**Avoiding Catastrophic Failure in Your Motorcycle: Expert Tips**

When it comes to maintaining your motorcycle, there are several crucial steps you can take to avoid catastrophic failure. In this article, we'll explore the most important things you can do to keep your bike running smoothly and safely.

**The Importance of Regular Maintenance**

We just bought this cheap used motorcycle, but it needs some work before we get it out on the road. So today, we're gonna go through some of the most important things you can do to any motorcycle to avoid catastrophic failure.

One thing I always do when buying a new-to-me motorcycle is change the oil. This allows me to see the condition of the engine and get an idea of how well the previous owner maintained the bike. Changing your oil is super important, even if the seller says it's already been done.

**Understanding Motorcycle Oil**

When it comes to motorcycles, only one oil is used to do multiple functions - unlike cars that have separate oils for the engine, transmission, and differential. This means that motorcycle oil has a unique set of characteristics that you should be aware of.

For example, when new oil is drained from a motorcycle, it has an amber color. As it gets dirty, the color changes to black, and when it's kind of used, it's a little in between. Having access to a shop manual or owner's manual can provide you with specific information on types of oil, oil filter, part numbers, torque specs, and more.

**The Benefits of Regular Oil Changes**

Regular oil changes are essential for maintaining the health and longevity of your motorcycle engine. By changing your oil regularly, you'll be able to:

* See the condition of the engine

* Get an idea of how well the previous owner maintained the bike

* Identify any potential issues before they become major problems

**Tips for Choosing a Reputable Motorcycle**

When buying a used motorcycle, it's essential to choose a reputable seller who is transparent about the bike's history and condition. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

* Look for a shop manual or owner's manual that provides specific information on types of oil, oil filter, part numbers, torque specs, and more.

* Check the condition of the engine by draining the oil and looking at it.

* Ask questions about the bike's maintenance history and any issues that have arisen.

**The Benefits of Carvana**

If you're in the market for a new motorcycle, consider using Carvana. This online car buying experience allows you to:

* Lock in your budget sweet spot

* Browse through thousands of cars that you know you can afford

* Choose from customizable financing options that include the ability to add a cosigner, which could lower your down or monthly payments.

* Get as soon as next-day delivery or pick it up yourself from one of their mini car vending machines.

**The Carvana Guarantee**

Carvana offers a seven-day money-back guarantee, giving you a full week to see if you actually like the bike. If it's not the car for you, they'll pick up your bike and give you your money back or exchange it for another one.

