The Spoon Boon Blog

Mopeds demand steady upkeep in order to extend the use of the bike to as many years as possible. Even though maintenance is commonly implemented to extend the scooter’s life, many servicing jobs also give a positive impact on reliability and safety. From oil changes to changing tyres, appropriate maintenance is an important part of having a motorbike.

Changing Oil
Oil changes are critical, especially if your moped has an engine cooled by air. Air cooled engines are inclined to run hotter as opposed to engines cooled by water, such as those in trucks and cars. Mopeds likewise function at very high revs, which can promptly cause damage to the oil. Moped oil changes needs to be completed for each 300 to 500 miles journeyed. Oil ought to be exchanged using an oil designed extremely hot engine temperatures. In colder countries, 10W40 motor oil runs well. In more humid climes, 20W40 is normally a more suitable oil.

Throttle and Brake Cables
As time goes by, brake and throttle cables elongate and can impact on moped safety and functionality. Everyday oil will assist in preserving the lines from tangling or stretching permanently. A couple of drops of machine oil or WD40 on the areas where the lines get out from the sleeves and enter the controls can help lube the brake and throttle cables. Although a good number of motorcycles possess self-tightening lines, it is a good idea to have your cables have a once over on every occasion you make an oil change.

Bearings and Wheel Bolts
Wheel bolts and bearings, not to mention other motorcycle fasteners, ought to be on a regular basis examined for tautness. This job is frequently best carried out with every oil change; nevertheless in odd situations you may want to do spot checks to make sure that everything is fastened down properly.

Tyre and Suspension Servicing
You ought to regularly check your tyres for appropriate air pressure. As time passes, shock absorbers wear out and may result in tyres not having proper connection with the road surface. Worn tyres and shocks impact negatively on the safety of your bike and must be replaced.

Lastly it’s a great idea to go online to develop your understanding of scooter maintenance - simply enter related key words in a search engine such as motorcycle batteries to acquire tips on the subject of motorbike servicing.

Bicycling is a useful method to keep fit, save money, while assisting in keeping the air unpolluted. Bicycling also doesn’t impact your muscles in severe ways that jogging and working out in the gym can. Not only that, it’s practical because one can get exercise by travelling to the shops, or to the workplace, so you don’t have to to put time aside for exercise as nearly all other varieties of workout impose on you.

So what variety of bicycle to buy? A bike that’s comfortable for you as you’re riding, and has plenty of gears to enable you to ride up slopes with relative ease - not everybody lives in Holland! One should be able to lift your bicycle with comparative ease as you’ll discover this is necessary sometimes, e.g up a few stairs.

In addition, ensure you buy sufficient accessories for your bike : a strong cycle lock, front and back light, reflector lights, reflective jacket, a pump, mudguards, and helmet. These will assist you in keeping safe in the dark, and the bicycle secure from thieves. Ensure you lock the cycle in a moderately communal area.

Finally, it’s a smart idea to invest a bit of time into studying how to fix your bike. There’s no need to become an expert, but it’s useful if you can find out how to set the brake cables and brake pads as these frequently require fine-tuning after heavy usage. And make sure you keep the bike well lubricated with oil and the tyres pumped hard to make biking less effort. And of course, be sensible on the roads - use your arms to indicate while turning, and keep on the left at all times.

It is very important for a mountain bike to have a proper shock system including a full suspension. It is important because it helps absorb the shock when going over rugged terrain and helps to provide a smoother ride. You will find that full suspension bikes have both a front and back suspension. If a mountain bike has a solid rear fork and a suspension at the front they are often called hard tailed. Bikes without a suspension at all tend to be fairly lower end mountain bikes.

Mountain bikes with both descending and climbing ability are usually ideal for cross country riders. The movement in the rear suspension system is only about 4 inches so that it does not cause a problem when trying to climb hills. A cross country mountain bike would usually come with 28 gears so that it is easier to cope with different types of land.

If you are a more technical mountain bike rider you will probably need a trial bike as they are a little more robust. 4 to 7 inches is the typical type of movement you can expect from the suspension on a trial bike. Uphill pedalling will be more difficult but you will in general get a much smoother ride. A decision will need to be made as to which way you want to go, a smoother ride with an uphill struggle or not. Trek Track Bikes is a great place to look on the internet for all terrain bikes.

Question: What’s the #1 guaranteed way to make certain you win a race this year?

