Motocross Bike Maintenance

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Rick Wilder from Portland, Oregon former Motocross racer from the 1980's. Want to go over a little bit about bike safety with you and some of the aspects of the motorcycle because, you know, these bikes are high performance Motocross bikes and they need to be taken care of. In the front part of the bike you'll see the knobby tires. Front and rear, actually. Those tires are specifically designed to give you maximum traction and allow you to get going in a straight line and get going through the corner pretty well. We've got, the thing that's important about that also is you've got to have the proper air pressure in your tires. So, on a muddy day you'll have less air and a hard packed day, which is sunny and hot, you're going to have a little more air. It equates the traction. You've got the throttle, you've got brakes front and rear. Those always have to be taken care of, make sure they're properly functioning. These bikes have air filters in them, they need to be cleaned and they need to be oiled to protect any of the debris from coming into the bike and ruining the motor. These bikes happen to be water cooled, so you've got to make sure your radiators have water or fluid in them to make sure that they stay cool because they run very hot. When you're racing in a hot, long day in a hot race, you're going to get these bikes up pretty hot in temperature so you're going to want to have a good coolant in there. You've got a chain in the back that drives the thing. The chain has to be properly tightened, has to be lubricated, and taken care of. At some points during the season, you're going to have to replace the chain maybe once or twice a year, maybe even once or twice a month, depending on how much you ride. Both front and rear bike wheels have spokes in them, so you're going to have to have the spokes tightened at all times. Make sure they're properly balancing the wheels out so you can run the thing properly. The exhaust system goes from one end in the back, here, all the way to the front end. Want to make sure it doesn't have cracks in it. Make sure that your exhaust is meeting the decibel level on the meters. Number plates have to be properly cleaned and cleared so that we can read them in the course of a race. Like any other motorized vehicle you want to take care of your equipment. Before you hit the track make sure you've done everything you can do to make this bike work properly for you. Get it serviced, change the oil, take care of everything from this aspect forward and you'll have a great season."