How to Increase the Performance of Your Motorcycle

As we know Indian market is fast growing market in two wheeler segment due to large amount of interest in biking and so demand due to lack of imported motorcycles. So generally people tends to change the machine from stock to high performance for either street racing, circuit racing, drag racing or for dirt purpose. Earlier some of the high performance material was not available in India due to lack of knowledge about material or because of importing it to India.

Nowadays in India there are some high performance spares available by some of the direct distributor or importers, for example K&N filters, Piper Cross, MSD Ignitions, NGK, DYNOJET, Microns, TwoBrothers etc. The material is extremely high performance but just by putting few spares you can’t increase the performance due to lack of information. The performance is depending on channels or the way you put those spares in-line. In simple language it’s a kind of computer flow chart.

In the market some people just trying to do business for money. Anyways lets talk about the high performance for Indian motorcycle. Lets start from Filter, In the market you get K&N or Pipercross, LM filters or BMC filters or whatever. When rider or mechanic installs those High Free Flow Filters they generally forget or don’t change some or the other things just to avoid complications.

How to “Run In” Your Bike

Running in a bike is basically making sure your bike engines wears uniformly. Dont get scared! What I mean by engine wear is the piston properly bedding into the cylinder. So I shall now give a detailed guide as to how an engine should be run in.

Basically, during run in, your bike gets adjusted to your riding habits. Its sets up itself according to your throttle, braking, gear change speed, use of clutch, etc. So do not hesitate to whack in a little more fuel into your cylinder head if you are running as it is a required input for the bike to get used to you.

If you’re looking for fuel economy, dont raise it beyond 5 and a half 1000. Use the clutch smoothly, never let your engine rev by the force of the gear box. If possible, do a long run in. Go long distances during run in. Try maintaining the bike at about 3000 clicks for more than 20 to 25 kms at least! This will ensure that later your bike will give you a real solid mileage figure. Probably close to the company specifications. But keep one thing in mind, if you do such a run in, you will not be able to rip on your bike.

Six Tips on Maintaining Your Bike at its Best

1. Tyre Air Pressure: Ensure tyre pressures are maintained at manufacturer recommended levels. Different pressures are recommended for single seat and pillion riding, observe them to squeeze out the optimum mileage. Over-inflated tyres do result in better mileage but play havoc with the ride, handling and stability, so don’t get desperate.

2. Brakes: Both the brakes should have the right amount of free play. To check that brakes are not binding, put the bike on the main stand and ensure that both the wheels turn freely.

3. Chain: The chain should be well lubricated and have the right amount of slack. You can read more about Motorcycle Chain Maintenance.

Maintaining your bikes chain

The chain is a very important Component of your Bike as the chain is what powers the rear wheel. The Chain drive of your bike has to be in proper condition so that the there is no power dissipation when the power is delivered from the engine via the cam chain tensioner to the rear wheel. A Bike’s chain, sprocket and the cam chain tensioner are the main components that transfer power to the road from the engine. The chain, sprocket technique is the most efficient method to power the rear wheel and that’s why most of the bikes employ this method. Some bikes employ Belt driven method like the Gearless scooter Honda Activa that employs a V-Matic belt driven transmission system. Big V-twin Bikes like the Suzuki Boulevard 1783 cc employs a Shaft Driven Transmission system like in a car. The chain cant handle the extra torque produced by the bigger engine as there is higher wear and tear so shaft system is used in higher engine capacity bikes.

Why Chain Maintenance: India is a country, which has a diverse range of environmental conditions so this ensures that the chains in your bikes need regular care. Rains, dust, muddy and slushy roads etc all wreak havoc with your bike’s chain. These days many bikes come with an O Ring sealed chain, which is exposed to the environment. The conventional Chain Guard prevents the chain from getting damaged. The O Ring chains are more prone to wear and tear as they are exposed and need regular maintenance so that your bike’s chain is healthy. Conventional Chains also need regular maintenance.

K&N Air Filters For Your Motorcycle

The name K&N Filters has long been standing for one of the best air filters for automobiles known to man. It’s made of high quality; it improves performance while at the same time increases engine efficiency. How does it work? Read on as we find out.

