Well it's that time of year again to pull out that motorcycle of yours out of the garage or wherever you keep it. It's nice that winter is over and some nice riding days will finally be here. There are things that you need to do before you hit the road on your bike. As much as you want to get out there into the wind again, you need to do a little bit of preventive maintenance before you do. I know many riders just pull their bikes out of the garage without checking anything and just go. As long as the battery is charged and the motorcycle fires up, they just go without checking anything.
Hopefully if your reading this article you will take an hour or so before you take your bike out and check at least these few things. Check your tires for wear. Move your bike backward and forward some and check all around the tires. If the tires are halfway worn or more then you should think about getting new tires. There's nothing worse than having a blowout on a motorcycle that can really hurt you or be fatal. If the tire thread looks good then check your tire pressure and if they need air then take care of it now. Low air pressure in your tires will make your motorcycle wobble. This is not a good thing especially when going through those bends in the road.
Next, check your brakes. Look at your pads if you have disk brakes for wear. If those pads are getting a little thin then it's time to replace them. Check out the rotor for wear and gouges. If there are gouges on the rotor you'll probably have to replace that. If you have drum brakes you will have to do more work to get to them but the routine is the same. Check pads for wear and check the drums for gouges. If getting to those brakes is a major project then you might consider having your motorcycle mechanic check them out for you. The last part of the brake system you need to do is check your brake lines for wear and leakage. If you find leakage don't ride the bike until you fix it.
Check your clutch cable and make sure it's operating properly. Check your drive system whether it's a chain, belt or drive shaft. Check for wear and tension on the chain and belt and adjust the tension if you need too. Check your drive shaft to make sure it's not loose or clunky. All the stuff mentioned above is in your manual and you should have that manual handy when your going through your checks on your motorcycle. It will show you the proper way to make those adjustments and how to replace things if need be.
One more thing you need to do before you take your bike out is go over all the nuts and bolts to make sure they're tight. Doing all the things mentioned above might take an hour or so but it's worth it. You will have a good handle on the shape that your motorcycle is in and you will be able to make those repairs that you need. Be careful and have fun.