**Conclusion**

Avoiding catastrophic failure in your motorcycle requires regular maintenance, understanding of motorcycle oil, and choosing a reputable seller. By following these tips and considering the benefits of Carvana, you can keep your bike running smoothly and safely for years to come.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- A portion isvideo sponsored by Carvana.- We just bought thischeap used motorcycle,but it needs some work beforewe get it out on the road.So today, we're gonna go through someof the most important thingsyou can do to any motorcycleto avoid catastrophic failure.(Jeremiah gasps)(beep)We're gonna cover eachstep including some thingsthat you might not realizeare extremely important.I'm Jeremiah, this is a motorcycle.Welcome to Donut. (laughs)Wee!(motorcycle engine revving)- Ah!- Thanks to Carvana forsponsoring this portionof this video.If you're watching Donut,you know just how insanethe car market is right now.- $100,000.- What?- No! What, a hundred grand?- Don't freak out, justtry shopping with Carvana.This isn't your typical used lot.Behind me is Carvana's futuristicvending machine for cars.No hassling salesman, nolong wait negotiations.Carvana is a 100% onlinecar buying experiencethat allows you to lockin your budget sweet spotand browse shoot thousands of carsthat you know you can afford.They even offer customizablefinancing optionsthat you can plan yourdown and monthly payments,all within their app.And now they offer theoption to add a cosigner,which could lower yourdown or monthly payments.And when you've chosen theCarvana of your dreams,you can get as soon as next day deliveryor you can pick it up yourselffrom one of their mini carvending machines like this one.Plus Carvana offers aseven-day money-back guarantee,giving you a full week tosee if you actually like it.And if it's not the car for you,Carvana's customer advocateswill pick up your carand give you your money backor exchange it for another one.I promise you can't find aseven-day money-back guaranteefrom any other vending machine.Every tried returning a sodaafter seven days? You can't.I tried, it's a long story.Well actually, it's not. They said no.But not Carvana, they say yes.With affordable pricing,customizable financing,and the all-new cosigner option,check out Carvana for your next carby clicking the link below.Thanks to Carvana for sponsoringthat portion of this video.(steady music)- Okay, first things first.Whenever I buy a new-to-me motorcycle,I always change the oil andthere's a few reasons for that.One, you get to see thecondition of the engineand see how well the previousowner maintained the bike.So I'm gonna drain it,I'm gonna look at it,and I'm gonna get an idea ofthe condition of the engine.Anytime you're working on abike, especially if you're new,you should get yourselfthe owner's manual,a shop manual, something that you can get.Specific things like typesof oil, types of oil filter,part numbers like that, torque specs,all sorts of informationthat you're gonna needwhen working on a bike.So oil when it's new, it has amber color.When it's dirty, it's black.And when it's kind of used,it's a little in between.So unlike a car that hasseparate oils for the engine,the transmission, the differential,a motorcycle like this uses only one oilto do multiple functions.Now changing your oil in a motorcycle,super important even if the seller says,"Hey, I already changedit like a day ago."I don't care, I still like to change itfor some peace of mind.So let's change it out, getsome fresh fluid in here.(moderate music)Okay, so while that is draining,I'm gonna go ahead andpull the filter off.(sound effect hums)I got her.Oh, she farted when I twisted it.Did you hear that little twist fart?Dude, look at that oil. That oil's great.But what I like to do istake my finger and look at itand see if there's any dirt in there.If you have a magnetic drain boltto see if there are any chunks of metal.So the oil changing process,just like a car, is really easy.You have a drain bolt andyou have a oil filter.So pull the drain bolt outfirst, let the oil drain,and then pull the oilfilter, take that off.And then when you go to refillit up, take your drain bolt,put a new crush washer onit and torque it to spec.And then also if you can,pre-fill the filter witha little bit of oil.That way, that when youdo an engine start-up,there's not a split secondbefore oil gets distributedthrough the system.So I like to pre-fillthis as much as I can.Obviously, if it's in a vertical position,you can fill it up tothe top and screw it in.If it's on the side,it's a little bit harder.Some's gonna leak out, but puta little bit of oil in there.It's always good tactic.What you definitely should dois take a little bit of oiland put it on the rimso you get a nice seal.Okay, so we got all our oil in.So what we have to dois first start the bike,get it up to operating temperature,turn it off, let it sit for a few minutes,and then come back andcheck the oil levels.Make sure we got no leaksand everything's good.Now the next juice you need to squeezefrom this blue raspberry is oneof the most important fluidsand that is break fluid.