Motocross Mania

While taking care of a motocross chain is one of the most basic forms of motocross maintenance, it is also one that is often neglected by most riders. Many riders, whether they are bordering on semi-pro or are just starting out should always ensure that their motocross chain is regularly kept in tip top shape. This doesn’t just mean cleaning, but also means adjusting the chain, as well as making sure both front and rear sprockets are in A1 condition at all times. Despite this fact, most riders choose to ignore manufacturer’s guidelines and skip or cut corners when doing their routine motocross maintenance.

Neglecting motocross maintenance and your chain in particular can have disastrous effects on your bike and your wallet.

A few tips:

 Ensure your chain is cleaned the best of your ability every single time you ride. Removing your chain from your bike is the best way to ensure that you are cleaning your chain effectively. Many motoring outlets will supply specialist brushes which are perfect for getting into the nooks and crannies’, ensuring this part of motorcross maintenance is competed correctly.
 There are hundreds of specialist cleaners that can be used, but ensure that once clean, your chain is never left to dry off on its own accord. Used cloths followed by a de-watering fluid such as WD40 to ensure that all water particles are removed from your chain. If left to dry on its own, your chain will quickly rust and will be no better than junk, your time spent on motocross maintenance will be wasted!
 Not adjusting your chain correctly will result in inconsistent power delivery, excessive wear of the chain and of course excessive wear of both front and rear sprockets.
 Not adjusting and cleaning your chain correctly is essential just like every other form of Motocross Maintenance. If it is not conducted on a regular basis, your chain will either disintegrate, or snap!

Right, so back to basics now!

Motocross maintenance of your chain is essential and there are three fundamental parts that ensure your chain is in tip top shape; cleaning, lubricating and adjusting.

Cleaning – As suggested, remove the chain from your bike first and get stuck in, ensure all dirt and dust particles are removed before drying off with cloths and de-watering agents such as WD40. WD40 and similar products are essential for motocross maintenance, they ensure that metal parts are free from water particles and therefore, rust!

Lubricating – Once clean and dry, ensure that your chain is correctly lubricated, using professional motocross maintenance lubricating agents.

Adjusting – Perhaps one of the most important parts of the process is ensuring that your chain is correctly lubricated. In general, most manufacturers suggest that there is a ‘play’ of 15-20mm when the swing arm is sitting directly horizontal to the floor. Remember that this measurement is when the bike is standing freely rather than on a stand.

Remember; motocross maintenance is essential, so make sure you complete the procedures suggested in my articles regularly and correctly.

These are my hints and tips for some Motocross Fitness training to get you into shape for your race. Please ensure you take care with any exercise program and you seek medical advice if you feel unwell. Motocross fitness is just as an essential part of the rider as the maintenance of the bike. So don’t waste time, get yourself in the right spirit for the race, because if you feel well and healthy then ultimately your racing will improve. It is not all about weight training and running. Its fine to have your body as fit as possible, but you should also concentrate on your mind.

These are my tips for the day of the race

·         Arrive in plenty of time. If you arrive late you will start to panic and your mental state will suffer.

·         Don’t eat too much food on the day; you don’t want to feel full while you are racing.

·         Make sure you drink enough water to be hydrated, but again not to much. Needing to go to the toilet half way round will really knock your concentration.

·         Get checked in and ensure you know what you are doing and when you are racing. If you are unsure then ask. Most clubs are more than happy to help you out.

·         Check your bike over; mentally you will then know everything is ready.

·         Walk the course and make notes of problem areas. This will help your mental state and will also loosen you up after the drive to the track.

·         Do some gentle warm up exercises half an hour before the race. Don’t go mad, you are just trying to stretch your body a little so you don’t pull a muscle at the first jump.

·         Ensure you at the start in plenty of time

·         Try to enjoy the race. The more you enjoy the race, the more relaxed you will be and the better you will ride.

As you can see there is more to Motocross fitness than running round in circles. Positive and calm mental attitude will help you out as much as any strenuous Motocross fitness training programme.

These are my hints and tips for some Motocross Fitness training to get you into shape for your race. Please ensure you take care with any exercise program and you seek medical advice if you feel unwell. Motocross fitness is just as an essential part of the rider as the maintenance of the bike. So don’t waste time, get yourself in the right spirit for the race, because if you feel well and healthy then ultimately your racing will improve. It is not all about weight training and running. Its fine to have your body as fit as possible, but you should also concentrate on your mind.

Here are my tips for general health for the weeks leading up to the race.

·         Eat healthily. Too much junk food slows your body down and also the rate at which your brain can process information.

