A motorcycle maintenance schedule starts in your owner’s manual. Here’s Harley’s own 2007 Softail table, mile by mile, the three things I check before every ride, and the line I draw between what I do in the garage and what goes to a certified mechanic.
Lane splitting is legal in one state and lane filtering in five more, each with its own speed and traffic rules. Here is every rule from the statutes, what the Berkeley crash study actually found, and what I learned the first time I split lanes on the 101.
Winterizing a motorcycle comes down to fuel, oil, battery, tires, a wash and a cover that breathes. I’ve never had to do it in Los Angeles, so I went to Harley’s own storage procedure and to Breezy B, who parks his Indian in Rhode Island when the salt trucks come out.
What’s the best motorcycle for a beginner? Something light and low with a 300cc to 500cc engine, like the Honda Rebel 300, Yamaha MT-03 or Kawasaki Ninja 500. Here are the real specs, plus what I learned buying a used Harley as my first bike, including the day the rear caliper fell off.
How often should you change motorcycle oil? Go by your owner’s manual first. On my 2007 Night Train that’s engine oil every 5,000 miles, primary every 10,000 and transmission every 20,000, and sooner for short rides, hard riding, dust or cold. Here’s the factory schedule and my first 3-hole change.
How do you get a motorcycle license? Pass the written test, hold a permit if you are under 21, then take a safety course that waives the riding test or ride the DMV skills test. In California it is a $46 fee, a 15-hour course and one DMV visit. I did it at 50, two years before I owned a bike.
What gear do you need to start riding? Five pieces: a DOT full-face helmet, a CE-rated jacket and pants with real armor, full-finger gloves, and boots over the ankle. About $800 covers it, and the crash data says the two pieces people buy last, gloves and pants, do the most.
Planning a motorcycle trip comes down to four numbers: your days, your hours in the saddle, your real fuel range, and what your bike is rated to carry. Here is the sourced version, including the six-hour rule nobody quotes and the road I had to drop from this post because it closed.
Replace motorcycle tires when the wear bars show, at ten years old no matter what, or at any sidewall damage. Leo caught my low tire before a ride; then I went down the rabbit hole on what Dunlop, Michelin, and Pirelli actually say. They don’t agree.
Yes, you can brake without the clutch, and mostly you should. I read the MSF handbook and six state rider manuals to settle what the internet keeps arguing about, and I cooked a clutch on the 4th of July finding out what the bad habit costs.
