Is the prospect of your motorcycle being abused by its previous owner weighing on your mind? How much can a motorcycle handle over years before it gives up?
Motorcycle abuse is subjective. Dropping it too often, stretching the time between oil changes, or overloading it beyond its recommended weight? Motorbikes are not as fragile as you may think and can handle a lot of punishment before they become damaged.
How do you ruin a motorcycle engine?
Oil is a significant contributor to ruining your motorcycle engine. If you extend the oil service intervals significantly or ignore them completely, you will invariably cause damage to your engine.
Oil breaks down, with heat and age, the oil loses in viscosity, it becomes thin and unusable. Once oil loses its lubrication properties, damage to your engine will occur rapidly.
Using the wrong engine oil will ruin your motorcycle engine. The manufacturer of your motorcycle has assigned an oil for your specific engine type, and as such, you should adhere to using this engine oil. Not all oil is equal hence the different oil designation codes.
Motorcycles use engine oil for the gearbox and clutch plus additives, Use the recommended oil and change your oil frequently.
If you only ride your motorcycle on high days and holidays, your mileage may not warrant frequent oil changes. However, change your engine oil every year.
Is it bad to ride a motorcycle at top speed?
Your motorcycle has a top speed limiter. It has been designed to run at this speed if required. In terms of is it bad for the engine, the answer is no.
Of course, you place extra strain on all of the components, particularly the engine oil, which you must treat as an integral component of your engine.
Every component on your motorcycle will be running close to its design capacity; extra capacity is designed into components to prevent failure at maximum speed and, more importantly, revs.
What happens if you shift too early on a motorcycle?
A common sign of shifting early on a motorcycle is you cannot accelerate normally; you will need to build up road speed slowly and come back into the normal rev range for the gear selected.
If you shift too early, you put extra strain on the engine, which results in more fuel.
Can you stay in first gear on a motorcycle?
Yes, but why would you? Holding a gear on a motorcycle will increase your revs and may even red line the rev counter. In effect, your engine is under the same strain as if you were riding your motorcycle at full throttle.
Your motorcycle will sound terrible, the engine is revving high, and you are travelling at 15 mph.
It could be the case you are in heavy traffic and need to creep along the highway and weave between traffic. If this is the case, you may better select second gear once you are moving.