Hitchcocks Forum

So I normally give my bike a full 'going over' every April. I have certain jobs I regularly do as preventative maintence, and also a few regular jobs which are needed as more of a repair/service and I was wondering if (a) my list might be helpful to some, and (b) whether I am missing anything important from my list which should be looked at more regularly.




Normally I do the following: strip and service the rear drum and front disc brakes (front caliper seizes, rear cam seizes so both need serviced usually annually); tighten/check fork legs and oil seals (usually fine, but the legs do loosen a little over the year), tighten steering head bearings, check chain tension and adjust if necessary (along with rear brake work), engine service (oil change, filters, plug) and a check of wiring, especially the rear light which ALWAYS corrodes, adjust rear brake and clutch and generally check cables for wear. A general nut and bolt check is often carried out too... you loose a few over the year sometimes!!




What do you do?

I also forgot to add - I clean, clean, clean the bike to within an inch of its life (for the metric folks an inch is a really big mm, are a slightly big cm)! Rust removal (usually surface), salt removal, case polishing and generally scrubbing, degreasing and regreasing wherever possible. Sadly, although you get a shiny new bike out of this process... you also find areas of bad rust where paint has gone

I believe you have a good routine Michael and the cleaning certainly helps in spotting something loose or untoward..

Like on the railways, become a wheel tappers listener.. I mean tap the spokes with a small spanner and listen for the one note samba...

Slightly sharp or flat is ok but we don't want scales and octaves..

Quick look at the tyres, nicks, cuts or perishing cracks, also that the tread has even wear.. ( showing wheel alignment/frame issues..)

Give that rear light a good dose of ACF50 sprayed or brushed, especially the bulb holder and wire connections...

I'd say change the oil and filter just before laying-up for the Winter....That way all the contaminates are flushed out and not left in to possibly damage the internals...........

Alan, I don't lay up for the winter




That's why my big service is in April... trying to return the bike to normal working mode after it's winter salting!