How to maintain your bike through the monsoon?
One of the most difficult seasons to maintain your bike is the monsoon season. Heavy, pouring rains of the monsoons make it harder for bikers to maintain their bikes. Efforts like regular checks and scheduled maintenance, keeping the bike in a shed, keeping it completely covered, and cleaning the chains can only help so much. They fail us when it comes to basics like keeping the bike protected from moisture or hydroplaning. This makes one skeptical about even riding the bike during rains. However, that cannot and should not stop us from hitting the road.
The most basic thing you can do to maintain your bike is to check each part individually. Heavy monsoon rains affect each part of the bike, so it is important to be cautious before monsoons begin.
Here, we bring you some of our tried and tested ways of maintaining your bike during the monsoons.
Things you will need
Step 1
Safety First, Things to Check Before Starting
Check that the electrical and lights are in good shape. Ensure that the tires have sufficient threads. You should also carefully check for oil leaks, as it is nearly impossible to detect them while riding. These are some of the most vital things to check for before taking your bike out in the rain. Besides, there are several other steps but this is one of the most important ones. Once you have given your bike a complete once over, there are other things to take pay attention to.
Step 2
Check Your Brakes
Ensure that your breaks are in a good condition. For this, test them on a long, empty stretch of road. Make sure they are in their best shape and they work as per your comfort. The importance of this check cannot be emphasized enough!
Step 3
Water Stains and Excess Moisture
It is necessary to perform this basic check. While it may seem an obvious thing to do, many bikers miss this essential step which results in rusting. To do this, spray WD-40 on the chrome parts of your bike and wipe it down in a circular motion with a dry cloth. This gets rid of all water residue and rust. Be sure to be very attentive while doing this, as we want to make sure that we get complete coverage. This will go a long way in keeping your bike away from rust.
Step 4
Taking Care of the Wheels
Ever tried overinflating your tires? Sounds risqué but there’s a good reason to do this. Pumping your tires just a little extra, say around 5 PSI, reduces the contact patch of your tires and prevents hydroplaning.
Along with protecting these specific parts, it is also important to make sure that the wheels of your bike are also tuned to optimal performance. Firstly, it is crucial to avoid excess water and moisture. To do this, spray WD-40 on your wheels, making sure you cover all areas. In addition to protecting them from moisture and water exposure, spraying WD-40 on your wheels will also ensure that they are well lubricated.
Step 5
Chain Maintenance
The chain is most likely to attract rust as it is most exposed to water. Owing to this, special measures need to be taken to maintain the chain. It is quick to get rust, so the first thing to make sure is that it is well protected from water exposure. Aging and over-exposure to water cause damage to the entire vehicle. To protect you chain from all of this, you need to spray WD-40 liberally. Do this while spinning the wheel so the entire area is reached. Then, let it sit for 10 minutes and wipe out any excess. Here, WD-40 will keep the chain well lubricated and resist moisture along with preventing any build-up of rust. To keep the chain lubricated, spray a generous amount of WD-40 on a weekly basis.
It's All in WD-40 Multi-Use Product
With just one can of WD-40, you can take care of all the monsoon maintenance needs of your bike! Only using a few sprays over the span of the monsoons, will make sure your bike delivers optimal performance, however, bad the weather. WD-40 will not only ensure lubrication and rust prevention but its protective functions include clean your bike and keep it away from all kinds of grime, moisture, and dust. This provides you the confidence and comfort of taking your bike out, any time of the year!
Disclaimer
The uses shown and described for WD-40 Multi-Use Product were provided to WD-40 Company by the users themselves. These uses haven’t been tested by WD-40 Company and do not constitute a recommendation of suggestion for use by WD-40 Company. Common sense should be exercised whenever using WD-40 Company products. Always follow the instructions and take heed of any warnings printed on the packaging.
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April 16, 2021
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