Basic Dirtbike Maintenance 101 - Chain and Drive

Basic Dirtbike Maintenance 101 -How to care for your chain

Probably the most ignored aspect of regular maintenance is the chain.  Most people just spray a little lube now and then, then wonder why their chain doesn’t last.  Think about what your chain goes through:

• It is under tremendous torque most of the time, undergoing rapid power and drag, over and over.
• It is exposed to dirt and grime. All those little particles can work their way into the links and rollers, and are like sandpaper.

But the biggest reason to take care of your chain is realized if you have ever had one fail under power, like going up the face of a big jump and suddenly your chain breaks. Either you lose power and face-plant on the landing, or your rear wheel locks up and you face plant on the landing.  Not to mention the damage it may do to your rim, swingarm, cases, or leg.  (OK, lesson on why to take care of your chain is done).  This article will show you how to take care of your primary drive mechanism.

Basic Dirtbike Maintenance 101 - Filters

Basic Dirtbike Maintenance 101 - how to care for your air filter

In my last post I preached that you should change the oil every ride.  The premise is that oil is cheap, engines are expensive, so it’s a no-brainer.  The same goes for keeping your air filter clean and oiled. A tiny amount of grit getting into your engine is VERY BAD.  Trust me on this.

As with the oil, a few basic rules:  Clean and oil the filter every ride. (Ok that was one rule, even better).  Maybe if you go for a little spin, and it’ not dusty, and the filter looks just as clean as when you started, then fine, you can let it go for one more.  But the general rule is to clean it every time you ride.

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Basic Dirtbike Maintenance 101 - Oil

Basic Dirtbike Maintenance 101 - Oil

There are a million things to worry about on a dirt bike.  It’ll drive you crazy.  But if you take care of the basics, you can save yourself a lot of time and money.  But it takes some discipline.  We are not ‘race every weekend’ riders, but we do ride 2-4 times per month, for a good 4 hours each time.  Here is what we do. This first post will cover oil.

I am a serious “change your oil” person, with all my vehicles.  I figure it this way:  Oil is about $5 per quart, an engine rebuild is $1500 or more.  Enough said.  When it comes to our bikes, I have two rules:

1. Change the oil every ride.
2. Use motorcycle oil.

What do I bring to the track?

What do I bring to the track?

Ever get to the track, start riding, and suddenly need something that is sitting on your shop bench?  It happened the other day, my son pulled off after two laps and started waving frantically at me.  Rode over to check it out, and both of his seat bolts were loose. No problem, except when I went into my tool kit, there was not an 8mm socket to be found.  I had this vague recollection of tossing it into a parts bowl as I finished up my last job… and NOT putting it back into the socket rack.  I’ll cover “benefits of putting your tools away” in another post, but it also pointed out that in our hurry to get out the door, I didn’t check my “RIDE LIST”.  (the pic is my son hitting a corner at the local track)

My ride list is a list of stuff that I like to have with me at the track, things that I need from time to time.  I post the list in the garage where I will see it, and I check it off every time we go out (well, almost every time).

So here it is, my RIDE LIST.  Feel free to add your own items, but it might be a good start: