GET IT SORTED
Pulling the bike out after winter? Covid lockdowns prevented many people riding at all in 2020 and some bikes have not been used for nearly 18 months. What should we look at before heading for the highway?
Our man Rick runs through how to get your bike fettled and ready for getting back on the road. Surely, it’ll be allowed soon...
Ah, the first days of spring. A dry, sunny day. Time to dig out stiff riding gear, whip off the dust sheets and take out the bike for the first ride of the year. But it whirrs away on the starter until the battery’s flat... or it starts but deposits a lake of oil on the garage floor, or the throttle sticks, or the brakes bind, or the stand won’t spring up properly. We’ve all been there – and the point of this article is to help you avoid those panicky moments when you end up sweating in your clumsy clobber looking for a hammer and a tin of WD40.
I don’t deliberately lay bikes up for winter – having too many means they all go through periods of inactivity – but the main problem I find when putting them back into service is stale fuel. Some bikes are worse than others and although ethanol is commonly blamed, I first noticed way back in the 1980s when I was in the trade, that you could flatten the battery trying to start a secondhand bike – but if you drained the carb, it fired immediately. So my first advice, certainly if you have electric start, is charge the battery and drain the carbs (check the manual, there’s usually a handy plug or screw). Fuel lasts better in the tank. If you’ve left a carbful that’s had time to evaporate, it may have left jetblocking deposits behind, so prepare for a carb strip
Most engine wear occurs when the engine is started from cold. That’s no surprise; hot oil rapidly drains away from wearing surfaces and when cold and thick it takes time to get back there. That’s one reason you should let an engine warm up before riding – but Japanese classics usually rev too fast on the choke so if possible, turn the engine over for a little while with the fuel and kill switch off to get the oil flowing. It’s less troublesome on British bikes, as they’re mostly pushrod engines, but it takes longer for lubricant to reach overhead camshafts restricted by narrow oilways. And don’t assume all is well because the oil light has gone out – it’s a pressure indicator, and thick oil that can’t get through small holes creates plenty of pressure. To get the top end primed, if your engine has tappet inspection caps, remove them, take an oil can and shoot anything that moves!
There is a problem with oil itself. It becomes polluted with acids from the combustion process, so when an engine is left standing and condensation forms within its cold metal walls, the two combine to create a corrosive emulsion; such engines often end up with rust on working surfaces.
You can see above how a patch of rust on the bore has been partially wiped away by the piston rings. Turning the engine over occasionally will help prevent the equivalent of ‘bed sores’, where two static parts start corroding together. Don’t fire the engine up, because that just creates more moisture – a turn of the kickstart or a burst on the starter every few months will suffice. If you’re laying the bike up long-term, drain all the oils and replace with clean.
Sometimes there’s too much oil. Having separate oil tanks, British bikes often succumb to gravity, with all their oil ending up in the engine. When started up, oil will pour from the breather onto the floor. Check the oil tank before starting – if it’s mysteriously low or there’s a gurgling noise when you kick it over, drain the sump first.
Well, that’s a start. On the following pages you’ll see a few more tips aimed at helping you avoid running into unwanted problems. Whatever you ride, I hope you get out on it soon and can start making up for lost time.
‘WHATEVER YOU RIDE, I HOPE YOU GET OUT ON IT SOON’