Get ready to roar!

If you have spent the cold winter months commuting on a bus and kicking your motorbike's tyres at the weekends, you will be anxious to see the spring arrive. In the meantime, there is work to be done on your motorcycle. For safe, reliable riding through the warmer months, your motorcycle needs to be prepared thoroughly.

First, you did follow the instructions in Haynes' The Motorcycle Book about winter storage? Haynes is the world's foremost publisher of automotive repair manuals and renowned for teaching millions of car and motorcycle owners how to carry out routine maintenance and repairs. Haynes publishes manuals for more than 500 motorcycles as well as The Motorcycle Book - everything you need to know about owning, enjoying and maintaining your bike.

Notes to Editors:

The information displayed on these pages is supplied courtesy of Haynes Publishing, please credit accordingly if you intend to use it. For further information, please contact Rebecca Nicholls on Tel: 01452 260063 or email: pr@haynes.co.uk

Haynes Motorcycle Manuals

Haynes Motorcycle Manuals retail at £14.99 (paperback) and £19.99 (hardback Superbike manuals) and are available from all good car accessory retailers and bookshops including: Halfords, Motor World and WH Smith. A comprehensive stockist locator can be found at www.haynes.co.uk.

Ready Your Motorbike For Spring  

1. Clean off any protective coating applied to body panels and check that wires, hoses and cables have not been nibbled by rodents. Remove the plugs or polythene bags you used to block air intakes and exhaust ends.
2. Check the engine oil and coolant levels (as applicable) and top up if necessary. Some owners like to perform a pre-season engine oil and filter change.
3. Refit the battery which you have been trickle charging through the winter. If it is an unsealed type, check the electrolyte level.
4. If you squirted oil through each spark plug hole before the winter, check that the spark plug(s) is/are tightened to the correct torque.
5. Inflate the tyres to the correct pressures. If you allowed them to go flat in storage, they may have deformed and will need replacing.
6. Lubricate the drive chain (when applicable) and the exposed parts of all control cables and linkages.
7. Check the brake fluid level. Push the bike back and forth and check that the brakes work without sticking, dragging, or leaking fluid.
8. If you drained the fuel tank for winter, refill it with fresh fuel now. Otherwise, just check that there is some in there!
9. Start the engine and let it warm up while you check that there are no fluid leaks. Also check the operation of lights, horn and indicators.
10.  Take the bike for a run to check that the clutch, gears and brakes are all working correctly; treat it gently for the first few miles.

What have we forgotten? That's right, is the tax disc valid?

These useful tips are just the sort of vital information you'll find in Haynes manuals. Each manual contains sections on maintenance - simple pre-ride checks to keep you on the road; servicing - complete, fully illustrated step-by-step guides; fault finding - information helping you to pinpoint specific problems easily; brakes - safety checks and repairs for the home mechanic plus Haynes Tips - valuable short cuts to make many tasks easier.

Written from hands-on experience gained from the complete strip-down and rebuild of motorbikes in the Haynes project workshop, these manuals can help you understand, care for and repair your bike. Haynes staff do it themselves to help you do-it-yourself and, whatever your mechanical ability, the practical step-by-step explanations, linked to numerous photos, will help you get the job done right. Regular servicing and maintenance of your motorbike can maintain its resale value, save you money, and make it safer to ride.

For more advice on model-specific procedures, please refer to the appropriate Haynes Service and Repair Manual.