Owning a car/bike these days is quite easy, thanks to the cheapest loan options.

But what is hard to do is to maintain it. Because not many people know how to do it.

And people just keep driving their vehicle until one day it breaks and they get a big fat bill to repair it.

Then they wish they would have known a better way to maintain their car/bike.

Like maintaining one’s physique is an ongoing process so is maintaining your car/bike.

And this ongoing process starts from the moment you purchase your bike/car.

You should know how to maintain your car/bike especially these days when people and their cars/bikes are locked in their homes due to COVID-19.

In this article we tell you about the points that you need to take care of if you want your car/bike to last longer.

So let us start.

1) Break-In Phase

Once a car/bike is manufactured it is then directly sent to the dealers to sell off.

The engine and all of its components are brand new. They are not used or run.

Break-In or Run-In or Running-In is a process where you allow the parts to run and wear off a little to get settled to form a stable relationship with each other.

Like the first step in making a house is laying the foundation of the house. Similarly, the break-in phase sets the foundation of the bike.

So the first 1000 kms of your car/bike become very important. Because around 1000 kms is what it takes to Break-In a car/bike.

Here is how you should drive to Break-In you car/bike.

1. Do not drive at constant speed and RPM for a long duration.
2. Keep varying the speed and rpm. You should drive your car/bike at all the rpms from 1000 rpm to the red line.
3. Do not take your car/bike for long trips for the first 1000 kms. Because when you go on long trips you will maintain a constant speed on highways and it negates the first point that we discussed.
4. Drive your first 1000 kms in the city. Because in the city you keep varying your speed and it is very good for your cars/bikes Break-In phase.

2) Check and replace your Engine Oil regularly

Everyone knows about this but not many people follow it.

They just keep driving their vehicle until they realize that it’s been a long time since the bike/car got serviced. And then they take it to the service centre and get it serviced.

And then again forget about everything.

But you should pay close attention to the Engine Oil specially. Because it is the thing that protects your bike’s/car’s heart i.e. engine and keeps your bike/car running smoothly.

You should regularly check your cars/bikes engine oil.

One more thing that people do not pay much attention to is the type and brand of the engine oil that the service provider is using.

Yes! There are different types of engine oil available in the market.

Types of Engine Oil:

There are three types of engine oil available and these are:

1. Mineral Oil
2. Semi Synthetic Oil
3. Synthetic Oil

Mineral oil is the most common type of engine oil that is used in the market/service centers. Because it is the cheapest of the three and well who does not like cheap things.

While it is not bad for your car/bike to use mineral oil. And in fact it is recommended to use mineral oil while your car/bike is in the Break-In phase.

But the life of the mineral oil is also very less compared to other types. Which means you will have to get your car/bike serviced very often.

Then there is Semi Synthetic engine oil which is made from the mixture of mineral and synthetic oils. 

It is superior to mineral oil and is also costlier. And also has more life than the mineral oil.

Then there is Synthetic engine oil which is completely man made and is superior to the mineral and semi synthetic oil.

It has the highest life of the three and is also the costliest. But it also has the maximum life of the three.

So these were the different types of the engine oil that is available in the market. 

But one more thing that you need to keep in mind before getting your engine oil replaced is the grade of the engine oil.

Every car/bike manufacturer recommends a certain grade of engine oil that can be used in a car/bike. And needless to say you should use the recommended engine oil to make your car/bike last longer.

The recommended engine oil is always mentioned in the user manual of your car/bike.

So next time you change your cars/bikes engine oil, keep these things in mind.

3) Clean and Lube the Chain Regularly

This point is mainly for the bike owners and does not apply to the car owners.

And out of the bike owners, it is mainly applicable to those bike owners whose bike chain is not fully covered.

The modern bikes come with open chains, which get exposed to all the dirt on the roads.

So it becomes very important to regularly clean and lubricate your bike’s chain to make it last longer and your rides smoother.

If you do not clean and lube it regularly, the dirt will keep accumulating. And it will make your chain sprocket wear out quickly and also will exert more pressure on the bike’s engine. As a result it will hamper the bike’s pick up as well as the ride quality.

4) Clean and Replace the Air Filter

There are two things required to keep an engine running.

One is the fuel (Petrol/Diesel), and another is the Air.

But as you know there are many dust particles in the air so if you let this dirty air go to your engine you can only imagine what would happen.

So to make sure that only clean air is passed to the engine an Air Filter is used. Which makes it a very important part of the bike/car.

But many of us do not pay much attention to the cleaning and replacing the air filter.

You should get it cleaned in every service or every after 3-4 months.

And if need be you should also replace it. Usually an air filter should be replaced after 2-3 services.

5) Check and Maintain the Tyre Pressure

Another very important thing that people keep neglecting is the car’s/bike’s tyre pressure.

You should regularly check your car’s/bike’s tyre pressure.

Low tyre pressure will affect the mileage of your car/bike.

However high tyre pressure will affect your ride quality.

