s handling out of sight.

Before you go chucking thousands at an aftermarket suspension package, are you sure your bike’s fork and rear shock(s) are correctly set up for your specific weight and riding style?

If the term ‘static sag’ makes you think of Botox, do yourself a favour and find a shop (or, even better, a motorcycle suspension specialist) to set your bike up right, with the appropriate spring preload settings and rebound and compression damping settings, depending on the level of adjustment your bike offers.

Still, paying for high-end suspension gear can produce great results, if the budget permits. And bear in mind that motorcycle suspension does degrade over time – fork and shock oil deteriorates, fork seals can blow, gas-filled shocks can need re-gassing, and linkages can wear out.

So, if the bike just isn’t riding the bumps like it used to, it dives under brakes like a submarine, or it just doesn’t feel great, get your local shop to check it out. Roughly every 20,000 to 30,000km is a pretty safe bet between suspension services.

Electrical faults are generally easy to see – an electrical item generally either works or it doesn’t – but, beyond replacing a blown bulb or dead battery, finding the source of the issue can be a right pain.

Unless you’re an auto electrician yourself, we’d suggest saving your hair (and your sanity) and throwing your bike at the shop. Headlight, brake light and indicator bulbs are at the ‘dead easy’ end of the scale, while those pesky intermittent faults can be akin to mental torture.

You love your bike. You love riding. But if stuff goes wrong when doing the latter on the former, the consequences can be big. So, whether you’re a dab hand with a spanner yourself, or you prefer to get your bike seen to by the professionals, make sure you stick to your bike’s service schedule and treat it like your life depends on it. It does, and besides – who wants to ride a bike that handles like a bowl of custard, when you can keep it on point and scything through the bends like its maker intended? You know what to do…

• Tyres (correct pressures, good tread depth, nicely rounded profile)
• Brakes (decent pads, straight discs, clean brake fluid)
• Oil and coolant (correct type, correct level, changed per service schedule)
• Final drive (regularly cleaned, lubed and adjusted chain; belt or shaft per service schedule)
• Engine (correctly tuned, spark plugs changed per service schedule)
• Steering (serviceable steering head bearings, properly adjusted damper if fitted)
• Suspension (refreshed oil/gas/seals, set up for your weight and riding style)
• Electrical (working bulbs, see your shop for anything more complicated!)

This article was originally published in June 2022.