rishabh9

Hi,

I live in Bangalore and many of you all who live in Bangalore would know that most of the IT companies are situated at various corners of the city. My earlier office was in the center of the city (Basavanagudi) and thus used my Honda Unicorn for daily commute (14km one-way). Now my office has moved to the outskirts of the city, and the distance to office from my home has increased to 28km! I still use my bike for commuting because its the fastest way I can reach my office and back.

Now, this daily commute to my office and back (~60kms) keeps me worried about my bike, because of the following reasons:
1. I use the Outer Ring Road to reach office, that means my bike's average speed is way higher than it would be in the city limits, that too for a longer period of time. More like riding on a highway daily.
2. The roads are in bad condition at places, because of Metro Railway construction. Lots of dust, slush (when it rains), pot holes, etc. The bike suffers a lot due to this, and so do me.

Apart from regularly servicing the bike, what must I do to maintain my bike in the long run? Should I decrease the interval between the service cycles? Any, special engine oil? Additives? Any tips, suggestions, warnings, would be helpful. Thanks.

My Bike Info:
Honda Unicorn
48,000+ Kms
4 yeas old
Recently purchased a new set of tires - Ceat Gripp.

Sunny

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Centaur

I too have a Unicorn (along with my P220 ). It is 3 years old and has clocked 54000+ kms (my daily commute is 84 odd kms) with riding conditions similar to what you are facing. What I used to do was get the bike serviced every 2500 to 3000 kms like clockwork, apart from the usual stuff like oiling/greasing the chain, tightening brakes etc. and till date, the bike is going strong (in fact, I'm having second thoughts about selling it off )

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shelton_jh

Welcome to Xbhp Rishabh .
First of all there are few things which are very important and which are not to be compromised for a safe and peaceful ride to your destination and back, they are:
1. Brakes
2. Tyres (You can leave this cause you've just got new ones)
3. Cables (Throtlle & Clutch mainly)
4. Lubricants
5. Headlights
Usually for new age bikes the service interval is 3000kms or 3 months (whichever is earlier), so religiously follow this and in your case 3k kms would come first. Build up a nice rapport with the service guy and get your bike checked and serviced properly.
Apart from servicing all you have to do is a quick check (assuming that you'll know how to do it cause you've had it for 48k odd kms now) on the above listed five items daily (if possible) or else atleast once a week while washing or cleaning your bike (I do this and i feel it's more than enough).
Finally there are few items other than oil and filters like spark plug, cables which are to changed at regular intervals of 10k kms or so mentioned in your service manual. keep a note on that and do insist on changing them in your service station.
There are people who ride more than 100 kms a day on Unicorn and my friend has done more than 1L kms and the bike is still the same. He just does regular maintainance. I think this is more than enough and your bike would do just fine.

kingkong

In addition to the above solutions.., one more possibility is changing the sprocket gearing i.e. make it shallower(reduce 1/2 teeth on wheel sprocket), reducing the overall ratio......this will make your engine run at a lower rpm for the same vehicle speed.....but there will be corresponding loss in torque/acceleration.....
just an option...

aargee

I'm doing about 1500 Kms a month, which is about 70 Kms a day for over 1+ year now. Just listen to the noise of your engine everyday, religiously.

Do the following in routine...
1. Keep the engine oil in topped up
2. Air filters cleaned
3. Lubricate the chain
4. Check brake shoes
5. Tyres cleaned (I mean it)
All the more, simply stick to your manufacturers recommendation on service intervals whether you do it by yourself or get it done at A.S.S.

Most importantly, use quality fuel & lubricants.

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Centaur

Spot on.. aargee
Most of the other items, I guess, could be taken care of with regular servicing

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There are drunk riders. There are old riders. There are NO old, drunk riders.
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You don’t stop riding because you’re getting old, but you get old when you stop riding.

kingkong

aargee....please elaborate on it a bit...., how does it helps....thanks buddy..

aargee

When you've mud between the treads, if decreases your braking ability. Also, when you've the slush cleared off from the tyres using tyre cleaner, it improves the softness in the rubber rather than cleaning it with running water. It also helps aesthetically.

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Patience pays...The Vulture's virtue is patience and the bird always get it's food - Wise man saying

This is not a bakery. I don't sugar coat anything. If you ask for my opinion...then that's what you'll get. Don't be mad when it's not what you want to hear

anmol_1990

nothing special needed to be done.

my bike covers 110 km daily(delhi-gurgaon) and it is karizma R and ZMR(alternate days)

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