Keeping Your Motocross Parts Budget under control
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.
click below to read the entire article
Monday, May 17, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
Basic Dirtbike Maintenance 101 – Suspension Bearings
How to inspect, maintain, and replace suspension bearings
Suspension Bearings
Ahh, my favorite maintenance item - rear suspension bearings! I once bought a KX-85 for one of my sons, and when I took the linkage apart to inspect the bearings for the first time, every one of them were dry and shot. I literally had to replace every bearing on that Kawi. I will cover “costly mistakes when buying a used bike” in a later post. The fact is that these bearings get a lot of abuse, are subject to the elements and power washing, and all together they are expensive to replace. Keep them clean and lubed and your bike will perform better, and you will have more money to spend on that aftermarket pipe you want. So to keep things in good working order at the back of the bike, I inspect and grease the suspension bearings about four times a season. This article will show you how to inspect, clean, and replace the bearings if necessary.
click below to read the entire article...
Suspension Bearings
Ahh, my favorite maintenance item - rear suspension bearings! I once bought a KX-85 for one of my sons, and when I took the linkage apart to inspect the bearings for the first time, every one of them were dry and shot. I literally had to replace every bearing on that Kawi. I will cover “costly mistakes when buying a used bike” in a later post. The fact is that these bearings get a lot of abuse, are subject to the elements and power washing, and all together they are expensive to replace. Keep them clean and lubed and your bike will perform better, and you will have more money to spend on that aftermarket pipe you want. So to keep things in good working order at the back of the bike, I inspect and grease the suspension bearings about four times a season. This article will show you how to inspect, clean, and replace the bearings if necessary.
click below to read the entire article...
Basic Dirtbike Maintenance 101 – Steering Head Bearings
How to inspect, clean, and replace Steering Head Stem bearings
Steering head bearings are easy to overlook, until you have to replace them. Mostly with dirt bikes the main culprit of bearing failure is lack of grease from lack of service, and corrosion because water has gotten into the bearing from power washers. The great news is that steering head bearings are easy to keep maintained, and with attention should last as long as many of us keep a bike (a few years, that is). This article will show you how to inspect, clean, and replace if needed.
click below to read the entire article
Steering head bearings are easy to overlook, until you have to replace them. Mostly with dirt bikes the main culprit of bearing failure is lack of grease from lack of service, and corrosion because water has gotten into the bearing from power washers. The great news is that steering head bearings are easy to keep maintained, and with attention should last as long as many of us keep a bike (a few years, that is). This article will show you how to inspect, clean, and replace if needed.
click below to read the entire article
Basic Dirtbike Maintenance 101 – Wheel Bearings
How to inspect, maintain, and replace wheel bearings
A well-greased bearing gathers no rust… OK that is a lame version of the “rolling stone” truism, but it is true nonetheless. Another area that often gets neglected on bikes are the bearings. Granted, it is no fun taking the linkages apart and dealing with those little rollers. But once you let bearings get dry and start corroding, you are going to spend a good chunk of money and time replacing them. Better to spend some time a few times a year to clean and grease the bearings, and you’ll get longer life out of them, not to mention better wheel/steering/suspension performance.
There are three sets of bearings to maintain on a typical dirtbike: Wheel bearings, steering head bearings, and swingarm/linkage/shock bearings. I’ll deal with them separately, with some info on maintenance, then replacement. This article will show you how to inspect, clean, and replace the bearings if necessary.
click below to read the entire article
A well-greased bearing gathers no rust… OK that is a lame version of the “rolling stone” truism, but it is true nonetheless. Another area that often gets neglected on bikes are the bearings. Granted, it is no fun taking the linkages apart and dealing with those little rollers. But once you let bearings get dry and start corroding, you are going to spend a good chunk of money and time replacing them. Better to spend some time a few times a year to clean and grease the bearings, and you’ll get longer life out of them, not to mention better wheel/steering/suspension performance.
There are three sets of bearings to maintain on a typical dirtbike: Wheel bearings, steering head bearings, and swingarm/linkage/shock bearings. I’ll deal with them separately, with some info on maintenance, then replacement. This article will show you how to inspect, clean, and replace the bearings if necessary.
click below to read the entire article
Monday, April 26, 2010
Basic Dirtbike Maintenance 101 - Chain and Drive
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.
Basic Dirtbike Maintenance 101 - Filters
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.
click below to read the entire article
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:
- Change the oil every ride.
- Use motorcycle oil.
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