(calm music)Now you're supposed tochange break fluid every oneto two years, but that rarely gets done.And funny enough, it's reallyimportant that you do that.Now hydraulic breaks work byusing incompressible fluid.That fluid transfers forcefrom a master cylinderat the lever to a piston and the caliper,pushing that pistoninto a set of break padsthat clamp down on the rotors.And break fluid isusually made from glycol,which is hygroscopic,meaning it absorbs moisture from the air,moisture being water.And water has a much lowerboiling point comparedto break fluid.So when your breaking system gets hot,that water in the systemturns into a vapor,which is compressible,which creates a mushy breakfeel and could even cause youto lose your brakes completely,that's called vapor lock.So you go to squeeze on a lever,it goes completely all the way to the bar,you don't stop and you crash.(clatters)Really, really bad. You do not want that.So we're gonna change this brake fluidon the front brakes and the rear brakes.That is dirty, dirty brake fluid.Now this is a 2019 motorcycle, it's 2022.I can guarantee you thatthat brake fluid is threeyears old, so it's gotta go.So what we're gonna bedoing is putting new fluidand then bleeding the break.So all of this has gotta come out.It's much faster to doit here at the masterthan it is down at the caliper.(steady music)Okay, great. Look at that.Just would you look at that?Would you look at that there?Now this system uses DOT 4break fluid so I went outand bought the best DOT4 break fluid possible,which is RBF 660.Now when you go out and buy a break fluid,a couple things to note.First of all, DOT 3, 4, and5.1 can all be interchanged.Do not under any circumstance put DOT 5in a DOT 3, 4, and 5.1 system.Don't do it, they're different chemicalsand it'll just mess upyour whole freaking day.I'm gonna bleed the remaining fluid,all that nasty stuffthat's still in the lineand in the caliper down below.So I got fresh fluid up top.So what I'm gonna do ispress on this brake lever,come down to the bleederscrew, crack that open,(tongue clicks) let thefluid flow out, tighten it,and then let off the lever.And I'm gonna do that,making sure I still havefluid in the master cylinder.So it pumps new fluidin, pushes old fluid out.Looks nice and clean, nice and clear.So what I'm gonna do,I'm gonna top this off,and get all the way down to the bottom.Okay, now the fronts are complete.We're gonna do the sameprocess on the back.I'm gonna speed things up.I have a Mityvac system here,which is going to be using pressureto pull the fluid throughso I don't have to pump it with my hand.So I'm gonna connect this Mityvac pumpto this rear bleeder screw.I'm gonna crack it openwith vacuum already pulledto the pump and I'm just gonnalet fluids suck on through,making sure I keep thisreservoir full of new fluid.(catchy music)Now there's little level tabs right hereso you don't overfill it.Sometimes, you'll overfill it,you'll push that diaphragm in,then break fluid squeezes on out.You don't want that, youdon't wanna make a mess,especially with this stuff.(catchy music continues)Now coolant is another fluidthat degrades over time.So the purpose of your coolingsystem is to remove heatfrom the engine and coolanttransfers that heat.The ethylene glycol incoolant breaks down over timeinto formic and glycolic acid.So those acids, they break down seals,the coolant hoses inthe channels themselves.That's not good.You basically have an acidrunning through your engine,so we gotta change it.I'm gonna crack this open.Okay, so while I let that drain,I'm gonna go over to the reservoir sideand just take that reservoiroff and dump it as well.So instead of coolant,I'm gonna be running distilled waterwith some version of this.This is WaterWetter, it's a brand name,but this is a coolant additive.And the reason I'm using water isbecause water has a higherspecific heat capacity.Meaning, it takes more heatenergy to raise its temperature.And then I add this into the equationbecause this will lubricateour cooling systemas well as inhibit corrosion.So they tell you how much toput per gallon of this stuff,I'm gonna premix it and then fill itinto our cooling system.And I'm gonna show you onething that you really need to dobefore you take off, riding down the road.Don't just fill this up becausethis bike has a thermostat.So the purpose of thethermostat is just like a car,the engine gets up tooperating temperature,gets nice and hot.Once it gets past that heatlevel of the thermostat,that thermostat opens up and coolant goesthrough the radiator, down this hose,and into the engine itself,cooling the engine down.So the purpose of thatis you want your engineto get up to temperature beforeyour coolant has some timeto pull heat away from it.So it just builds someheat and then allows youto cool it down.So what you have to do is run this bikeuntil it gets up to temp,the fans kick on andthe thermostat opens up.So we wanna make sure we canget this thermostat activatedto get any air out ofthis side of the system.I'll be watching ourcoolant temperature here.Once that gets about to the middle,that's that good operating temp.Okay, so we let the bikerun for about 15 minutes.The thermostat cycled,the fan kicked on and off,and we're good to go. (claps)We have nice, fresh coolantin our system. Perfect.Now the next fluid we needto address is something a little stinky.Gas, anyone? Poot.