15 Tips to Extend Your Motorcycle's Lifespan

For a motorcycle enthusiast, it’s natural to become attached to his/her motorcycle and wants it to last a lifetime. With regular and proper maintenance, your motorcycle can continue to run with excellent performance for several years. There are a few simple tasks that you can do to extend your motorcycle’s lifespan.

This article will be discussing 15 tips to help extend your motorcycle’s lifespan.

• Table of Contents
• 1. Keep Your Motorcycle Clean
• 2. Make Regular Maintenance Checks
• 3. Check and Lubricate the Chain
• 4. Take Care of the Motorcycle Battery
• 5. Ride Properly
• 6. Clean or Replace Air Filters
• 7. Maintain Tires
• 8. Change Engine Oil
• 9. Avoid Over-Modifying
• 10. Make Sure Motorcycle Tires are Aligned
• 11. Use Appropriate Fuel Cleaner
• 12. Check the Ignition System
• 13. Frequency of Use
• 14. Park in a Safe Place
• 15. Keep Motorcycle Covered
• 16. Last Words

1. Keep Your Motorcycle Clean

Properly cleaning your motorcycle will ensure it lasts longer. A motorcycle covered in dust, dirt, grime, and other debris will cause the surface to become corroded. All the exterior parts and some interior parts, particularly the engine, can suffer from buildup. Clean your motorcycle regularly, even make sure to clean the dirt on the paint and chain.

Use soapy water and a soft cloth to wipe down the motorcycle. Make sure to clean the frame, chain, and tight spaces between parts Make sure the cleaning solutions you are using are safe and don’t contain harsh chemicals.

Your motorcycle will not need to be repaired as often if you clean it on a regular basis. Washing your motorcycle will remove corrosive substances and give you the opportunity to check your bike for any signs of damage.

Make sure the cleaners you are using for your motorcycle are safe and don’t contain harsh chemicals.

2. Make Regular Maintenance Checks

Is your motorcycle’s handling off or is it producing unusual noises? If you notice any unusual behavior, get your motorcycle checked as soon as possible. The longer you ignore any issues with your motorcycle, the more serious the damage might become. If you let the damage get worse, it means you’ll need to spend more money fixing it.  

To ensure your motorcycle performs optimally, make sure to conduct regular maintenance checks. Depending on how often you use your bike usage and how old it is, the frequency of maintenance checks will vary.

Here are a few things to do while maintaining your motorcycle:

• Apply anti-corrosion paints
• Examine tires, brakes, headlights, indicators, and wiring
• Use cleaning products from reliable brands
• Change engine oil regularly
• Make sure to lubricate the chain

3. Check and Lubricate the Chain

Regularly check your motorcycle chain to make sure it’s properly lubricated. Make sure the chain always has enough slack, doing so is an important part of maintenance. A properly lubed chain ensures better oil absorption and improves the performance of your motorbike. Clean the chain thoroughly before applying a lubricant.

4. Take Care of the Motorcycle Battery

Without a functioning motorcycle battery, you cannot use any electrical features. You don’t want your battery to die, so there are a few things that can prevent it from happening. Keep your motorcycle battery charged to ensure it remains active longer. Also, maintain the battery by cleaning off any buildup and examining the terminals for signs of rust. Use a battery tester to check the battery's remaining power to ensure it can still run properly.

5. Ride Properly

One of the simplest ways to extend your motorcycle’s lifespan is to ride properly. Avoid revving your motorcycle’s engine unnecessarily. Instead, treat and ride your bike carefully when on the road.

Avoid suddenly applying the brakes as it can put a strain on the tires and brakes. Speeding can also damage the engine if it becomes overheated. Even if you ride carefully, traveling on bumpy roads can also damage your motorcycle.

6. Clean or Replace Air Filters

The air filter ensures only clean air enters the engine and allows for smooth combustion. A clogged or dirty air filter will be less effective at blocking pollutants, causing damage to your motorcycle engine and preventing the right mixture of fuel and air.

