Motorcycles are absolutely awesome; everybody who rides one knows this beyond any shadow of a doubt. There are few joys like that of roaring down an open road and feeling all of nature on your face, a well-tuned machine taking you to your destination in style.
But properly outfitting and maintaining a bike is unfortunately something that a whole lot of people get painfully wrong. We hope to clear some important points up on this very important issue, as this goes not only towards your comfort and the bike’s performance, but much more seriously, it goes to your own personal safety.
Dealers are constantly telling you that the stock parts a bike comes with are the best parts you could possibly ever find for the bike. This actually in some LIMITED cases may be true of other vehicles such as those rolling cages known as cars, but on motorbikes, it’s almost NEVER true. You’d like to think that your expenditures ended the day you bought your bike, but you’d be being more than a little naïve if you were to do so.
The first thing you need to do is to find a reliable and reasonably priced motorcycle parts store, and if you haven’t already done so, a mechanic you can trust to do all this work, unless you are good enough with bikes to DIY.
Now the first thing that should be upgraded on most bikes is going to be the tires. Get the best motorcycle tires your wallet will allow. Better tires have huge benefits to any vehicle, including fuel economy. And the better quality the tire is, the safer it is. This is a much bigger issue with motorcycles because of that huge fact that you are on two wheels and not four. So ‘nuff said, get yourself some great tires. And consider upgrading the rims, too. If you can’t afford carbon fiber, at least get aluminum.
After that, you should look at your brakes and lights. It’s frankly shocking the amazing improvement third-party brakes and lights can add to almost any motorcycle on the market. We recommend LED lighting for motorcycles as they are bright enough and more without overly taxing the battery of your bike.
Depending on the ergonomics of your bike, another popular modification is to swap out the handlebars for something more comfortable. And get grips covered in memory foam or similar; you don’t want to wind up needlessly suffering from tendonitis or similar.
As you realize how effective after-market parts are for your bike, you will get your own ideas for customizing and improving according to your own needs and desires. Enjoy your ride and may it get always better and better.