(steady music)Now if you didn't know,today's gasoline is hogwash.It's pretty crappy and that's becauseup to 10 to 15% of it is ethanol,and ethanol is made from corn,and corn is just bad for you. (laughs)But in all seriousness,ethanol part of gasoline leaves itwith a very low shelf life.Only from one month tothree months at bestbefore it starts to oxidizeand turn some of your linesand turn some of the insideof the tank to gunky varnish.It's just nasty stuff.So whenever I buy a bike,I just assume the gas hasbeen sitting in it for monthsand it's bad.So I pump this gas out.So right here is freshfuel straight from the pumpand this is fuel from this tank.Now there's a few reasonswhy this looks different from this.One of 'em is ethanol-basedfuels, they're hygroscopic.So they're wanting to accept water,they wanna absorb water fromthe air, that's not good.Also, it oxidizes much faster than a fuelthat doesn't have ethanol in it.And because of that, it'spretty much going bad,and that going bad can beseen by the yellow tintof this gasoline.Now this gasoline over time isgonna look exactly like thisif you don't burn it.But for these purposes, we'regonna drain this completely.And the way we do that isactually pretty simple.That's just sucking it through a tube.So basically, I'm gonnasiphon this gasoline outinto this whole tankand we're gonna use itfor our lawn mowers orsomething, I don't know.(gasoline plinking)All right, so we got allnew fluids in our bike.So let's change an air filter.(moderate music)Okay, here we go.Underneath this cover isour tiny little air filter.Look at that.Now whenever I get a new bike,one of the first things Ichange is the air filter'cause one, it's really inexpensiveand it's pretty easy to change.Also, there's another one of those itemsthat just gives me a good indicationof how well the bike was treated.So there we go, air filter changed.Another item, (tongueclicks) check on the list.Super important.So if I ever go to diagnose a problem,I got air, fuel, and spark.Air is always the easiest oneand this is the source of our air.Let's change some spark plugs.(steady music)Okay, so here is how weget to our two spark plugs.We had all the body work pulled off.Four bolts to move the tankand push it back a little bit,and it exposes our spark plug capsand the spark plugs underneath them.Now this is a parallel twin engine,so we only have two plugs.But really, once youpull these, boom, boom.Now this plug has abrownish, grayish tint to it,which means that my air fuel ratio is goodand the temperature of theplug itself is spot on.And that temperature isreally, really important.So various spark plugsmight look the same,they might even thread into your engine,but the temperature ratingof that plug is crucialto making sure yourengine is running right.And if you're buying a used bike,you don't know, someoneshould have been like,"Oh, well that one fits inthere. That one's probably good."But you always want to check to make surethat this plug matcheswhat's in your service manualor what's designed for theparticular engine you're running.So this is the standardplug that came in the bikeand this is the one thatshould be in that model.Now what I've done isI've got the same plug,except this one is madewith an iridium tip.Now iridium plugs are gonna cost youa little bit more money,but here's the thing.They last way longer,they take less voltage to produce a spark,and the spark they docreate is a lot better.They have a better quality of flame.Okay, so here's the thing.I just dropped this plug.(Jeremiah gasps)(spark plug clatters)So now I gotta gap it,which actually leads me to another pointthat I wanna talk about,and that's making sure thegap on your plug is correct.Did I want to have to do this? No.I wanted to just put a new plug in,but my little slippery fingers dropped it.And of course, of all theways it could have fallen,it fell right on top.Now because this is a twin engineand I have my spark plugwires on the left and right,it's pretty easy to knowwhich one goes where.But if you don't have abike that's a twin cylinder,maybe it's got four cylinders,you wanna make sure each wire goesto the appropriate spark plug.(motorcycle engine whirring)We've checked the air,we've checked the fuel,checked the spark.Great, everything's in great condition.Now let's go look at the thingthat actually is in contact with the road,the tires.