Pre-Flight Check
Ten Things To Do Before That First Ride Of The Year
It doesn't matter if your bike was properly put away in a
climate-controlled Garage Mahal or just left to stew in its own juices while you frittered away your time on the beaches of Monaco. There're always a few things that need doing before that first ride. Obviously if the bike was stored the way it should have been, running through this checklist won't take too much time.
Make sure the battery is fully charged; if not, charge or replace it.
Drain the float bowls. This is crucial, especially if the bike was put away and forgotten over the winter.
Gasoline takes about 90 days to deteriorate into a foul-smelling liquid that may or may not support combustion. So unless the fuel was treated with a preservative or is less than 90 days old, drain the tank and pour in at least enough fresh gas to get you to the nearest pump.
Check all, and I mean all, the fluid levels before you fire up the bike. If you can't remember when you last changed the engine oil and filter, let alone the brake fluid or tranny oil, now might be the time to do it.
Check the tires, look for dry rot and sidewall cracks, make sure there are no wear bars poking up and then adjust the tire pressure. If the tires are questionable make plans to replace them ASAP.
Check the electrics: Make sure the lights, horn and kill switch work (and don't forget the kickstand safety switch).
Make sure all the controls work smoothly and operate the way they're supposed to. Few things in life are more exciting than grabbing a big handful of front brake and having the lever come straight back to the handlebar, so pump it a few times first.
If the bike has a chain, oil it and make sure it's not going to fall off the sprockets before the first turn. Likewise give the belt a once-over; belt failure is rare, but it happens. Shaft drive? Check the oil.
Start the bike and let it warm up. While it's doing so look for leaks that may have developed as the bike sat.
Take it easy for the first couple of miles-your skills are going to be rusty, and it'll take some time for them to come back. Your bike may feel a little odd as well; some things may be a little stiff, and there may be surface rust and dirt on the rotors that'll take a few miles to get ground off before the brakes are up to snuff.
Tech Tips
Hoop Health
Is That A Wear Bar In Your Pocket Or Are You Just Glad To See Me? How do you know when a tire's ready for the scrap pile? The obvious and admittedly wiseguy answer is "when it's worn out." But how can you really tell if the tire's shot?
Under most statutes a tire is worn out when the tread has worn to a depth of 1/16 inch or less. Most manufacturers incorporate a wear bar into the tire to let you know when the tread is down to that point. Of course these only work if your tires have them (about every street tire I can think of does) and you know what they mean. I'd also argue that by the time they appear the tires are so beat they're doing little more than holding the rims off the ground. If your tires don't have wear bars, a simple trick is to insert a penny headfirst into the tread. If old Abe's head is fully visible the tread is too shallow to do any good. If a portion of his head is still hidden the tire's safe, at least as far as the law is concerned.
Preferably I'd like to see tires changed when there's at least 1/8 inch of tread left. You can measure it by inserting a ruler, squinting carefully and guessing at the reading, or you can pick up an inexpensive tool known as a tire-tread gauge. As the name implies it's a tool used to measure tread depth, typically marked off in 32nds of an inch.
The problem is that tires can be shot long before the tread is used up, which is why you should inspect them regularly. An unusual wear pattern can denote anything from an underinflated tire to a mechanical problem-or it may be perfectly normal.
For instance, tires that show a lot of wear at their edges might be underinflated or just subject to lots of hard cornering. If the tire's center is worn, the tire may be overinflated, or you might be spending too much time riding in a straight line. Most front tires will show some evidence of cupping or scalloping, especially if the bike's ridden hard. Cupping is a more or less normal part of tire wear; however, it can also indicate the tire is severely out of balance or there's a mechanical problem with the front fork. In any event it can become so severe that it has a detrimental effect on handling long before the tread has reached its minimum thickness.
The tire's sidewall should also be scrutinized. Look for cracks, especially if the tire is old and the bike sits more than it's ridden, and keep an eye peeled for bulges and blisters, which indicate some kind of physical damage has occurred to the cord.