Hello all

[Bonut]

Hi, I have just joined the forum and am hoping to gain some useful knowledge about motorbikes and carrying out basic maintenance on them.

I have been riding for circa 2 years and really enjoy being out on the bike. I would like to learn more regarding the general upkeep of my bike as I haven't done much maintenance on it, but it's about time that I did. When I got it, it had been fully maintained by the previous owner so I didn't need to do anything to start with. I did some maintenance on my previous bike, a 125cc, such as change front and rear sprockets and chain, but as soon as I passed my full licence I sold the 125 and bought my MT-03.

As said, not much has needed doing to it during the first year. I keep an oil on fluids, check chain tension, and it went through last years MOT without any issues. I did adjust the clutch cable slightly last summer and oiled the inner cable, but that's about it.

The bike has been in the garage for a while; I hadn't ridden it since before Christmas. I have started it and let it run for 10 minutes to make sure it didn't go flat.

I was on it for the first time this year at the weekend. When I started it up and dropped into first, the bike instantly stalled, which it did for a few times. I did a quick google and came to the conclusion that the clutch plates had stuck together due to standing unused for a while. I rocked it back and forth for a bit whilst in first which seemed to do the trick, as I started it up again and could get into first without stalling. I then took it for a quick spin around my local area (3-4 miles) and it seemed ok. I then went out in the afternoon for a longer ride, when I noticed that the bike would stall fairly often when coming to a stop; not every time but fairly often to become annoying.

So, I was wondering, could the oil do with a change? Does old oil cause this type of effect, especially when it's been standing unused for a few months? The oil hasn't been changed yet by me; it had new oil as part of a service when the previous owner sold it. I've had it for 18 months now, done about 3000 miles, so am figuring it could do with an oil change. I'm going to change the oil, oil filter and the air filter.

Can anyone provide any advice, as this is the sort of thing that I want to get more knowledgeable on. I'm just not experienced enough to know if this could be causing the stalling or not.

Thanks in advance.