Secrets of a Road Tester Bootcamp ep6: Bike maintenance

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What better way to prep for an action-packed year of motorcycling than spending a bit of time with MCN’s Chief Road Tester Michael Neeves as he shares some wise words in a special series of Bootcamp videos? This week we’re looking at looking after your bike.

Ex-BSB and WSBK racer Chris Walker invites us into his Kawasaki dealership in Grantham to give Gavin’s bike a once-over. Learn what bits of your bike to check regularly and what difference it can make to every ride.

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Catch up on previous episodes:

There are six videos in total, with the first episode covering speed management. Neevesy is joined by MCN reader Gavin Freeman as they rattle around some of the challenging roads that often feature in MCN road tests.

BMW S1000RR owner Freeman has been riding for about six years and is keen to learn from MCN’s highly experienced Chief Road Tester…

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Episode two looks at cornering. Getting a bend right can be the best feeling in biking and this episode suggests the best way to achieve this. Road positioning, braking tactics, speed and getting the right line are all discussed.

Whether you’ve been battling through Britain’s wet and windy winter or tucked up indoors awaiting warmer weather… there’s sure to be something in this new video series that makes this coming year of biking the best yet.

It’s all too easy to get a bit giddy once warmer weather arrives and the opportunity to wind it on through some finally-dry sweepers presents itself joined by the sun on your back and smell of warm tarmac in your nostrils.

In episode three, we look at overtaking. Blasting past a car or stacked-up traffic is when a motorcyclist literally puts themselves in the line of fire and this video suggests ways to make this manoeuvre as safely as possible, without antagonising other road users.

In episode four, the focus is tiredness…

Being alert is obviously fundamental to having an enjoyable and danger-free two-wheeled trip. In this episode, Neeves and Freeman look at how to spot the signs and dangers of tiredness and how deal with it.

In our fifth episode we deal with bike set-up. Getting your levers and suspension set correctly can be a game-changer. Neeves gives Freeman a few pointers on how to get his BMW tailored to his needs. A lot of the lessons here will work on any motorcycle.

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