The Coronavirus pandemic has caused mayhem all around the world. The total lockdown imposed in our country is one of the measures to slow down the spread of the virus. We know quite a lot of automobile enthusiasts will be worried about the health of their cars and bikes which is why we here at evo India take the responsibility to provide you with tips and tricks to keep your vehicle in robust condition.
Parking safely
Now, this is the most important and the basic step to ensure the safety of vehicles. Always keep your car and bike parked in a covered parking spot. If you don’t have the provision of covered parking, ensure to use covers on your cars and bikes. Keeping them covered will protect them from the scorching sunlight and bird droppings. Mind you keeping the cars and bikes exposed to sunlight will result in the fading of body colour and hardening of rubber parts.
Disconnect the electricals
This is also an important measure to keep in mind. This is a long period of inactivity for your car or bike and you should keep the batteries and other electricals in the vehicle disconnected from the source. If you do not intend to do that, you can opt to start and idle the engine in every 3-4 days for protecting the battery. This basic step will keep your batteries juiced up when you connect them again.
Avoid handbrake and side stand parking
Many of us have the habit to keep our cars parked engaging the handbrake, which should be avoided when the car is parked for a prolonged period. Putting on the handbrake for a long period results in it getting jammed. Instead of using the handbrakes, we can go the traditional way of keeping wood blocks or bricks behind the tyres to stop them from rolling. Whereas in bikes you should avoid parking them on side stands and instead use the centre stand for parking. Parking on the central stand ensures the balance of fluids in the bike and stops it from getting piled up on either side resulting in spillage from the bike.
Proper Lubrication
Vehicle owners should regularly check for lubricating the engine parts to ensure they don’t get rusted during the period. Specifically, the bike owners should always keep an eye on parts like the chain sprockets, gear and brake levers, footpegs and other movable parts and lube the chain up at regular intervals to keep them rust-free.
Cleaning of interiors and exteriors
The owners should always keep the interiors as well as the exteriors of the cars clean. One should always ensure that the interiors of the cars are clean. While switching on the engine of the car once in 3-4 days for engine idling, the users should also switch on the air-conditioners and blowers to get rid of the foul smell and dust particles inside the cabin. One should also keep in mind that there is no food item left in the car to ensure that there is no bacterial accumulation. You should also keep in mind that the exteriors should also be cleaned at regular intervals as the dust patches do stick to the metal surfaces resulting in metal parts rusting.
With these simple steps you can keep your prized possession in great condition for when you get to have the 'Thrill of Driving'.