If there’s one thing about 4-strokes that every owner hates it’s the proposition of an expensive engine overhaul. Keeping track of your motor’s performance and health is important. To avoid forking out the cash and time for a rebuild, or knowing when it’s time to bite the bullet and do one is made much easier by monitoring the number of running hours on the engine.

Hour meters are more and more common on today’s high-po thumpers, and they aren’t just for race teams. The test bikes we get from OEMs are often equipped with them for factory maintenance and weekend warriors have discovered the benefits of eliminating guesswork as well.

Dubach Racing Development offers a universal application that can be installed cleanly with a mounting bracket ($15.99) that replaces the washer under the steering stem. The DRD hour meter ($36.99) uses electrical pulses from the spark plug wire to start and stop only when the engine is running. This allows you to keep an eye on regular service intervals. A bracket and meter kit sells for $49.99 and works on 2-strokes and ATVs as well.

Check out www.dubachracing.com for more information on the DRD Hour Meter.