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5 Motorcycle Maintenance Tasks You Can Do Yourself

25th January 2021
"Do it yourself!"

You should service your bike where you can trust people. And whom do you trust the most? Yourself! You wouldn’t exchange your original motorbike parts for some cheap ones for money. You love your motorbike. And for all the motorbike rider/lovers out there, here are some things you can do yourself so others won’t touch the love of your life! Also, you could save so much if you didn’t have to pay for all the servicing that you do for your bike.

All these things aside, your bike might need various things that are just for your bike. Counsel your motorbike expert prior to starting to instruct yourself about issues, for example, the area of channels and attachments, and which parts you should eliminate to get to them; appropriate sums and kinds of different fluids, and stretches for evolving them.

Cleaning your chain

chain

These days, most chains are O-ring chains; they need less cleaning than the unsealed chains of the old style. When it gets really dirty, or at the mileage your owner's manual recommends, you'll want to clean the chain. Boost the rear wheel of your bike as you do so and bring the transmission in reverse, allowing quick movement of the chain. Use a brush to clean the cassette first and then clean the chainrings. All with soap or a degreaser; whatever suits you. Now clean the chain and rinse it with water.

For more info: Things to know about Motorcycle Drive Chain and Its Maintenance

Changing the coolant

Remove any necessary bodywork to gain access to the coolant drain bolt, then put a drain pan under the engine and remove the bolt when it is time to change the coolant, which prevents the engine from overheating or freezing, or corroding. Remove the radiator cap to make sure it drains. Reinstall the drain bolt once the procedure is complete. To refill the system with the required amount of coolant, use a funnel. Put the radiator cap back on and reinstall any removed bodywork. Until cutting off the ignition, start the engine and allow it to warm up for a few minutes. Remove the radiator cap once the engine has cooled and checked the coolant level. If required, add more coolant to meet the quantity listed in the owner's manual.

For more info: How to change the coolant in a motorcycle?

Maintaining tyre pressure

tyre-pressure

Your tyre pressure should be tested at least once a month. Make it part of your monthly maintenance, because every month, on average, tyres lose around 1 pound per square inch (psi) of tire pressure. PSI refers to the minimum amount of air pressure required to sustain a full load of your engine.

For more info: Right tire pressure and how to maintain it?

 

Changing Air filter

If the air filter of your motorcycle, which keeps debris from your engine, is obstructed and dirty, the output of your bike will suffer. You may not be able to tackle car repair tasks, such as changing the oil or removing spark plugs, but it is a simple job that you can do to change the engine air filter of your vehicle. The air filter is easily accessible sometimes, but you will have to remove the gas tank and other components to get to it. When you get into the airbox, take the air filter out and replace it. Reinstall everything you've removed.

For more info: How to clean air filter in a motorcycle?

Changing drain oil

To begin with, for about five minutes, you'll want to ride a bike just to warm it up. This reduces the oil's viscosity, making it easier to drain. Remove the drain plug as well as the oil fill plug, letting the oil escape into a drain pan, with the engine off and the bike standing upright. Take out the oil filter as well. To protect against dripping, attempt to cover the engine and/or exhaust portion with aluminum foil. Once the oil is drained, install a new oil filter, return any parts that you have removed, and refill using a funnel and the correct amount and form of motorcycle oil, as stated in the owner's manual. Substitute the cap for the oil fill. At a bike shop or municipal plant, recycle the oil used.

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Types of Motorcycles 2022

2nd May 2022
"We have made recommendations according to your favorite bike segment."

Are you an officer, or an adventure junkie, or are you into long-distance bike riding? Whatever your interests are, we have segmented all the bikes in Nepal according to your choice. We have also made recommendations according to your favorite bike segment.

Commuter

Commuters are also known as standard motorcycles. It falls in the range of 100cc to above. Ergonomics are pretty neutral as it isn’t very forward-leaning or rearward reclining. Seat height usually is in the shorter to middle range and can usually fit almost everyone comfortably. It can be easily used for daily ups and downs. It is neither too big for the beginners not too small for experienced riders.


Types of Motorcycles 2020

Recommendations: TVS Apache 160, Pulsar NS 200 and Suzuki Gixxer are good commuter motorcycles in Nepal.

