If you are a racer with sponsorships, you probably aren’t interested in this article. If you are like the other 99% of riders that enjoy the sport, but have to balance the never-ending need for parts with other necessary life expenses, like eating, read on.
Riding is expensive. Just ask my wife. She just doesn’t seem to ‘get it’ that our bikes are always needing some part or repair. But we have an ‘agreement’. She drives a really nice car and gets a spa treatment whenever she wants. I get to ride. It works.
Keeping your bike in parts could be as easy as putting the local bike shop on speed dial, and calling them every time something breaks. But take it from me, as much as I like the guys at my local store, I’ll go broke letting them be my exclusive parts supplier (or at least I’ll ride less). I want the most bang for my buck, without having to resort to fabricating parts in my garage. So I’ll share a few principles that really work for me.
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Maintenance Principles
- Keep a maintenance schedule
- Inspect your bike every time you ride
- Find the best supplier for parts you use regularly
- Bundle purchases to take advantage of free shipping
Since I have already posted articles for the basic maintenance of your bike, I am not going to be repetitive with this post. I’ll just point out that a key way to reduce the ownership cost of any ride (car/boat/PWC/bike) is to perform the regular maintenance.
- Change the fluids (oil, break, shock, coolant) at recommended intervals
- Clean and lube the bearings
- Inspect brakes, pistons, valves, chains, sprockets
Make sure it covers your year and model for your bike (duh). Some people prefer the Clymer, others like the manufactures manual. Whichever it is, it will be the best investment you made in your bike. It will tell you WHEN to do check certain things, and even better HOW to do it. Don't argue, just go buy it.
Obvious Point: Replacing parts before they fail is always less expensive. (I learned that the hard way – “one more ride” on a piston resulted in part of the skirt breaking off, requiring a cylinder rehone and crankshaft replacement). So performing routine maintenance not only saves you big on avoided catastrophic failures, but replacing parts before they get really worn will keep those parts from affecting other parts (like worn brake pads ruining your rotors). at the same time you will notice other things that need attention while doing said maintenance.
Summary: Get a manual, make a list of periodic maintenance tasks for your bike, along with when you need to do them, and post it in your garage.
Another good investment you can make is an hour meter, to keep track of how many hours you have on the piston, valves, etc. most manuals will list the periodic maintenance tasks in hours, so obviously it helps to know how many hours you are tracking.
#2 Inspect the bike every time you ride
Make it part of your routine after you wash the bike to perform a thorough visual inspection. You want to find problems and fix them before your next ride, instead of at the start of your next ride. There is nothing worse than arriving at the track, and suddenly your ride day is shut down because of a maintenance item that you could have easily fixed during the week, but didn't see it.
It would be impractical to list every item to inspect, but here is a good start:
- Wheels: spokes loose or damaged, cracks in the rim, objects imbedded in the tire, valve stem and rim lock damage, brake pads and rotors not worn or damaged.
- Suspension: No leaks in the fork seals, rear linkage bolts tight, no looseness or play in the linkage.
- Chain and Sprockets: Wear (the teeth will look like shark fins if they are worn), sprocket bolts tight, check the swingarm pad and chain guide for wear, master link should not look worn or loose, chain should not be stiff or have corrosion in the rollers.
- General: Look for loose bolts, parts that are cracking or broken.
#3 Find the best suppliers for your parts
Parts go into three categories in my garage:
- Consumables: Things I replace regularly, such as oil, chain lube, brake fluid, filter oil
- Regular Maintenance: Things I know will have to be replaced at some point, such as pistons, chain sets, bearings, tires.
- Failures: Whatever breaks!
Consumables
Most of my consumables I buy locally at one store that sells them at a competitive price (I.E. about the same price I would pay online). So you have to do a little work to call or visit the shops in your area that sell the products you use, to find out who has the best prices. I have found that the more glitzy the store, the higher the prices. I also found it helps to develop a relationship with the owner or manager, or even the parts counter guy, and be up front. Tell him (or her) you are looking to get the best price, and you will use their store. Some will give you a discount if you ask. If you or one of your kids races, ask for a sponsorship – they may give you a percentage off for putting a sticker on your bike.
I know it sounds like something your dad would say, but keeping a rotating stock of these items in your shop is way more efficient that running out to buy them "when it runs out." Trust me, you will always run out of something right when you need it. I try and keep an extra container of all consumables "in stock", in other words I have a new jug of filter oil in addition to the one I am using. I go by my shop about once a month and 're-stock'. That keeps me from having to run out to the store and buy oil on the morning of the day we ride.
The item you will need the most of is engine oil. As I noted in my previous post on engine oil, I buy the Suzuki Performance 4-cycle Engine Oil which is sold in 1 gallon jugs for about $17. I have not found an online supplier, so I get it at the local shop.