(moderate music)A good set of tires isone of the cheapest formsof insurance you canget on your motorcycle.And just like your car tires,it's the single point ofcontact with the roads,so we gotta make sure we gota good set on our motorcycle.So you might be thinkingone of the first thingsto look at when you geta tire is the tread.But actually, I like to look atwhen the tires were manufactured.And you can do that really simply.On the side of a tire,there's gonna be four digits.So we have one right here, it's 3818.So the first two digits, 38,that is the week of theyear that these were made.And 18, that's the year.So they were made 38th week of 2018.Now as a general rule of thumb,you wanna replace yourtires every five years,even if they're unused.So motorcycle tires are made of rubber,and that rubber degrades over time.Everything degrades over time, guys.Even you, that's why you get oldand you and you don't look young anymore.Same thing with tires.So after I check that code,I can do a little bit ofmath and realize like,"Okay, I still got some time."I got about a year and somechange left on these tires,so they're in good shape.And the next thing Ilook for is the tread.So just like you do with your car,take yourself a little Abe Lincoln pennyand put him upside down in the tread.Now if you can see the topof Mr. Abe's fricking skull,time for you to get some new tires.Now if you don't wanna use a penny,you can use a set of calipersand use the back end of 'em,pushing down in here, lookat what that number is,and go to your manual and makesure that it's within spec.Also, this is a good time tocheck for tread wear patternsthat might be irregular.So it's one side of the tirewearing more than the other.And if that's the case,well, it could mean thatsomething is out of adjustment.So our tires are in good shape,and you know what else is in good shape?This license plate thatshould be for a car,but we put it on a motorcycle'cause this is a motorcycle episode,which you can go get your very own.I'd rather be drivingDonut license plate bracketat donutmedia.com or clickingthe link in the description.Please share this with your friends.The more that you guyslike and share this video,the more motorcycle stuff we can make.So please, please, please,I wanna keep making stuff.So I went through the sameprocedure on the front tire,(tongue clicks) and it's A-okay.Now the next thing I wanna dois check our tire pressures.So tire pressures aresuper, super important,and this is where somepeople get it wrong.A lot of people will look at the side walland set their tire pressurebased on that, but really,what you need to do isreference your service manual.So my manual says the fronttire should be at 29 psiand the rear tire should be at 36 psi,and we set that pressurewhen the tire is cold.And one thing that youshould always do every timebefore you go out ridingis check your tire pressureand make sure that they're right.So just like your tires,brake pads have wearindicators notched into them.And that's what these little grooves are.So see those grooves?See how they're elevated just slightlyabove the metal part of the pad?Well, when those get flush,then you know it's timeto change your brake pads.And it's really importantthat you check for thesebecause unlike car brake padswhich have little metalpieces manufacturedinto the pad to squeal so they tell you,"Hey, it's time to change your pads,"motorcycle pads, they don't have that.So it's really importantthat you check theseto make sure that they're within spec.Now for the most part,you can inspect your brake padswithout having to take them off,but say they look prettysmall and worn down,I'm gonna show you youhow to pull them off.It's really simple.You're gonna have two mainbolts that you need to remove,the pads slide out andthen you can check 'em,replace 'em, put 'em backin, do whatever you want.Now your brake pads might notcome out exactly like that.This R3 is a little bitdifferent compared to,say a dirt bike, butusually it's two bolts.Slide out, slide 'em back in. Super easy.Also, one thing to noteis that these pads slidealong this pin right here.So you want to make sure thatthis pin is nice and smooth.So I'm gonna give it a littlebit of grease right here,which brings me to the nextthing we need to check,and that is all the lube andgrease on this motorcycle.Welcome to Jerry's lube corner.What I'm gonna do, whoa,is put a very thin layer right on this'cause the pad slides on this.You don't want it to stick at all.Great, all right, so we'vedone a little bit of lubing.We got that break pin lubed up.Now it's time to lube someother things like the axles.We're gonna take our shockoff and look at the conditionof those bearings, makesure those are good.And we're gonna lube ourthrottle and clutch cablesto make sure that we'renice and juiced up.All right, one of the firstthings I like to lube upwhen I get a new motorcycleor a new motorcycle to me is the clutchand the throttle cables.So those are really, reallyimportant to make surethat they're well-lubricated.You don't want one of those stickingand you can kind of get a pretty good feelif there is anything wrong with itby just pulling the leversand twisting the throttle.So this is the one thing thatyou're gonna need some sortof specialty tool andit's relatively cheap.This is just a little cable luber.This tool is really simple.You wrap the cable around,put the butt in over there,and push this all the way down.And now what I can dois actuate that cable.