Tech Talk

The summer riding season is here. Making sure that your bike is in top mechanical condition for the summer riding season is important. The normal maintance items like air filters, oil, valves clearances are a given. This stuff needs to be done quite often and if you ride a lot you’ll be a pro at it. I want to talk about the stuff that isn’t so common or sometimes forgotten. If you plan on squeezing out another year on your current bike you may want to take a look at this list and see if your bike is in need of any repairs.

1. Steering Head Bearings.

How do you know if these are bad or need attention? First off if you have never had the steering stem off of your bike to grease the bearings, it needs to be done. Most factories will install a minimal amount of cheap grease on these bearings and after a few rides you are going to start wearing the steering head bearings and races. It is a good idea to grease these bearing when the bike is new and about every 6 months of riding. Use a good amount of quality water proof grease. To check if your bearings need to be adjusted or replaced, put the bike on a stand so that the front tire is off of the ground and grab the forks at the bottom near the tire. Try to move the forks back and forth. If you have any movement your steering stem may need adjustment or have the bearings and races replaced. Also check and make sure that the handle bars turn side to side freely. Any notching will indicate damaged bearings and races. You will need a few special tools to remove and install both the bearings and races. Check out Parktool.com for the proper tools.

2. Wheel Bearings

Most manufactures used sealed wheel bearings. This doesn’t mean that they do not wear and fail. Any bearing after time will need to be checked and replaced. To check your wheel bearings, grab the tire and try to wiggle it side to side. Any side to side movement is a good sign that the bearings have bit the dust. If this has happened you will need to replace both the bearing and seals. When removing the bearings make sure that you remove any clips that hold the bearing in. I have seen a number of cases where this clip wasn’t removed and the hub was damaged trying to get the bearing out. Take your time and look for any clips. Make sure you install the inner spacer before installing the second bearing. Leaving that inner spacer out will prematurely wear the bearings or lock up your wheel. Never reuse an old bearing or pound a bearing in from the inner race.

3. Electrical Connectors

Most riders will clean out their electrical connectors if there is a problem. Bike doesn’t start, no spark, now let’s look for the problem. Then they find a melted or corroded connector. This will only take a few minutes. Take each connector, disconnect it, clean it out with contact cleaner and reassemble it maybe even with a little dielectric grease. This small step could be the difference between finishing a race or getting a DNF.

4. Spokes and Sprockets

This would be a good time to check the tightness of your spokes. Some riders will tap on the spokes and listen. You can easily tell the difference between a loose spoke that will have a flat sound to a tight spoke that will a sharp sound. This is a good quick way to check if you have a loose spoke. A better way would be to use a spoke torque wrench. This will check the torque of each spoke. Make sure that you don’t tighten each spoke in a row. What this could do is make you wheel out of true. Instead tighten up every forth spoke. You’ll have to rotate the wheel over four times but this will assure that they are all evenly tightened. While you are at the rear wheel check the tightness of your rear sprocket. I have seen these bolts come loose on a few bikes.

5. Brakes

Bleed your brakes. I can’t tell you how much that this will make a difference in the feel and stopping power of your bike. If you power wash, ride in the mud or live in FL where we have tons of humidity you will have water in your brake fluid. Yes your brakes are a sealed system but DOT 3 and 4 brake fluid is hydroscopic. This means that it will absorb water. Water in the brake system will greatly reduce your braking power. So bleed your brakes often and use a quality brake fluid that is in a sealed bottle. Brake fluid that is left in an open container will absorb water.

Take some time before your next ride to make some simple checks. In the long run it will save you money and waited riding time. There is nothing worse then missing a great day of riding because of a simple mechanical failure that could have been prevented. Well maybe there is but it sill sucks, If you have a question or comment feel free to e-mail me at Chrisreo@bellsouth.net and together we’ll keep Florida riders on top.