Most motorcycle maintenance can be avoided by simply keeping up with the small things.

We'll offer some things you can do in the area of motorcycle maintenance to help keep your bike on the road and out of the garage. We've put tens of thousands of miles on our bike with very little down time. I try to do most of the work on my bike and only take it to the shop for recalls and maintenance that I either don't feel comfortable in doing or the job needs a special tool, and even then if I can borrow the tool from the dealership and do it myself, I will.

Let's start with the basics, most of you know about "T" Clock inspections, if you don't, here is a link to one that I got from the organization I belong to the Gold Wing Road Riders Association. This provides you a guideline or checklist to look at all the critical areas of your motorcycle. Most state to do this inspection prior to riding your bike. Well human nature for most of us will tell us to just get out and ride. So what I do is any time I am cleaning my bike, I go over the inspection. Heck with all the chrome I'm touching almost every part of the bike, I might as well check it for serviceability.

I've fielded a lot of questions about motorcycle maintenance and you'd be surprised at some of them. Can I ride with a cracked handlebar? My tire has a bulge in it, can I keep riding on it? And the list goes on. Some of the craziest questions. Well my take on all of this is "common sense". That's just what it comes down to.

So let's start off with some common sense things. One of the things I do is every time I work on my motorcycle I use the tools that I carry with me when I ride. If I should break down on the side of the road I will already know what I need to fix the problem as far as tools go. Doing this has also opened my eyes to what I need to bring to enhance my tool bag. I've added a 1/2" drive ratchet with a 3/4" deep socket to remove my rear wheel, an adjustable wrench to remove my front wheel, and a set of allen wrenches instead of the two that are in the kit. All this allows me to do most anything I need to get the bike back on the road if I should break down.

Let's take a closer look at some of the added goodies beyond the tool kit. Nylon ties are a great asset to have. By putting two or three together you can tie down almost anything. LocTite is another plus, most screws and nuts I tighten down are done with blue LocTite. Red is for things that you don't want to remove too often. I use blue because most of the time when I get back from my ride, if I had a problem I would then make a permanent repair at the house. Duct Tape a much used and worthwhile item to carry. Velcro with adhesive backing fits in a small area and can be used for a multitude of things. Tire plugs for repairing a tire (temporarily) and some Co2 cartridges for filling them with air if you don't carry an air compressor. Shrink tube and matches work great for repairing electrical connections when there is no solder around.

Well we could go on and on talking about motorcycle maintenance, but the best remedy to motorcycle breakdowns is to make sure to stay in tune with your bike. Constantly look it over and keep it in good condition, that way your chances of sleeping under the stars on some remote highway will be reduced to almost impossible.

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