Learning about your bike and adapting to it can be difficult, especially when you’re breaking in a new engine. The sound turns into an annoying buzzing noise, the acceleration seems less than expected from a bike of particular “cc” and the tires feel heavy on the wrist.
The MotorAid team consists of a group of student level bike enthusiasts and riders. MotorAid Garage aims to bring you remedies and reviews learnt from first-hand experiences, with hopes of connecting and developing the biking community of our country. We emphasize road safety as well as riding safety, and we aim to aid you through your biking experience.
Keeping that in mind, here are some tips for new riders like myself, to make do with your engine, and consequentially your bike.
Clutch control
Clutch difficulties are a common problem. The lever may seem too hard, or the gears may seem unwilling to shift. The root of the problem, in majority of the cases, is our own ability to compromise. Especially if the engine is new, the clutch can be expected to be a bit hard to hold on to. As long as you don’t ditch a strong hold, a side of your engine will be safe.
Lubricating the clutch cable with Mobil will help clear the line, and the lever will be softer. However, you can always adjust the cable from both ends, but loosen it too much and you will lose throttle response.
Work on your shifting
The gears will feel a bit hard if you’re holding your clutch properly (full clutch), and that’s a good thing. Have faith in your bike. Being too gentle on the shifting will probably cause delayed gas intake, and too much of that can wear your piston rings.
Basically, shift and accelerate before the rev goes down. Also bear in mind that too much rough handling is never good, so you need to learn and adapt to your bike’s capability and give it the time it requires to produce sufficient output. Meanwhile, you need to try to read your bike and its ability to respond to your needs.
Proper engine oil use
Use company-recommended engine oils. You will probably receive a bottle of engine oil from the dealers, so you can use the same brand at your next servicing. Semi synthetics from Havoline or Castrol should give you 1500-2000 kilometres minimum before a change is required. Full synthetics will give you better mileage of around 3000-4000 kilometres. Check the engine oil for density every 1000 kilometres.
If you’re using regular engine oil, I would personally recommend Castrol Active/Shell engine oil.
Check tires
Remember to keep the tire pressure in check. 30psi in rear tire usually helps prevent skids, however most companies recommend 35-40psi for rear tires and 28-30psi for the front.
It’s important to prevent your bike from skidding, but your engine will consume a lot more fuel if your tire pressure is too low and the acceleration will decrease noticeably.
Easy on the throttle
If your engine is new, or you have recently set up new pistons, be gentle with fuel intake. Gradually speed up and don’t starve your engine. Holding the throttle in one place will not give you steady acceleration, rather it will harm your pistons. Excessive revving or abrupt throttle will also do the same.
I often had problems with my breaks because my foot rested on the paddle and I wouldn’t notice. And therefore, I would feel a decrease in acceleration because of the added friction.
A solution for that problem? Train your feet to rest solely on the foot stand and move it in place only when you’re planning on slowing down.
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