6 Motorcycle Parts That Need to Be Changed Often

A good motorcycle can last more than a decade, especially when you stay on top of all of the routine maintenance items that keep the bike running its best. 

Following a steady schedule of regular fluid and brake pad changes, and other routine maintenance items can keep your motorcycle going for years and miles on end. Here are 6 motorcycle parts that need to be changed often.

Tires

Worn motorcycle tires are dangerous, and there’s no getting around having to change them out. There are two things to consider with motorcycle tires: age and mileage. 

Michelin says you should have your motorcycle’s tires examined after five years regardless of mileage. If you’ve had a set for 10 years of more, even if they’ve barely gotten any miles, they need to be changed. Motorcycle tires can dry out and become a lot more susceptible to blowouts.

As far as the mileage, changing the front tire after 3,700 miles and the rear tire after every 1,800 miles is a good rule of thumb. But you should inspect them periodically regardless of the mileage.

Brake Pads and Shoes

Some motorcycles are equipped with drum brakes that have shoes instead of pads. Changing the shoes on a motorcycle with drum brakes is a little more complicated than replacing brake pads, but not by much. 

Most motorcycles have brake disc systems with pads. These pads wear down relatively quickly, but fortunately changing the brake pads on a motorcycle isn’t too tough.

Many brake pads have a wear indicator that looks like a groove in the braking surface. When you can no longer see that groove, that means the pad material is wearing off and it’s time for a change.

Drive Chain

Modern motorcycles typically come with one of three different types of drive: a belt, a shaft, or a chain. A belt or shaft system will probably require some help at a mechanic’s shop, but a drive chain is a little easier to replace. 

When you replace the chain on a motorcycle, it’s a good idea to also change the front and rear sprockets, since they wear simultaneously with the chain.  A good motorcycle chain can last up to 20,000 miles, and you can get every bit of that if you clean and adjust it on a regular basis.

Spark Plugs

You should change the spark plugs on your bike every 15,000 miles or so. Inspect the spark plugs periodically to make sure they’re not getting any carbon buildup.

Oil and/or carbon on the plugs can affect a bike’s performance. If your bike is sputtering, losing power, or just not running right, a spark plug inspection is never a bad place to start. How the spark plugs appear when you pull them (too dark or too white) can be a sign that your motorcycle is running either too rich or too lean.

Air Filter

Your motorcycle engine’s best defense against all kinds of debris getting in and wreaking havoc inside of it is air filters, which can be disposable or reusable. 

Check your motorcycle’s service manual for the specific intervals on changing the air filter. You should also consider more frequent changes than what the manual suggests if you ride often in dirty or dusty environments. Cleaning a reusable air filter will get a lot of mileage out of it before it needs to be replaced. 

However, a disposable air filter is just that, and should be never be cleaned and reused. There’s no way saving a couple of bucks trying to clean and reuse a disposable air filter is worth the risk of the damage it can do to your motorcycle’s engine.

Oil Filters

You know you have to change your motorcycle’s engine oil frequently, and that means swapping out the old oil filter for a new one when that service is due. 

Over time, metal shavings and all kinds of contaminants can circulate around your motorcycle’s engine, and changing the oil and filter gets them out. Much like the oil itself, filters have a limited lifespan, and you should replace them with every oil change.