The motorcycle diary

Published On: May 5, 2017 09:28 AM NPT


Motorcycles or scooters are the most practical modes of transportation in the valley. Apart from letting us quickly navigate through traffic jams, they also cost a lot less in terms of maintenance. There are many reasons why you should take care of your motorbike, maintaining its secondhand resale value being one of them. But you don’t always have to wait to take your bike for servicing for that.

There are a few things you can do at home to ensure that it always functions at its best. The Week talked to Ronish Rizal of VR 46 workshop located at Damodar Marg, Jawalakhel to know what can be done at home to take care of our prized bikes. As a kid, Rizal would tinker around his father’s bike, and it has been seven years since that habit became a profession.    

Clean your bike 
One of the first and most crucial things you should do to take care of your vehicle is to keep it clean all the time. With the city so dusty it has been more important than ever before to make sure you do so regularly. The pollution as well as the bumpy roads may be displacing parts or making some wires loose. “When you clean your bike regularly, you notice the small changes immediately, which enables you to act on any foreseeable problem rather than finding out when the damage is done,” says Rizal.    

Take care of the air filter
The air filter is one of the bikes defense mechanism against pollution. This sponge like contraption is placed on top of the engine in order to protect it from any harmful particles that could to get in. It is made of fibrous material that traps solid particles and can be cleaned at home. In the latest models of bikes, it is located under the seat. In scooters, it is located beneath the boot under your seat. You can access this filter by unscrewing four screws located on the four sides of the scooter. Two are in the boot and two are above, right next to the petrol tank. After removing these screws, don’t panic, the whole seat is supposed to come out. You now have access to the air filter. 

“Sometimes when you check the air filter, you will see that it is drenched in mobil and you know then that you cannot use it anymore and have to replace it,” explains Rizal. Otherwise, take it out carefully and clean it with either a cleaning paper that is found at hardware stores or you can also slap it against the wall to remove the dirt. If it is too dirty, you can purchase a new filter and replace it by yourself as well. It is important to do this on a regular basis, especially because of the air pollution in the city. If your air filters stop working, your engine will suffer.

Check brake pads
Checking your brake pads is one of the easiest things you can do to take care of your bike. It is located on both the front and the back wheel and is the rubber padding between the metal cylinder and the brake disc that makes braking possible. As time goes on, the friction and the heat caused by it makes the rubber crumble away and eventually the two steel parts may touch. Your job is to make sure that these two metals don’t come in direct contact. When you see that the pad has thinned out to almost three millimeters or less, you should replace them. Whirring noise and difficulty in braking are two telltale signs that you need to change these pads. If you don’t change them on time, they will start making grooves in the rotors, and driving becomes risky for you might not be able to brake on time. 

Charging the battery
Refer to your bike manual to find out where the battery is located in your bike. In most modern bikes, it is either on the right or the left side. “There are a few things you should invest in when you buy a vehicle and a battery charger is one of them,” says Rizal. This will come very handy, especially in the winter seasons when the battery dies all the time. Before removing the battery make sure that the bike is completely cooled down. Be very careful while handling the battery and make sure you don’t touch any open points while it is still plugged in. If you have an older motorbike, you may even have an acid battery. In this case, always check to make sure the acid level is maintained. If the liquid indicator is below the lower level, add distilled water till it is midway between upper and lower level and leave the ignition on for a few minutes to charge the battery.    

Is your rectifier working?
A rectifier is placed right above your battery and is what charges your battery. If your battery keeps dying, it may be due to the fact that you need a new rectifier. You don’t, however, have to go to the mechanic to figure out if that’s the problem. Unplug the positive wire of the rectifier and turn on the bike. Be very careful not to touch the naked wire. “It can be scary the first few times but it gets easier,” says Rizal. Take a hold of the sheathed part of the wire and touch its exposed part to the metal body of the bike. If there is a spark when the two come into contact, your rectifier is working great. If not, it’s time to replace it. 

The rule of thumb to take care of your motor vehicle is to learn to listen to it. “If something is wrong with it, it will groan and complain just like humans do,” he says. If you hear strange noises coming out of your vehicle, don’t ignore it. Try to find the cause but if you can’t pinpoint the problem yourself, take it to a mechanic as soon as you can. 
 

 



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