Two important maintenance aspects often overlooked when a bike is parked for long

The fixes are quite easy and will cost you only between Rs 300-500. However, if ignored the results could be fatal.

As we loom ahead into a second (or is it third?) wave of lockdown, our beloved cars and bikes might be staring again into long periods of inaction. Last year, service centres had a good time whereas owners had to fork out money for not carrying preventive maintenance on time. However, last year also taught us a few hard-hitting lessons, something we might not forget in a long time to come. While we will analyse the problems car owners might face if a lockdown is upon us again, in this article we mull over the two most important things that are often overlooked when it comes to motorcycles. We haven’t touched on the common points like battery discharge, carb/fuel injector cleaning, draining the fuel tank and more. Instead, these are simpler than you think they are.



The author of this story, last year, visited his hometown and tried to start his eight months dormant motorcycle. The motorcycle surprisingly started in two kicks. He checked the vitals and they seemed good. He took the bike to the mechanic to have the fuel drained and the brakes checked. That’s when he noticed a dead reptile near the engine casing. When a bike or car is parked for too long, reptiles as well as other creepy crawlies which seek shade, make the vehicle their abode. It then is our duty to ensure that we properly inspect the two-wheeler before taking it out. Open the seat as well to check if some living being isn’t hiding in there. Its both for your as well as the reptile’s safety. Always wash your bike or car thoroughly if you are taking it out after a prolonged inactive spell, even if it was kept under a cover.

This is how the tyre repair guys fix the air leaking issue.

While air tends to leak with the passage of time, we simply fill it and go on as if nothing happened. However, one important thing that is often overlooked is that the tyres usually gather dust from within and hence start to deform along the edges. This is a mild thing but then it causes the tyres to leak air even if the vehicle later is being used daily. The fix for this is to remove the alloy wheel, clean it from inside using sandpaper, add an adhesive gel and then fill the air. This works in the case of tubeless tyres (the majority of the bikes nowadays ship with these). If you ignore this, you will be left wondering as to why exactly your front or rear wheel tends to lose air quite often.

Aside from this, do check out our maintenance tips to further take care of your vehicles in an effective fashion.

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