Cruiser

When we use the word, readers generally have the image of Harley Davidson choppers in their head. Well, they are not wrong. Cruiser bikes typically has a little lower seat height, making it a good “cruising” around-town motorcycle, but with a little added luggage. If you are into a certain distant riding for the weekend, cruisers might be the ideal bike for you. It is comfortable to sit and you would feel that you are in the bike rather than being on the bike.

Types of Motorcycles 2020

Recommendations: Bajaj Avenger, Suzuki Intruder, UM Renegade makes good cruisers in Nepal.

Dual Sport

Dual sport motorcycles are basically the dirt bike with headlights. It is used to ride in almost all kind of road conditions, mostly off-road. The seat height is generally a little taller to navigate the backroads and off beaten paths you can find on the backroads. If you have a thing for off-road riding, these types of bikes are definitely a green light for you. You can also try long cruising in a dual sport bike, but it will not be as comfortable as the cruisers.

Types of Motorcycles 2020

Recommendations: Runner Hawk, Honda XR, Hartford VR is some good dual sport bikes available in Nepal.

Touring

Touring bikes are the big bulky, muscular bikes used for cross country rides or long distant rides. They offer a large amount of storage with easy ergonomics that allow you to ride for hours at a time. They will have the largest fairings to block the wind and weather while riding. They offer a large amount of storage with easy ergonomics that allow you to ride for hours at a time. They will have the largest fairings to block the wind and weather while riding.

Types of Motorcycles 2020

Recommendations: CF Moto 650 GT, BMW GS 310 can be a good touring bike in Nepal.

Scooter

When we mentioned scooter in the list of types of bikes, you might find it odd. But the catch is, it is relatively same in terms of safety, style and commuting. Okay, let’s give them the title, “siblings of motorbike.” Scooters make a very good urban commuting. It performs well in the city road with a lot of traffic. They are lightweight and low to the ground which makes them easy to navigate through city streets without having to muscle them around all day.

Recommendations: Suzuki Burgman, TVS NTorq, Honda Aviator are some of the good scooters in Nepal.

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What is Motorcycle Suspension? How does Motorcycle Handling Impact Suspension Squat?

11th November 2020
"A motorcycle suspension configuration comprises primarily two front telescopic tubes and a twin or single shock absorber swing arm mounted at the rear."

A motorcycle suspension configuration comprises primarily two front telescopic tubes and a twin or single shock absorber swing arm mounted at the rear. Nowadays, owing to its improved performance and sporty looking characteristics, a mono-shock or single shock absorber on the rear is favored in most motorcycles. The motorcycle suspension system mainly has two goals: to control stability and maintain balance during braking and, secondly, to provide support during bumps and uneven surfaces to the rider and pillion.

1. Front Suspension:

Conventional Telescopic Forks:

The most prevalent type of front suspension is telescopic forks. The setup is very basic and takes the form of long hydraulic tubes fitted internally with a coil. In a T-clamp, the top of these forks is attached to the motorcycle's frame whereas the other end is fitted to the axle of the front wheel. In the event of road flaws, the lower part of fork bodies slip up and down the fork tubes and thus absorb the vibrations. In order to ensure the texture of operation, the interior is filled with oil and is sealed inside with an oil seal.

 

Upside Down Forks (USD):

Inverted or upside-down forks are nothing like inverted-set traditional telescopic forks. In these, although the tubes are at the bottom, the slider bodies are at the top section. These are mostly used in high-end motorcycles now for a few days, as they lower the overall unsprung weight of the motorcycle alongside growing torsional rigidity, resulting in better handling.

 

Important Terminologies:

Preload Adjustment:

This relates to the system used for changing the original suspension angle for the weight of the motorcycle and the rider acting on it.

Fork Damping:

Because of the impact of reducing, minimizing, or stopping the oscillations, it is an influence between forks.

Brake Dive:

The additional pressure on the front wheel forces the front end of the bike to go lower as the brakes are applied, resulting in fork contraction. This drop-in fork length is known as the Brake Plunge.

 

2. Rear Suspension:

Previously, the rear suspension was not used in motorcycles and only front forks ensured the consistency of the ride. However, manufactures have been implementing rear suspension with the advent of technologies and are still in use today. The key elements of the rear suspension system are the swingarm and coil springs.

