As the thread title states, I have not ridden my bike on the road for over a year now. Before plating the bike again and riding it this spring, I would like to give the bike a once over to make sure that it's in healthy condition to ride both from a maintenance and safety perspective. Is there a general guide that I could refer to to help me with this?

Thanks!

 

Check the Oil, tires, chain, and brakes. Give the throttle a good twist to make sure it's not going to jam up on you either... not that it's all that scary on these bikes, but safety first!

 

jhoffy! Where have you been? Hope things are well your direction.

pwjm hit the important bits.

Read this: Neduro's Spring Bike Maintenance and Setup Guide | Adventure Rider

 

Everything?

 

I'd change the oil and filter - to get all the condensation out - then pull the plug, mist the combustion chamber with something oily (Marvel?), run the starter until oil pressure is achieved, put the plug back in and feel better about the first start-up..

 

The owner's manual has a good pre ride checklist.

 

Tighten all the nuts and bolts. They do work loose on these bikes. I was lucky last year as one of the large hex bolts on my front brake calipers worked loose, but I heard it fall off.

 

Don't forget the carb! Depending on how you stored it may need a good cleaning, jets ect...Check, clean and re-oil air filter also. Tires still in good shape, no dry rot? Wheel bearings still got any grease, roll smoothly. Good luck!

 

Hey Jhoffy,

It's been a while. How is the bike running?

 

Good advice, thank you!

Excellent resource. That guy is very thorough, which is exactly what I was looking for. I'll probably pick up a service manual from Cyclepedia and give the points he mentions a run through.

Yeah, I was wanting to go over the bike thoroughly. The problem is, I didn't really know what everything entailed.

Good idea. I have rode the bike in the past year though, just not off-road.

I'll reference the owners manual too.

I'll check the torque on the important stuff. thanks!

Definitely on my to-do list to thoroughly clean the carb and air filter.

The bike is running great! I really haven't rode it as much as I should, but it still runs great. Haven't had any issues in the years since I installed the BB351 kit. Still brings a smile to my face to rip on it.

I'm living in town now, and have only a 10 minute drive to work so I want to use my bike as the commuter.