Answer: Optimize Your Power Output On The Bike

Here is Why:

With at least half if not more of your base miles already done and the season right around the corner, now is the time to optimize your power output on the bike.

The definition of power is force multiplied by speed and is the ability to turn a large gear for a long period of time. It is sometimes referred to as muscular endurance.

Power is without doubt the most important factor that you need to work on if you are going to be competitive this season and have any chance of winning a bike race this year.

So why is power so important in bike racing? Well think of it this way- how about you line up in a motorcycle race alongside 4 other riders all riding similar motorbikes to you except for one thing- they have 500cc bikes, but you’re only riding a 250cc machine. How do you rate your chances?

Not great. Of course not because your power output is exactly half theirs- you’ve lost the race before you’ve even started- but ask yourself this-

How many times have you lined up for a road race having done little more than base miles with the occasional interval here and there?

Is your power output optimized for the season ahead? Have you done everything you possibly can do to make certain your sustainable power output is as high as it can be before entering your key races for the year?

If not then you could be in for a shock when you begin racing. Your penalty for not developing sufficient power will be precisely the same as lining up in that motorcycle race- except that those higher powered motorcycles will be other riders with their own more powerful engines…

So how do you know when you’ve got a power problem and what can you do about it? Well see if any of these scenarios sound familiar:

Scenario #1

You’re riding well in a race but suddenly you enter a crosswind section and the bunch lines out in the right hand gutter. Instantly you realize you’re getting little shelter from the pace line and begin to suffer. Slowly you let a gap open and you lose contact with the rider in front. Riders behind start yelling at you to hold the wheel but you can’t and the group begins to ride away. Suddenly you and everyone behind you is out of the running- Why? Because you couldn’t produce enough power to hold the wheel in the cross wind.

Scenario # 2

Your speed drills have worked well and you’ve managed to get yourself into what looks as if it could be the winning move. But now you’re up front and there’s only four of you to hold off the pack. Suddenly you are unable to go through to do your turn. Your legs are screaming and the other riders are yelling at you to work! In desperation you cling to the last rider’s wheel to try to recover but then you realize he is taking you out the back of the break. You watch defeated from no-mans land as the rider bridges back to the pair up front and works with them to contest the sprint for the line. What happened? You were unable to sustain enough power to contribute to the working break.

Scenario # 3

In your next race you swear this won’t happen again and you’ve psyched yourself for the pain. This time you’re not going to crack you tell yourself. But this time you don’t manage to draft anyone into the break. You’re boxed in when four riders sprint away and you see what looks like the winning move disappearing up the road. Finally you hit the front and jump with everything you’ve got to try to bridge across to them. Good, there’s no-one on your wheel but you can’t believe how strong the headwind is and you start to suffer badly. There’s no-one to help you out and you don’t seem to be gaining on the break. Finally you succumb to the headwind and the pack catches you again. Why? Because you couldn’t sustain sufficient power to bridge across to the break.

The good news is if you make it your business to increase your power before you begin racing you can avoid all of this happening and you’ll be the one who not only makes it into the winning move but who’s there to contest the win!
So what’s the fastest way to develop the kind of power you need to win bike races?

Answer: Ride the Indoor Trainer.

Huh? You thought that was only for riding in the winter when there’s snow on the roads right?

Wrong!

Riding the indoor trainer is the best way to do your intervals for one key reason:

You can go MUCH harder on the trainer than you can do out on the road.

Riding the indoor trainer allows you to undertake the kind of interval training that is simply not realistic on the open road. You can go so hard that you may taste blood or feel noxious but without the need to worry about controlling the bike when you’re riding flat out. The result?

Your next race will feel easy by comparison and if it doesn’t- you can go back and hurt yourself even more until it does!

Still don’t think it works? Read this:

Former world hour record holder Graeme Obree rode an incredible 32.75 miles during his hour record. He prepared for this record by riding flat out on his indoor trainer several times per week.

Ex professional Tour De France Yellow Jersey holder and stage winner Sean Yates was quoted last year as saying:
“I’ve been riding 2-3 hours per day in the mornings and spending the rest of my time on the trainer”

Both riders and countless other pros understand the importance of doing high intensity work on the indoor trainer.

Whatever else you do this year, ride your intervals on the indoor trainer. You’re guaranteed to increase your power output and it will likely give you your most successful bike racing season to date.

Good luck with your 2006 season!

Bart Summers is an active amateur racer and author of http://www.50topbikeracingtips.com