Lubing your cables is one of the cheapest ways to keep your bike feeling new. Water and dirt seep into your cables when you wash the bike. Using a pressure washer is even more of a problem. Cleaning and lubing your cables not only eliminates the water and dirt but also increases the cable's life. To clean and lube your cables, you have to remove the cable from the perch and lever. For throttle cables you must disconnect the carburetor end; you don't want to flush water and dirt into the carburetor. Put on a standard cable lube tool and flush the cable with contact cleaner. The contact cleaner will cleanse any dirt and grime in its path. Then flush the cable several times with a lubricant.

About every third time you lube the cable, reassemble the lever with some light grease around the pivot hole. The light grease will give the lever a smoother feel and reduce the effort required to operate it. The grease will also attract grit, so you will need to clean the lever and perch more often than if you leave it dry.

Pipe Maintenance

When installing your exhaust system, you should remember the seal between the cylinder and the exhaust spigot is crucial to your bike's performance. On a two-stroke, whenever you remove the pipe, the rubber O-ring (or crush gasket on some Hondas) should always be inspected for any cracks or blemishes. Even if it just has a flattened look to the outside, replace it. Some bikes have a thin metal ring that goes into the exhaust port to prevent the steel pipe from damaging the aluminum surface the pipe butts up against. Make sure this ring is still in place and in good condition. If new O-rings don't make a tight fit, you may need to use a thin coat of high-temp silicone to get a secure seal.

Install all pipe springs before you bolt the exhaust into place. This will allow the pipe to get the best seal with no binding. Installing the springs first will allow the somewhat-delicate vibration-canceling rubber mounts to do their job without being torn in half. After every wash, scrub the entire surface of bare steel pipes with a Scotch-Brite pad and some cleaner. Scrubbing will rid your pipe of any corrosion and make it look new again.

If you have a four-stroke, you should always wipe down the header with a Scotch-Brite pad. Keeping the surface looking like new will ultimately make it last longer.

Chain and Sprocket Care

The key to good chain life is always having your chain adjusted properly and keeping it lubed. Whenever you install a new chain, you must replace the sprockets. When you have a new chain and new sprockets, they wear together. Replacing the whole drivetrain also allows you to get the most out of your chain and sprockets. Putting a new chain on a worn-out sprocket will wear out the chain immediately. Similarly, a worn chain will ruin new sprockets. For all but the most-serious 125cc-class racers, replacing the standard chain with an O-ring chain will save a great deal of money. An O-ring chain lasts much longer, so it doesn't wear out sprockets as quickly.

Whenever you install a new chain, make sure the master-link clip opening is facing the opposite way of the travel, so there is no chance of the clip hitting something and getting knocked off. If you ride in any mud, watch to see that the master-link clip doesn't get worn. The clip can wear so thin it breaks! Always make sure your chain is adjusted correctly and is lubed every time you head to the track. The best time to lube your chain at the track is right after you pull off. When the chain is still hot, it will allow the lube to flow inside the rollers and pins where it is needed most.

Spoke Maintenance and Tightening

There is a definite science to tightening spokes; you can't just crank them tight with a spoke wrench and call it good. When tightening spokes, always space out the tightening, skipping five spokes at a time. It will take about seven wheel rotations to tighten every spoke. Skipping those five spokes allows them to be tightened evenly; you won't be pulling one side of the wheel more than the other.

When tightening, go a quarter turn at a time with your spoke wrench to avoid pulling the wheel out of true. If any spokes are loose but the nipples are hard to turn, give them a drop of assembly lube or motor oil so they turn with more ease.

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