Failing Bike Maintenance 101

Now that I’m contemplating some late-season motorcycle travel, my thoughts are turning to the roadworthiness of my bike.

Ever since I started using the For Two Wheels Only motorcycle records software, I’ve kept meticulous records on every tank of gas, maintenance interval, tire, quart of oil, etc. on both of our bikes – my ‘03 K1200GT and Maria’s ‘95 K75S.

But that doesn’t mean I’ve paid much attention to those records.

Thinking I’m probably due for an oil change and wondering how many miles I have on my current set of tires, I checked the records yesterday.

Ruh-roh!

BMW recommends oil changes at 6,000-mile intervals. I thought I got an oil change last summer when I got new tires at the Colorado Springs BMW dealership. But there was no such record. Just tires.

I called their service department this morning to confirm that. Yep. No oil change. That means I’ve gone more than 11,320 miles since my last oil change on Aug. 28, 2007 at Foothills BMW in Lakewood, Colo., a suburb of Denver.

My tires have about 5,700 miles on them and on casual inspection seem fine.

I’ll call Grass Roots BMW at Cape Girardeau, Mo. first thing tomorrow and schedule a 12,000-mile service ASAP, since I’m scheduled to leave with Charlie for the MotoGP races in Indianapolis a week from Wednesday. My plan is to head west to Colorado after the races for a few days in the mountains.

I’ll trust the Grass Roots service tech’s judgment on whether I need a tire or two.