Read your motorcycle owner’s manual to learn how frequently you should clean and replace the air filter. Make sure to clean or replace the air filter every time you ride on a dusty road.

7. Maintain Tires

Make sure to check the tire treads and pressure before going on a journey. Examine the tires for cracks, holes, tears, or any other damage. Since the tires are constantly in contact with the ground, be careful when riding over roads that are wet, bumpy, or covered with debris.

Also, make sure that your tires are properly inflated by using a pressure gauge. If the tire pressure is low, the wheel can become damaged and l speed up wear and tear in the tire. Then this can damage the tire structure and can possibly expose you to road dangers. To give your tire and motorcycle a longer lifespan, keep your tires at the correct pressure level. 

8. Change Engine Oil

Check the quality of the engine oil before or after a long ride. It’s ideal to change the oil every 3,000 km. However, the best time to change the engine oil can vary depending on the type of motorcycle.

Aside from changing the engine oil, the quality of the oil is equally important, make sure to use premium quality engine oil.

9. Avoid Over-Modifying

Adding too many aftermarket parts and modifications can affect the performance of the engine and shorten the lifespan of your motorbike. It is possible to upgrade your bike, but make sure you only customize a few features. For example,  installing an exhaust without changing the carburetor to improve airflow can have an adverse impact on your motorcycle’s lifespan.

10. Make Sure Motorcycle Tires are Aligned

Another way to extend the longevity of your motorcycle and the tires are to make sure they are properly aligned. To check alignment, take a piece of string and loop it around the two tires to make sure they are positioned along the factory alignment marks. If they are not aligned, the motorcycle tires will become worn down faster.

11. Use Appropriate Fuel Cleaner

Over time, piles of residue will build up in the engine and fuel system. This happens especially if you use low-quality fuel. A fuel cleaner can help remove deposits and clean combustion chambers and carburetor passages. Moreover, you can also use a fuel cleaner as a fuel stabilizer to help restore your motorbike’s engine.

12. Check the Ignition System

The ignition system creates a spark that ignites the air and fuel mixture in the engine. To keep your motorcycle in condition, it’s important to maintain the whole system, especially the spark plug. If the spark plug is dirty or rusted, it can cause your engine to become overheated.

Regularly inspect the ignition system and use a ratchet and socket to remove the spark plug, if the spark plug is orange, this means it’s running perfectly. But if the spark plug is white, then it is faulty.

13. Frequency of Use

If you constantly push your motorcycle beyond its limits, the constant stress will shorten your bike’s lifespan. Frequently using your motorcycle will gradually cause its performance to decrease. For example, taking your motorcycle often on long-distance rides plus using it for daily commutes of at least 50 km, your motorbike will likely start to break down early. Be mindful of how often you ride and the way you handle your motorcycle since putting extra stress on your bike will require more maintenance expenses. An increased workload and not maintaining the bike is the easy way to shorten your motorcycle’s life.

14. Park in a Safe Place

When finding a place to park your motorcycle, try to find a parking space that is covered, has optimum humidity levels, and is easily visible. Taking care of the motorcycle's safe parking will prevent its parts from aging like seals and hoses, and also stops corrosion formation on metal parts.

Parking your motorcycle underneath shade to protect it from direct sunlight will prevent harmful UV rays from breaking down the rubber parts, weakening seals and hoses, and causing corrosion in the metallic parts.

15. Keep Motorcycle Covered

If you park your motorcycle outside, make sure to keep it covered. Leaving your motorcycle outside for months can cause sun damage to it. Covers will protect it from the sun and other weather elements like dirt, grime, rain, etc.

16. Last Words

Many riders who want to know the best way to extend the lifespan of their two-wheeler, then hopefully the tips discussed in the article will help. The key to extending a bike’s lifespan is regularly cleaning, repairing, and maintaining. You also need to lubricate the chain, maintain the tires, change the engine oil, track the frequency of use, and avoid over-modifications. There are a variety of aftermarket parts available at Viking Bags, including sissy bars, crash bars, fairings, seats, luggage racks, and handlebars.