 

Swingarm:

A motorcycle swingarm can be considered to be a quadrilateral section of a motorcycle in which the shorter side is attached to the chassis of the motorcycle and the rear wheel axle around which the wheel spins is bolted on the other side. The swingarm is only available on one side on certain bikes and is considered a single-sided swingarm. Although it brings the convenience of separating the rear wheel without much effort, it raises the rear suspension's unsprung weight. That's why there is no traditional use of a single-sided swingarm. Two kinds of suspension are essentially used for a swingarm:

 

Twin shock absorbers:

It refers to two shock absorbers at the backside of a motorcycle, as the name implies. Firstly used in the 1970s and 80s off-road bikes, these offered an advantage of improved rear wheel movement because of which they were highly adopted.

 

Mono Shock Absorbers:

As time progressed, for several reasons, manufacturers decided to introduce mono-shock absorbers in their motorcycles. It was discovered after studies that mono shocks provided a lot better performance than traditional twin shock absorbers. A single shock absorber is attached to the motorcycle's frame from the swingarm in this configuration. It is not directly attached to the swingarm, but instead uses a connection that helps to provide the rear with an increasing degree of damping. In comparison, mono shocks more easily extract torque from the swingarm, have improved handling and reliability, and are simpler to modify than twin shock absorbers when only one unit is used.

How does Motorcycle Handling Impact Suspension Squat?

If a motorcycle were to squat down in the rear while you started to drive from a corner, you would attempt to steer into the turn and the bike would drift to the outside, taking the weight off the front, which would not steer as well as before. At the conclusion of the session, when you got into the pits, you can ask the crew chief for a solution.

In a correctly built motorcycle, the force that opposes squat comes specifically from the drive chain, which is not parallel to the central plane of the swingarm but at an angle to it. And an anti-squat force defines the tangent of that angle. When you learn that there is an adjustable swingarm pivot height for a certain sports bike, the feature is targeted at this problem.

You change the angle between the chain when it is close and the swingarm itself by changing the height of the pivot and therefore the drop angle of the swingarm, thus altering this anti-squat effect. You will propel out of the corner without squatting and pressing until the force is able to fully balance the weight change induced by acceleration.


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What you need to know about Motorcycle Traction?

11th January 2021
"Tract it properly!"

The traction control system usually stops the motorcycle from sliding. By regulating the energy provided to the rear wheel, it does this. Thus, it simply controls the rear wheel's rotational speed. This decreases the chances of drifting significantly.

Motorcycles have two categories of traction control. Reactive is the first category, while predictive is the second category. The name of the categories shows their activity itself. Various components of the mechanism wait before the rotation of the wheel happens in the reactive form of motorcycle traction control and then make corrections.

The ECU and different sensors read the information in real-time and make adjustments before the wheel turns in the predictive form of motorcycle traction control. The machine constantly judges the chance. It also works efficiently to keep the motorcycle from drifting.

Motorcycle-Traction

Importance of Traction:

It is also possible to describe traction or tractive force as the overall tractive force that occurs on the surface and is parallel to the motion direction. In simple terms, it is the force that is responsible for your bike's movement on the lane. If there was no traction, so at one specific moment, the bike would end up doing wheelspins without going anywhere.

Tyres' Position in Traction:

Motorcycle-Traction-1

As you know, with any vehicle on the lane, tyres play the most important role in rolling. Tyres that have a decent road surface patch provide good traction due to the greater contact area. In comparison, tires come with definite patterns known as treads on the outer diameter. These treads help get rid of the water and sand that appears to go into the middle of the tyre. Deep treaded tires lock the loose substance in the event of mud or snow, instead of letting it roll out with the tyre.

Need For Traction Control:

We know that tires are the means of communication between the asphalt and the bike, which makes it easier for the machine to roll down the road. Bikes come with a comparatively angled surface tyre, the basic explanation of why bikes are able to corner when cars are not, opposed to cars that have a wide surface area of touch required on the tyres. Therefore, in order to have appropriate traction at curves, bike tyres are produced in such away. So, as we recall, bikes have a smaller, really very smaller contact area usable for road tyres. The rear wheel ends up spinning in the case of superbikes that have tremendous power transmission in the event of aggressive accelerations.

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