Comments for Pre-ride inspection

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Comments for Pre-ride inspection

Oct 10, 2012

Do your own preflight check
by: Monica

I had been assuming that my husband was doing a preflight (preride) check of my motorcycle before we would go on rides. I found out that I should be doing it myself. Especially now that I am taking rides by myself. Of course, there is a story that goes along with this realization. I always ride staggered behind my husband. (I feel pressured if he is behind me.) We have Scala Rider communication units so we can talk to each other during the rides, which also makes it possilbe for me to blue tooth into my iPhone to listen to music. I told him on the intercomm that I needed to stop because my iPhone had lost communication with my headset. At a stoplight he let me take the lead and pick a parkling lot to turn into to stop and be safe. He noticed then that my tail light wasn't working. So, I was concerned that I had been driving around for a couple of hours without a tail light. He followed me the rest of the way home (sigh) so people would see his tail light for safety. From then on, I always check out my own bike. Hubbie does check and lub the chains but I check brakes, clutch, lights, and tire pressure.

Oct 03, 2012

Pre-ride checks
by: Gypsy Spirit

Hi Sarah ...

At very least, do a visual inspection of your tires and check the pressures. Check your lights and horn. After a while you'll know if they seem too bright/dim which is an indicator of your battery status. Check your oil and antifreeze (if water cooled) levels. Check your chain tension and lubrication (if chain driven). Before you leave your driveway, make sure your clutch, throttle and brakes are responding properly.

When you get home from a ride, wipe your bike down in detail. You'll notice then if anything is loose, or starting to pit, or is in any way different from what you are used to seeing/feeling. Also, dirt and grime tend to hold moisture which will cause your bike to rust and rot more quickly than it being put away clean.

The more you do it, the more familiar you become with the bike and the less time it takes.

Hope this helps.

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