All-weather motorcycle commuting: a maintenance checklist

Before you start

Most of this list is ten minutes a week, plus a longer session when the weather turns. Keep a tire pressure gauge, chain cleaner and lube, a hose or watering can, rags, a corrosion protectant, a multimeter and a battery charger that matches your battery’s chemistry. Your owner’s manual has the intervals, pressures and wear limits; where it disagrees with anything here, follow the manual.

Wet roads and road salt

Rain is hard on a chain in two ways: it washes the lube off, and it carries grit into the links. Lube the chain more often than in summer, always on a clean chain that has dried, and wipe off the excess so it does not fling onto the rear tire. Check the slack against the manual’s figure while you are there.

Road salt is the bigger threat. Salt water left on a bike keeps corroding the chain, fasteners, spokes, wheel rims, exposed wiring and aluminum parts long after the ride. After salted rides, rinse the bike with low-pressure water rather than a close jet, which can drive salty water into bearings and connectors. Dry it, lube the chain, and apply a corrosion protectant to bare metal. Keep protectant well away from brake discs, pads and tires: mask them, or wipe them clean with brake cleaner afterwards.

If you can, park under cover and let the bike dry out between rides.

Grip in the cold and wet

Tire pressure falls as the air gets colder, so pressure set in a warm garage reads low on a cold morning. Check it cold, before the ride, and more often than you would in summer. The tire pressure tool gives cold starting points for street, touring and scooter use; the figure in your manual or on the bike’s tire label comes first.

Tread matters more in the wet: it is what moves water out of the way of the contact patch. Check the depth across the tire, not just the center, and read the DOT date code, since older rubber grips less in the cold. The legal minimum tread depth varies by country.

Brakes work harder in winter, too. Grit and water wear pads faster, so check pad thickness against the wear indicator. Brake fluid takes on moisture over time, which is why manufacturers set a replacement interval; dark fluid in the reservoir window is a prompt to check when it was last changed. After a wash or a deep puddle, the first few brake applications wipe the discs dry, so brake gently and early until the bite comes back.

Lights and being seen

Winter commuting means riding at dusk and in the dark, often in spray. Check every light before the season: headlight on both beams, tail light, brake light from both the lever and the pedal, indicators and the number plate light. Clean the lenses often, as road grime cuts light output, and check headlight aim as your manual describes, especially if you carry luggage or a passenger that changes the bike’s attitude.

Battery and short trips

Cold weather and short trips together are hard on a battery. A cold battery delivers less power to the starter, and a short ride with lights and heated grips on may not put back what starting took. Measure the resting voltage before the first cold snap: around 12.4 V or less means a 12 V lead-acid battery is no longer fully charged. If most of your trips are short, top it up with a charger that matches the battery chemistry every so often. Look at connectors and the fuse box for moisture and green corrosion while you are there.

Short trips are also hard on oil, since the engine may never reach full temperature. Check whether your manual lists a severe-use schedule or a time-based oil interval, and use it if your commute fits.

Keep a log

Short-trip wear does not announce itself. A commuter can reach an oil change on the calendar long before it reaches one on the odometer, and consumption creeping up can be the first sign of a dragging brake or a low tire. Garagely’s service reminders track each item by km, engine hours or months, and the fuel log shows your average consumption once you have logged a couple of full tanks. For model-specific intervals, look up your bike in the motorcycle catalog.

By bike type

• Chain drive: the most maintenance in winter; clean, lube and adjust it often.
• Belt drive: no lube, but check for cracks, stones caught in the pulleys and tension per the manual.
• Shaft drive: check for final-drive oil leaks and rinse salt off the housing.
• Scooters: the CVT belt and rollers wear with stop-and-go riding; a belt that slips or shudders pulling away needs checking before it fails in traffic.
• Electric: expect less range in the cold, and follow the maker’s cold-weather charging and storage instructions.

When to call a mechanic

Get the bike checked if the brakes feel soft or pull, pads are at the wear indicator, a tire is damaged or below the legal limit, lights flicker or fail intermittently, starting stays slow on a charged battery, or a scooter’s drive slips. If the bike will stand for most of the winter instead, the winter storage checklist covers laying it up.