·         Follow a fitness regime to get your body in shape. You don’t have to run five miles every day, but if you exercise regularly then your body will get fitter Two or three twenty minute sessions a week will keep you reasonably fit.

·         Ensure you are sleeping well. If not, try and find out the problem and sort it, whether it is a hard pillow a lumpy mattress or a noisy neighbour.

·         Are there things on your mind? You need to identify them and get them sorted. Distractions on the day can be costly. So get together a plan of all the items that are worrying you. Write them down and create an action plan to deal with them. Just writing them down will make you feel better.

·         Make sure your bike is maintained. If this item is crossed off your list, then that is one worry gone.

·         Ensure you kit is maintained and ready for the race. To many times I have seen people turn up in dirty boots and clothing. If it is clean and fresh it will make you feel better. How can you have the right attitude if you feel dirty?

I hope you enjoyed these tips and it helps you with your racing. Please come back for part two where I will talk about some of the things you can do on the race day.

Welcome to part three of getting a Motocross bike ready for racing. More hints and tips to help on what I hope is that successful day.

·         Take your exhaust apart and check the packing. Replace if required. A lot of people don’t realise that a correctly packed exhaust can make a huge amount of difference to the output from a bike. Back pressure from the exhaust ensures the engine runs correctly. An exhaust is not just there to cut the noise down. Bikes put out less power without one. Without proper packing they sound throaty and exciting, but you are losing valuable power.

·         Check the forks are set correctly for your weight. Refer to your manufacturer’s documentation for settings. Forks that are not set correctly will often leave you up in the air and no wheels on the ground.

·         Check the fork oil and top up as necessary. I the seals are leaking you need to get them changed as soon as possible. Whenever your forks are not working correctly you are losing valuable seconds.

·         Get your bikes engine set up by a professional. Trying to adjust the carburettor without the proper tools is like trying to guess the lottery numbers.

·         Brakes are important. The harder you can brake the faster you can go into a corner. Check the brakes are moving correctly, if not take them out clean them and apply the thinnest smear of copper grease to the pins, backs etc. But NOT the pad material. Don’t be tempted to use any old grease. The high temperature that brakes run at mean the grease will melt and end up on the pad material and you will suffer reduced braking as a result. Also ensure the brakes are not binding. You can lose valuable power if the brakes are constantly on.

·         Lift your bike off the ground an turn the wheels, do they turn smoothly? Or do they sound a bit rough or stick. If so get those bearings out and check them. You might get away with just cleaning and greasing, but if not replace them.

·         Check your handlebar grips. It is important that you are able to grip the bars. You can get grips in all sorts of compounds from hard to soft and downright sticky. So experiment with them until you find the ones that suit you most.

I hope you have enjoyed the third and final part on getting a Motocross bike ready for racing. Please check back as I plan to do some more articles focusing on how to get you ready for a race and starting a series on how to ride a Motocross bike.

Welcome to part two on my hints and tips to getting a Motocross bike race ready. In this part I will dig a little deeper into the more specific maintenance tasks. You should be doing these on a regular basis and by that I mean between every race. After all when you ride a Motocross bike in a race you are pitting man and machine against each other and a Motocross bike is half of the team. Would you race without being ready and putting your gear on? I assume you wouldn’t so you need to care for your bike as well.

·         Check and change the spark plug. If you are ensure then just change it. This is the one item in the engine that really takes a battering. Make sure you use the manufacturers recommended plugs.

·         Check your tyres and adjust according to the terrain. If you are lucky enough to afford different sets, then of course change them for the right ones. But at a minimum check you have plenty of tread and set the tyre pressures for the terrain.

·         Check the chain. Oil and adjust as needed. Use proper chain oil, not some old engine oil you have lying around. Check the chain link. The open end should be facing away from the direction of travel. In my time I have seen half a dozen chains fall off just while the bike was being wheeled to the start!

·         Manufacturers very often save money by putting on standard nuts. If you can, start to replace them all with locking nuts, they are less likely to come loose during a race.

·         Clean your air filter and make sure to get it well oiled. If you don’t feel you can do the job properly, you can buy ready oiled filters. This is how your bike breathes, so make sure you get it right.

·         Most modern bikes don’t have spokes, but if yours does then gently tap a screwdriver on them all. If you get some odd notes, chances are you have a loose one, so get it tightened. Be careful with tightening spokes. It can be very easy to pull the wheel out so it doesn’t run right. So if you are not sure get a professional to do it. 

I hope you have enjoyed the second part on getting a Motocross bike ready for your racing. I hope you keep coming back as I will be covering some more hints and tips in further articles.