(catchy music)(lube can hisses)(catchy music continues)And one of the things you'regonna be changing moston your motorcycle are your tires.So you wanna make sure you can get thoseon and off relatively easy.So to prevent any stubborn axle bolts,which you wanna make sure you do,is grease those suckers up.So there have been timeswhere I've had some bikeswhere I've neglected greasing my axlesand they get jammed in there,they get seized to the wheel bearing,and then it's just a realheadache to get 'em out.So we don't want that, Ijust have one axle bolt,one nut on one side, push that through,pull the wheel out, andthen I'm good to go.Let's go do the back.(even music)Now the next thing we needto do is clean this dirty old chain,lube it up, and then adjust it.Make sure that we gotthe right tension on it'cause having too sloppya chain is not goodand having too tight a chain is not good.If it's too sloppy,it'll wear prematurely.The teeth in your sprocket,the chain itself can get worndown and you don't want that.So first, we're gonna do is clean it,then we're gonna lube it,and then we're gonna check.Okay, so depending onhow dirty your chain is,you might want to investin something like a brush.This is a specific brush.What you wanna do is takesome sort of cleaner.This is just offroad cleanerfor offroad motorcycles,but it'll do the same job here.And I've taken an old paper plate,it's kind of stuck it up down this side'cause I'm gonna be sprayingon the chain right here.I don't wanna get any of this chain lubeon any other parts of the bike.What I do is just takethe wheel, rotate it,(chain clacking)just do a nice lightlittle film on the chain.Not too much, not too little.You just wanted to getdown on the rollers.That's good enough.Now what I like to do is put it onabout 15 to 20 minutes before I ride.Otherwise, if you just go ripping around,this stuff will just flingoff and get everywhere.But if you give it some time, it'll sit.Okay, so the way you check yourchain is gonna be dependenton your motorcycle, butfor this particular model,what it does is you need a rulerand you need to findthe slack on it pulleddown a little bit andpushed up all the way.And that range,the difference betweenthose two numbers gives youthat amount of slack.And in the manual,it says anywhere from35 to 45 millimeters.Hold down, and I'm at 60 mil,and then I push up all theway, and I'm about 25 mil.So 60 minus 25, that's 35 millimeters.So that means I'm rightin spec. So that's great.But say I was out of spec,say I needed to tightenmy chain a little bit.Well, I'm gonna do it, show you.It's really quick, reallyeasy, and really important.Now on your swing arm,you're gonna have some axle adjuster nuts.This is two right here on this left side.This is the locking nutand this is the actual nutthat's going to push theaxle forward and back.So what I need to do,take my little caps off.While holding this one,break this one off like this.Boom. So that's our locking nut.So we're gonna back that out.I'm gonna go and do that on thesame side or the other side.So what happens is when Istart to tighten this nut,it's going to push this axle backwards.Now it's really important thatI get the left side the sameas the right side.So there's littleindicator marks right here,little lines that line up.And as many lines as you can see throughthat hole is the number of linesthat should be on bothsides of the swing arm.So if you need to tighten the chain,you're going to tighten this nut.If you need to loosen this chain,you need to loosen that nut.So now you got a cleanchain, you got a lubed chain,you got an adjusted chain.I think you're about as goodas you could possibly be.Your bike is now in tip-topshape and ready to hit the road.So now we'll have a good indicatorof X miles down the road,X hours down the roadthat we need to change.All those things out again.So it's really importantnow that we're startingfrom a fresh baselineis to record your miles,record how many hours are on the engine,if that's something your bike does,and write it down in abook, write it in a notepad.I like to put all mystuff in an Excel sheetso I kind of know.(tire taps)But by golly, our little blueraspberry is in tip-top shapeand ready to hit the road.Thank you guys so muchfor watching this videoand everything else at Donut.If you wanna see more motorcycle contentor just more of us actually wrenchingand touching on things, Iwanna do more of that. (laughs)Selfishly, I wanna do more car stuff,I wanna do more motorcycle stuff,actual fun things like this.Leave a comment down below,subscribe, hit that Like button.Thank you guys so, so much for watching.Till next week. Bye for now.