Safety & Education Newsletter - Februry 2012
Allen ‘n Harms Way
The Forgotten Fluids on the Motorcycle
Last month we talked about ABS brakes vs. standard brake systems. This month we would like to discuss another safety feature that is in your hands to control and that is the proper maintenance of your machine. Every motorcycles comes with an owner’s manual. We will refer to this as the Motorcycle Owners Manual or M.O.M. We are sure that each of you are like us and have read the M.O.M. for your machine several times from cover to cover? You know what the oil change intervals are for your particular machine and follow those guidelines. Some of you may do the basic maintenance yourself. This is one of the pleasures of owning a motorcycle, doing the basic maintenance. With a few standard tools some basic mechanical knowledge and an owner’s manual or even a service manual you can do many adjustments yourself. Even as the machines have become more electronic they have at the same time become easier to do basic maintenance on with the intervals being extended to the once a year time frame for many of the maintenance items, depending on the miles you ride in a year.
However, a couple of the most over looked fluids on a motorcycle are the brake fluid and front fork oil. These items often go unchanged by the owner. This is a serious problem! Let’s start with the front fork oil first.
This oil gets contaminated due to the various seals and moving parts inside the fork tube. When you hit a bump in the road, we know this is rare on Illinois roads, the tubes compress and rebound to reduce the shock felt by the rider. The rate of this compression and rebound is controlled by orifices in the inside the fork tube that allow oil to flow through them at a specific rate. As the fork oil get dirty these orifices start to plug up with wear particles and the front forks start to loose their ability to give the rider a smooth ride. If this condition is allowed to continue, in other words you ignore changing your fork oil; it could lead to a fork seal leak. Fork oil should be changed according to the owner's manual. Get out your M.O.M. and see what it tells you. This is a job that we let the service department of our favorite motorcycle shop take care of. We do not have the special tools needed to do the job correctly and they can do it in a lot less time than it would take us to accomplish.
Brake fluid is also an overlooked fluid on many riders’ machine. Typically, the brake fluid needs to be changed and the system flushed every two years. As the brakes are used on a machine the brake fluid gets warm and then as the machine sets the fluid cools back down. Depending upon ambient conditions this may cause moisture to form inside the master cylinder on the machine. Heaven forbid, but if you take your machine to a high pressure car wash you may actually force water into master cylinders. This water does not mix well with brake fluid. Water also causes deterioration of the various seals and components within the brake system itself. You might not notice, because of the gradual loss of stopping power, but your brakes will no longer be operating as they need to be to get your machine stopped in the shortest distance. Changing of the brake fluid is even more important on machines with the ABS brake system option.
Remember from last month, we mentioned one of the controlling items for the ABS system is a hydraulic valve. If the brake fluid gets degraded, due to not being changed every two years, this can cause problem with the ABS brake system hydraulic valve. This could get expensive to repair or replace if necessary. Remember, you are responsible to see that the basic maintenance is performed on your machine by a qualified mechanic to keep any warranty you might have on the machine. Let alone the fact that if your suspension is not working properly or your brakes are not to full stopping power it is a safety hazard!
We would suggest you get out your M.O.M and read through the maintenance schedule. Make sure your machine has had all of the service performed in the time frame mentioned. The winter months would be a great time to get your machine in to the shop to get the fork oil changed and the brake fluid flushed and filled. The service department at most motorcycle shops would be happy to perform this service for you, some may even come to your house and pick up your motorcycle for you and take it in to do this type of work during the winter months.
Remember that safe riding begins with a machine that is in top running order. It is your responsibility to keep your motorcycle in top shape.
Ride Safe - Side Straight
The Dynamic Duo
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