Other items you'll need:
- Air filter oil - I like Belray
- Chain Lube - again Belray is my preference
- Mineral Spirits- to clean your air filter and parts, get at Home Depot/Lowes
- Coolant - unless you race don't waste your money on high priced stuff like Engine Ice, regular antifreeze diluted to 50% is fine.
- Water-proof grease - Belray! (or marine grease)
- DOT3 brake fluid - Auto parts store
- WD40 - general lube (NEVER use on your chain)
- Loctite - keeps bolts where they're supposed to be - i use the blue "non-permanant" type. Most bolts you will be removing at some point, no need to get insane.
Regular Maintenance
Here is where the money starts adding up. Pistons, chain sets, brake pads, etc. What I have done is found a few places that have competitive prices and free shipping deals, and I try to order these parts BEFORE I need them. This accomplishes two things:
- I can shop for the best deals because I am not in a rush
- I am not under pressure that if the FEDEX guys doesn't come on Friday, we can't ride on Saturday.
Tires - I find that Motorcycle Superstore has the best prices on tires. They usually beat the other guys by about $10-$20, and shipping is reasonable (i recently bought a rear tire, the shipping was only $8, and I got it in three days).
Chain Sets - I have had good results with the Turner kit from MotoSport, and the Primary Drive kit from Rocky Mountain ATV.
(not an affiliate link)
Pistons - I have found that the piston kits at MotoSport are competitive with other suppliers, and they have free shipping over $100 (which this will inevitably be!)
OEM Parts - OEM parts are much more expensive if you order them through the local shop, so I will usually order through someone like Motosport. There are other OEM suppliers that may beat them by a little, but since MotoSport usually has other parts I need as well, I can bundle them to get free shipping, which evens it out the price and makes for less work for me not having to order parts from several sites (which also increases the shipping). MotoSport carries OEM parts for all five major manufacturers (Honda/Suzuki/Kawasaki/Yamaha/KTM).
OEM CAVEAT: If you need a small part, say the bolt on your clutch lever broke, it may be cheaper to get it from your local shop, even it its more expensive. You may pay $7 for the part locally vs. $4 at an online store, but there is no shipping charge at the local store (who wants to pay $8 shipping for a $4 part?). So if I need a small, single OEM part, I'll call the local shop, have them order it, and pick it in a few days when they get it.
Riding Gear - There are multiple ways to save bucks on gear. There are three of us who ride in my family, so buying gear is a major budget line item (hmm, pay the mortgage, or buy new gear...?). One way is to plan ahead, and look for closeouts. If you have the bucks to wear the coolest new gear that Ryan Dungy wore, go for it. Personally I have no problem buying last years closeout gear. Like anyone on the track really CARES what gear I have on. I like Sly Fox MX, as they specialize in closeout gear, and pretty much always have the lowest prices. I have also found them easy to work with, especially when I needed to return something.
MotoSport and Rocky Mountain ATV will also run closeout specials, so it is worth checking them out before you buy.
#4 Bundling
Many online stores offer free shipping when your order goes over some amount, usually $75 - $100. If you have several small things you need, like goggles, lenses, grips, etc, it makes sense to keep a list of these things and place your order when you get to $100. Sure you can run down to the local store and get grips, but their selection will be limited, and you’ll pay 20-30% more. For $100 worth of misc parts, that is $20-$30 in savings. So keep a “list of stuff I need” in your garage, and then place an order when you can bundle them into a “free shipping” order.
Other Recommendations:
Safety Wire: You gotta have some safety wire, even if it’s just to install your grips, but I found the stuff they sell in the online stores is junk. And expensive (relatively speaking – you get ¼ pound package of wire for $10, and it breaks very easy). I buy safety wire from SkyGeek.com. For $10 you get a full pound of .041 aircraft stainless steel safety wire (about 220 ft) that is strong as, well, steel. You can also pick up safety wire pliers from them, which are really useful to get that nice tight ‘spin’ on the application.
(not an affiliate link)
(not an affiliate link)
Say you cracked a rim on your YZF250, this will be an EXPENSIVE part to replace. But you can most likely find someone selling a used rim that would fit your bike for about half the cost of a new one. It’s good to review the sellers feedback ratings before you buy, and stay away from anyone that has less than 95% positive. Reputable sellers are very sensitive to their feedback rating, which means if you are not happy with the purchase, they will make it right.
I have found the guys at Keep it Roostin are good to work with, they have new and used parts at competitive prices (I got a set of new Pro-Taper bars for my sons CR85, with mounts, about 25% cheaper than any where else).
(not an affiliate link)
Ok, I think that about does it for my post - feel free to comment if you have any other recommendations that you find useful.
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