Maintenance and breakdowns.
 

How many people on here buy bikes and then find they have a problem affording the maintenance or repairing breakdown faults. Even going to the expense of fitting aftermarket cans,mini indicators and small number plates as a few of the add-ons but sacrificing the routine maintenance.
Many of us maintain our bikes ourselves,because we have the knowledge,like fiddling and want to know that it has been properly done.
We are even willing to impart that know how to others who wish to learn and do their own basic servicing
On a bike the simplest thing when riding can be a hazard,so having a machine that is 100% sound is utmost on my priority

Reason for the question and comments being the recent tyre,brake and Mot threads and what appears to be the condition of some of the bikes that are being ridden in every day use.

Parts do wear out and break,needing replacement but surely this is part of the operating cost of owning a bike,not just the purchase costs, insurance and fuel.

Re: Maintenance and breakdowns.
 

Nope, I bought my bike )and my car) fully aware that my arm and my leg are going to be sacrificed in order to keep them in tip top condition...maybe I should stop buying Italian?????? Haha just kidding.

Re: Maintenance and breakdowns.
 

my bikes are blingy.
But I do not skimp on maintenance, in fact I am very very nitty picky about it. Even the slightest issue to me is investigated, or I throw a strop!

Bikes aren't just for buying, and then thinking you can leave them alone, it is a very expensive hobby. I've spent a fortune between both of them. Some people really slate me for hom much money has been thrown at them, but I prefer my bikes to look good, work well, and not to be held together with gaffa tape thinking its a quirky gimic to talk about.

Re: Maintenance and breakdowns.
 

Maintenance always comes first for me. Otherwise I sit and wonder... oooo what happens when I am having a blast and the chain snaps... or having a blast and the engine goes.

The result in most cases would be pain.

My front brakes worry me at the moment, maybe I'm just not used to them as its been a while but they seem to be to good, loads of power that I'm not used to and I am braking way to early.

Possibly due to loosing the front end under braking is now making me psychological worried about using the front brakes to hard.

Re: Maintenance and breakdowns.
 

Suspension, brakes, chain, engine. Rest will be right.

If I had time to fettle everything to perfection I would, but generally I've got better things to do.

Re: Maintenance and breakdowns.
 

I try and get every issue sorted as soon as possible, but this dosn't always mean straight away...it depends. Binding brakes get done pretty quick, a dry, dirty, corroding chain will be attended to instantly (wouldnt want one snapping on me!), oil changes are completed within a time "window" (actualyl, a milage "window") and other things are done as part of yearly maintinance

Every time I clean my bike (every couple of weeks) I have a good look around and see if there are any issues developing (corrosion, leaks, loose parts) and either sort them myself or find someone who can :)

Purchasing a motorcycle is, IMO, the cheap part (depending on how many miles you use it for!). In a popular and sensationalist weekly motorcycling publication, they once worked out the cost of a CBR600 if you brought it all as spare parts...

...something in excess of £25,000

Re: Maintenance and breakdowns.
 

Used to do it all myself but in recent times I leave it to the garage for full on maint - I definitely don't have the time. I give it a good check once a week-ish - tyres, brakes, chain. I also find that by me cleaning it/polishing it regularly I get to see/check lots of stuff.

Re: Maintenance and breakdowns.
 

i find the maintinace costs arnt that bad but i do most things my self, tires can hurt the bank but fuel does more

the costly part of bike's is if you fall of the bloody things :|

Re: Maintenance and breakdowns.
 

Use of any vehicle is expensive. More so (generally) for us younglings because of insurance, road tax, petrol plus your general maintenace/repairs.

Re: Maintenance and breakdowns.
 

You got time to clean it but not to maintain it?

Re: Maintenance and breakdowns.
 

I haven't got time to do both.

Re: Maintenance and breakdowns.
 

Seems like a strange one to prioritise.

Re: Maintenance and breakdowns.
 

I can see a point from Bri( I think)
If you are sat there washing your bike, you get to pay attention in detail, I do. People who work hard don't get much chance to pay attention to much detail.
A good example of this is the impact driver incident Chris. Working too many nights all the time in winter, how was I to know I had a crack in the alternator cover?. Only on very close inspection was it found.
I go over my bike in fine detail when cleaning. Especially when I've been on a lot of nightshifts. Thats paranoia on my part though.
Also if you bike is covered in sh1te all the time....what do you know if its hiding something.

Re: Maintenance and breakdowns.
 

It gets checked frequently, and it gets a visit to the local bike shop more frequently than the service schedule. Oil, brake & clutch fluid gets changed before its due. It gets its tyres changed before its close to the wear indicators.

Unfortunately, courtesy of a cage driver, I've got one arm with little strength, a lower back that doesn't work too well, a right hip that makes getting on the bike difficult and all make working on the bike very painful. The payout means I have a nice bike and someone else maintains it. When I clean the bike it probably takes a whole lot longer than any fit person, and the same with something simple like putting air into the tyres. I can't even, physically, do the chain tension. Now if I had a choice...........

Re: Maintenance and breakdowns.
 

You're right, when I clean it it gets a really thorough check so that I can get it sorted before it actually needs sorting. And I'm also paranoid about keeping it in tip top condition.

Re: Maintenance and breakdowns.
 

Some people just immediately think we are all more obsessed by shiny shiny, than taking a moment to think that there can be other reason for not doing things ourselves.

But we still take pride in our bikes:D

Re: Maintenance and breakdowns.
 

to me the main priority is keeping the bike going. Checking chain, oils and water are more important than anything like keeping clean and blingy bits.

Question, I have a service package with a local motorcycle company so why am i greasing wheel spindles, brake pins and calipers and re-adjusting clutches and chains myself?

Re: Maintenance and breakdowns.
 

I really get p*ssed off with the 'you should be riding, not polishing' brigade sometimes. I'd love to be out riding, but when Pete is on late shift and I'm here by myself I'd much rather spend my time cleaning and polishing the bike than sat like some sad **** in front of 'I'm a z lister, strictly can't dance, get me out of here 'cos I have no X factor.'

We have a bike we are proud of. We like to keep it maintained and clean. You want to ride a sh*t-pit, that's your choice, but don't knock people who like to do otherwise.

Re: Maintenance and breakdowns.
 

I am lucky I have a YC to do work on my bikes. If I need something done I just give him a call.
I used to argue like hell about doing stuff myself with Monsieur Carnivore. He was always insistent that I had a Clymer manual and a Haynes at hand and I should learn, it would take a right good kick up the butt to get him to do something for me or indeed help. He was more than capable of fixing them.
Chris never questions if I ask, as he knows I really don't wish to do work myself, its nice to have an understanding of what he has done, but I am not comfortable with many things to try on my own
. I have helped Chris on a few occasions and we have discussed alsorts of issues, occasionally be guided by him and have done work like brake calipers and cylinder heads....still doesn't encourage me to get on with it without him. Nor do I have the tools.

I prefer to give a few notes to Chris and be satisified the bike won't fall apart.
But then again, I get more pleasure in cleaning and polishing than getting in up to my armpits in grease :-)

Re: Maintenance and breakdowns.
 

Perfectly understandable then, from your earlier post I figured you'd chosen to do things that way around. Sorry if I misunderstood.

Again perfectly understandable.

What you mean not take the p*ss out of you shiny sportsbike riders? (or even shiny sportsbike ballast) :confused:
You got no chance! :smt043

Re: Maintenance and breakdowns.
 

No worries YC, you haven't got a crystal ball. I'll let you buy me a beer, or several - then I can reciprocate till we fall over.