How To Maintain Your Car and Bike During the Corona Lockdown

These are some important tips and tricks to take care of your car or motorcycle during the lockdown period due to the Corona pandemic.

Covered Car

Lockdown to fight the novel coronavirus pandemic is a good measure for sure; there is no denying in that. We should stay in the limit of our homes, and it is for our good only. This is the only way available to stop this deadly virus from spreading. However, by not using your four-wheeler or two-wheeler for such a long period can easily damage them. So here are some important tips and tricks to take care/maintain your car or motorcycle during the lockdown.

Care needed for Cars

Make sure your car is parked in a safe and covered area. If you do not have a covered parking, then keep the car covered by using a hard or soft cover. This will protect it from bird droppings, dust and excessive sunlight that could damage the paint. Make sure that you have cleaned the cabin and don’t have any kind of junk items left in the car. These can leave a bad stench and might even attract rodents. It is also important to remove leaves and flowers if your car is under any Tree or bushes as flowers and leaves are a breeding field for bacteria.
Avoid engaging the handbrake/parking brake as it could get jammed if kept engaged for a long period. It’s always better to leave the car in gear or parking mode if you are not using it for a longer period. For additional safety, you can use wheel chocks or using a big piece of wood or brick to keep the car from rolling.
Start the car once every 3-4 days and let it idle for some time, this will keep your battery from depleting. Disconnect wires of your car’s battery, if it has not been used for a long time. By doing this, the battery does not get discharged while staying idle. Also, run both air conditioner and heater with full blower on so that both will work fine in future usages.
1. Maintain a full tank during such times. If there is less fuel then, overtime the air above the fuel would cause condensation which is bad for your car, it could even cause rusting.
Make sure that your tyres are properly inflated in the correct pressure suggested by the manufacturer. When kept idle for a long time the tyres could lose air pressure and cause cracking of the sidewalls and flat spots. So when you get a chance, move the car forward and backwards to avoid these.

Care needed for Bikes

The first point about cleaning and parking mentioned above also applies to Bikes and Scooters.
It will be wise to make use of the center stand when parking if your bike has one. It keeps the fluids in the vehicle at a balanced level and it’s much safer as it prevents vehicle from falling over and getting damaged.
If you have a spoke lock or a disc lock, make use of it. It is wise to take some security measures when parking your two-wheeler for a long time.
In this case, it is also wise to keep the battery disconnected to avoid depletion. Start your motorcycle or scooter once every 3-4 days and let it idle for some time if you don’t plan on disconnecting the battery.
In addition to keeping the tank full, also ensure that the chain, springs and cables are lubricated.

Don’t worry about the periodic maintenance even if your free-service falls under the ongoing lockdown. After the lockdown period ends, you can take your vehicle to the service center or local mechanic for servicing. Also, many automakers have already announced warranty/free-service extensions by a few months. So, there’s no need to be concerned.

Disclaimer:

Make sure to take proper precautions when you are out to check on your vehicle. Keep your face and eyes covered with a mask and clean your hands with a sanitizer/hand wash immediately after you are done with the task.

You can fight your own boredom by taking care of your vehicles, Stay Home Stay Safe!