what do you do before you go for a ride?

Just read a post from one of us about his last ride
resulting in what most of us think is a seized engine. at high speed engine seized,
upon examination smelled coolant and oil
crankcase was dry-no oil. result new engine Rebuild or replace

these machines are capable of operating at extreme levels and I know some of us like to push that envelope. Not me of course, LOL well maybe sometimes, OK OK i do occasionally hit 135-140 MPH
It is my belief(fear) that at those speeds if something goes wrong you could have to forfeit the game and if it was from something that I could have prevented then I am going to feel pretty stupid i .

So when you hop on to go for that ride do you do a safety mechanical inspection before you go?

I do the following:
Check all fluid levels Generally by eye 15 sec
tires for pressure, wear and shrapnel 20 secs
warm up bike 60sec ---Gotta get those juices flowing. Listen to your engine, it will talk to you.
upon leaving my driveway check operation of
throttle--love to hear that engine rev
brakes cant go if I cant stop
Clutch don't need to stop if I can't go
mirrors won't stop if I can't see what I need to avoid

So am i too anal retentive are do you guys do a similar check BEFORE you go?

 

Me, I step back, look at my bike, and then regret not having wash & waxed it before such a lovely weekend!

 

I generally do a once a week pre-ride inspection, and cleaning. I don't flog her as hard as she could be, so I'm pretty confident that she'll be Honda reliable!!!!!

 

I commute and check the oil every day. It requires bending over, or placing one knee on the ground, then looking in a window.

air pressure gets checked on the weekends as I usually don't want to mess with screwing the caps on an off that early in the morning.

The new no maintenance battery is making me nervous though... I can't check it or anything. I'm just riding most days and it has yet to complain... we'll see if the heated grips change stuff. (aloe-wishes will bring his battery to its knees first though, so I'll likely have some warning)

 

Full checkout before I get on it for the day and then an abbreviated checkout at fuel/rest stops during the day.

Full checkout is: all fluids( gas, oil, coolant, brake/clutch mc's) plus tires (air pressure, tread depth, cuts, ect.), brake pads, lights, horns, and major fasteners (axles, headstem, ect.). This takes 5 - 10 minutes.

Abbreviated checkout is: gas, oil, tire pressure, and a quick walk around. Takes 2 minutes.

 

What do you do before you go for a ride?

Go Potty...

 

On the serious side.. Must be the pilot in me, I do a walk around pre-flight thing all the time, even when out on rides. I know every crook and cranny and know what to look for what it should look like feel like and so forth. So yea, I may not look at my Oil level nor radiator fluid on a daily bases, but I know where she's at, I'm always looking out the corner of my eye and keeping a kean ear, just me keeping a close tab on whats going on . Guess thats why I'm weirded out about this RR thing that creep up on me a couple weeks ago, no way to really check that one. might be time to add a volt meter.

 

I turn on the key and listen for the Radio Shack fan that is attached to the regulator.

I love that sound!! :israel:

 

As trained in Precheck for truck driving school is much like a pilot. I do check tires, psi, oil, fuel, loose rack mounts, Givi, and brakes. But I think one of the most important is the chain slack and condition. Its easy to see if your chain is drooping and resting on the to chain rail too much.

 

rvfr your bike is going to look like the cockpit of a chopper(the real kind) before too long. i do my usual kick the tires thing every morning, and during trips to my dad's.

 

LOL okay Mmm Funny But



Think it will be while before she looks anything like this, but get your meaning :biggrin:

 

Kind of the same here, and I guess I got the habit from doing pre-flights as well. Several thousand feet in the air is a nasty place to wish like hell you had checked the oil before you took off! I've found lots of things during pre-flight inspections that I was really glad I found while I was on the ground (primarily and especially on rental planes).

The same habits followed me to bikes and I always check the fluids, tire pressure, etc. Usually the night before a ride, but they always get checked. I'm also pretty anal about listening to engine and drivetrain sounds and keeping an eye on my instruments.

 

I check the tire pressure . look for leaks under the bike.I change my oil every 2000 miles so I figure I cant loose a gallon of oil without a spot on the ground. I also put on my helmit and leathers and realise that I may not survive my ride to work .All it takes is a little lack of consentration to end it all ,so I make sure my head is in the right place.not up my a** .It is hard to see from there .

 

potty all the time, potty all the time... there are ads on TV for drugs that help with this problem, RVFR.
:biggrin:

 

No you're not retentive. This is sound advice all of us should be doing before we ride. Maybe stating the obvious here but, we're on 2 wheels here and not 4. If something falls off or goes wrong it could affect the balance of the bike and over you go, if you're at speed when this happens then it's probably GAME OVER. You never know what might be hanging off your machine or leaking away...

 

Funny I do the same walk-around before I ride too. I admit, I got a little lazy with the propjet I was flying because the maintenance people took care of so much of it, pre-flight was pretty simple. ALWAYS do the walk-around though, after the last passenger is in and the last of the luggage is loaded.

So RVFR, you a CFI by any chance? That gazelle would be nice to do a commercial rotor add-on in. :wink:

 

Tire pressure is what I check before evry other ride.

Oil level, chain, and everything else once to twice a month depending upon how much riding I have done.

Last night, I checked my charging system and chain adjustment!

BZ

 

Flog the Dolphin before any important date!:biggrin: :biggrin:

 

Sound advice Chris:biggrin: !