Motorcycle Oils & Chemicals
Run Smooth, Guaranteed !

Motorcycle oils, coolants and hydrolics...let's go with the flow and take a closer look at what makes your motorcycle run so smooth. I've tried hard to keep it short and powerful, with basic useful facts and tips about hydraulic oils, coolants and fuel.

Hydraulic motorcycle oil is used for brakes and clutches and have their own reservoir. Hydraulic motorcycle oil can be very toxic, corrosive and hydroscopic (takes water in from the atmosphere). So watch out how you handle these fluids, a stain on the tank a a shame forever.

The lubrication of the gear box can be done by the engine oil or via a separate lubrication system. If it’s a separate system then more specific gear oil can be used. Gear box motorcycle oil doesn’t need to perform as many functions as engine oil in many bikes (especially two stokes). Since it’s less intensely used it doesn’t need to be changed as frequent. The gearbox oil often sites in a sump and via the motion of the gears wheels the motorcycle oil provides the lubrication.. Always stick to the manufacturers recommendations and don’t mix types.

When riding pay attention to your hydraulic brakes, if they feel less sturdy (giving you no counter pressure) the system might be leaking or have air in it. In this case you’ll need to ‘bleed’ the system.

In the old days bikes were air cooled only. This was fine (and still is) for smaller simpler engines. Air cooling isn’t as expensive on a motorcycle and also doesn’t provided the same exact cooling method you’ll find with a coolant. Cooling fins around the cylinder help cool the engine more quickly.

However on most bikes you will find liquid cooled engines. Coolant is stored in a small tank which is often transparent. You can check the levels easily between the min & max.

The cooling system is filled with coolant ( a mix of antifreeze & water or factory prepared coolant). Coolant stops the bike from overheating, doesn’t allow the system to freeze and avoides corrosion within.

Yep, maybe a boring subject but rolling up to the gas pump on every ride and realizing that it’s the juice your engine runs on I thought I’d write a small article about it.

Gasoline has a few key factors which are important to know when riding a motorcycle. The following are contaminations, amount of lead, octane, how volatile is it and detergents in the fuel.

When talking about contaminations we all can think of a few things however most of the contamination aspects have nothing to do with you or I. It’s the gas station and their maintenance which plays a crucial part. Storage tanks collect contaminations which normally sink to the bottom of collect at the top of the fuel. Bad service will mean you are pumping this gas into your engine.

The amount of lead (leaded or unleaded fuel) is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Lead is unhealthy and is mostly only used to lubricate the valves on older 4 stroke engine bikes (lead also increases the octane number). So if you really don’t need leaded fuel don’t use it. All your parts will also last longer.

Octane is an important factor of engine ignition. Octane helps the combustion of the fuel under pressure in the cylinder. No octane would lead to uncontrolled (more spontaneous) combustion of the fuel (and we need a nice controlled forward moving combustion). The better the combustion the smoother the engine runs. Uncontrolled combustions lead to ‘knocking’ of the valves. The higher the octane number (which you see at the pump) the less likely your engine will knock. But knock can be caused by a few other factors.

Please remember high octane is still the same fuel as low octane it only has a higher octane count. It will not improve your performance. To get this you would need to tune your bike for high octane combustion. Save your money and buy lowest octane your bike will still run smooth on.

How volatile gas is isn’t determined by you or me. What it means is how easily it vaporizes. In the summer the refinery uses less volatile gas than in the winter. Too volatile (too much vaporization in the tank and tubes) would lead to vapor lock (the inability for fuel to travel due to vaporized fuel pressure). In the winter you want more volatile gas because the temperature is lower.

Detergents are added to fuel so that contaminations which are in the fuel will bond together and no stick to fuel or engine system. You can imagine places where exact amounts of fuel are important (injectors and jets) you don’t want any dirt building up. Detergents avoid this however it’s once again something the fuel company decides for us.

So what to watch when gassing up – good quality gasoline dealer is the most important! This should avoid major contaminations in the fuel tanks, good volatile gas for the right season plus necessary detergents added. The all you do is figure out the best octane fuel for your bike and save a buck or two.

Common list of things that get used in a motorcycle garage - razors, rags, paper towels, hand cleaner, sand paper, grease, oil, wd-40, polish, wax,

Be careful when using anti-freeze in your motorcycle. Car anti-freeze has a silica component - which keeps car systems clean but can damage motorcycle water pumps.

Paper air filter can be cleaned about 6 times before they are too blocked up. Tap them to dislodge big stuff the wipe / blow them clean.

Oil impregnated filters are very effective - they can be refused as long as they are not damaged. All you need to do is clean them and reapply oil to the foam.

Sparkplugs are relatively cheap so replacing them at the required interval is the most easy maintenance way - however do realize that sparkplugs can often be reused with a little maintenance.

Spark plug maintenance should be a regular part of your service schedule – check and adjust spark plug gap and condition – check leads and caps – if needed replace spark plugs.