How It Works: Factory fitted air-filters are designed in a way that filters maximum possible dirt particles from the air before in enters the engine, the main drawback here is the factory fitted air filters restrict air flow to the engine because of its high filtration capacity and thickness. Here is where the K&N fills the gap, It provides the ideal balance of filtration and air flow, the end result being better engine performance and efficiency, one might wonder if this increase in air flow would sacrifice air filtration. It doesn’t. The secret of the K&N filter is in its material, if you have seen one, you would know that it’s made of something different.

We managed to contact Cynthia Wert, who is the International Account Manager for K&N Engineering Inc, this is what she had to say on the filtration capabilities of the K&N air filter.

7 Points to Consider While Buying a Bike

Almost all Indians want to own a bike, or if we already have a bike, we want a new one. Even though there are many cars available at cheap prices, bikes make a better choice for travel considering the Indian population and road conditions.

Bike is a great asset, it is a thing of beauty and a symbol of status. When you bike a bike you will own it atleast for 3 years and upto a maximum of 10 years. So you have to make your decision very carefully before choosing to buy a bike. The following are some of the points which may be useful for you in making a decision to buy a bike.

1. Choose your budget: After deciding to buy a bike, you should first choose your budget limit. The amount of money that you can spend on your bike greatly determines the choice of bike. Say for example your budget is minimum Rs.30,000 and a maximum of Rs.40,000. First list out all the bikes which fits your budget. Say there are 10 bikes which fits your spending limit.

Tips for Improving Your Bike’s Mileage

The mileage of a bike is a critical factor in the buying decision and also keeping our running costs low. Many of you think that mileage is just about the cost of fuel, but it is not. A bike which gives a good mileage compared to other similar bikes is a sure indication that the health of the bike is well maintained and the rider is careful enough to get the bike frequently serviced and tuned.

I talked with Sudarshan from Chennai and was surprised to know that his Hero Honda Karizma R gives a mileage of 41 in the city and 49 in highways. His bike is in perfect health. To keep the engine healthy all you have to do is, let the engine warm up before you take it to real performance. Small engines like that ofSplendor NXG and Passion Plus have a horizontal engine, so as soon as the bike is started, the oil flows easily into the engine. But bikes with a high bore and stroke find it difficult to circulate the oil throughout the engine as soon as it is started.

Sudarshan recommends bikers to put the choke, self start the engine and leave it for 10-15 seconds so that the oil gets heated up and the luke warn low density oil finds it easy to circulate through upto the top of the engine. Do not leave the choke for too long as it would flood the engine with fuel. Do not open the throttle until it has run for atleast 5 km distance and the engine comes to a normal operating heat range.

10 Important Points to Read if You Want to Save Fuel

Are you a biker who wakes up every morning and talking to your mirror about compensating your fuel expenses? Well here is something to relieve you from the stress.

• If you see a bike’s specification there will be a section about the vehicle’s torque @ certain rpm. Torque denotes the pulling force that the vehicle can offer at that particular engine speed. Every engine has certain rpm range where it can offer maximum torque. Try to keep below that range (not too low) so that you don’t burn a lot of fuel.
• Clutch riding / half clutch tends to wear out the clutch facing quickly. This considerably reduces the power transmitted from the engine. Some adjust the play to half clutch owing to the reason that it is easier to drive in slow moving traffic, but they won’t realize that they are doing it at the cost of frequent fuel refills and clutch replacement.
• Selection of appropriate gear is mandatory. Under-gearing / over-gearing are not good friends of fuel economy. Riding in higher gears at very low speeds (by clutch partially engaged) and lower gears at high speeds tends to draw more fuel. So don’t hesitate to shift gears appropriately.
• Starting earlier to work/college will also help saving fuel indirectly. As the peak hour approaches the traffic density increases and it demands frequent stops and crawling speed. So why waste your precious time and fuel?
• Always ensure that your vehicle’s transmission is sufficiently lubricated. This is because if there is more friction between the parts the engine will draw more fuel to compensate your speed demand. Also friction is not healthy exercise to the parts.