To know the optimum tyre pressure that you should maintain you can look into your user’s manual.

6) Do not misuse the Clutch

You should not get your clutch too tight and you should also not get your clutch too loose.

The thing that you need to keep in mind is either you should engage the clutch fully or you should not at all engage it.

It will prevent your clutch plate from wearing out and will increase the pickup of the car/bike.

7) Check Brakes

You should also keep an eye on your brakes. 

You should get the brakes replaced when you hear screeching sound coming out whenever you apply brakes.

Or you can look at your disc pads marking to see if you should get them replaced or not.

8) Engine Flush

Engine flushing is the process of cleaning the engine of all the dirt and accumulated wear and tear material. 

It is a very simple process. And it is done when you want to change your engine oil.

What you have to do is before taking the old engine oil out you just have to add an engine flush additive with it.

After adding the additive start your car/bike and let it run on idle rpm for about 5-10 mins. And then clean out the old engine oil.

That’s it, your engine is flushed.

It is recommended that you should get your engine flushed every after 5-6 services.

9) Do not rev higher when starting up

This is a very important point that 99% of the people do not know about.

Imagine what will happen to engine oil if you keep your bike/car standing for about 4-5 hours.

Gravity will do its work and all the engine oil will come down and will get deposited on the base of the engine, right!

And what people do is they start their car/bike and keep giving accelerator and keep revving the engine hard.

But what they do not realize is that they are making the engine rev hard without any oil between the parts. Which ultimately makes the parts wear out quickly.

So what you should do instead is that you should start your car/bike and let it run on idle rpms for 2-3 minutes. This will circulate the deposited engine oil to every part of the engine again and then you are good to go.

And if your bike/car requires you to accelerate it to get started then you should give a little bit of acceleration and keep the rpm around 2k rpm in cars and 3k rpm in the bikes.

10) Lighten up your Key Ring

You must have come across a bike/car where you can pull the key out even if the bike/car is started.

If you want this to not happen with you then you should lighten up your key ring.

The more keys and stuff you have in your car/bike key ring, the more force it will exert on the key lock while hanging (remember Gravity!). And faster your key lock will get damaged.

11) Maintain a service record of your car/bike

You should always maintain a service record.

It not only helps you remember what all has been done on your vehicle in the past service but it also increases your car’s/bike’s resale value.

Yes! You heard it right!

Let us assume you want to buy a used car/bike. And you have got quotations from two sellers for the same car/bike.

One is asking for a little less money but he has not maintained any service record and you do not know what all has been done on the car/bike in the past.

Another one is asking for a little more money but has maintained a service record of all the things that have been done or replaced in the car/bike.

Which one would you pick?

The one with the service record, Right!

Because you know the past record of the car/bike and easily predict what kind of maintenance the car/bike will demand in the future.

So always maintain a service record.

How to maintain your Car/Bike in the lockdown

Now since we are locked inside of our homes for many days now. And obviously it is not good for our cars/bikes.

So what should we do to maintain our bike/car in this lockdown.

Let us look at some points that you need to keep in mind.

These points are also for the people who do not use their car/bike much and only take it out once or twice a month.

1) Park your car/bike in shade or cover it

UV rays, dust, rain etc can damage your car’s/bike’s paint.

So you should always park your car/bike in shade or under cover.

It will protect your car’s/bike’s paint and your car/bike will always look as good as new.

2) Plug out the Battery from the car

This point is mainly for the car owners.

Plug out the battery if you will not use the car for a long time.

Because the electronics of the car keep using the battery and the battery can get discharged. As a result your car might not start when you want to take it out.

3) Move your car/bike a little

Always move your vehicle a little bit so that tyre position gets changed.

Because tyres are made of rubbers and rubber tends to take shape when a constant pressure is applied to a certain part. So by moving it you are not letting the same part of the tyre to soak all the pressure.

4) Do not apply hand brake on the car

Do not apply hand brakes if the car will be standing for a long time.

Because the brakes can get jammed. And your vehicle might not move once it gets jammed.

Instead use the old school method of putting a brick or an obstacle in front of the tyres to keep the car from moving. You can also keep the car in gear.

5) Clean up and start your car/bike once in a week

Dirt and dust gets accumulated quickly to a non used car/bike.

So you should clean your bike/car thoroughly once a week.

Also start your car/bike and let it run on idle rpms for about 10-15 mins.

While the bike/car is running on idle rpms you can utilize that time and clean it.

6) Switch on the AC of the Car

When you start your car once a week, always keep in mind to start the AC for sometime.

It will clean up your AC vents.

7) Close the fresh Air Intake of the Car

Close the fresh air intake of the car otherwise insects and rats could make their way through it. And they can really mess with your car.

That’s all for this article.

Anyone can make their car/bike last longer. 

You just have to take care of it a little.

Take care of your car/bike and it will take care of you.

Let us know if you have any doubt, feedback or suggestion in the comment box below!

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