Safety, Maintenance and Conscientious Riding

Rollin' eZine

Volume 1, Number 12

April 2001

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Giving it the Once Over

by Ray 'Ratchet' Palubin

It’s time to finalize your preparations for the approaching warm weather. So far, we’ve discussed the brakes, batteries, changing and analyzing the spark plugs, and changing the oil over the last several articles. This issue will take you through a final visual inspection to ensure that you will be ready to make some miles when the time comes.

Before every riding season, a thorough inspection of the entire bike should occur to ensure your safety while riding. This is the time to check those items on your motorcycle that most of us figure will never go bad. Things like brake lights, turn signals, tires, and fluid levels.

Let There Be Light

It is amazing how many people never take the time to check to see if all of the lights on their bike actually work. Your lights are your number one defense against someone not seeing you. It is easiest to test all of your lights at night or in a dark garage. Some of the smaller lights such as the ones that go into the tachometer and speedometer are difficult to see during the day. Start by turning the key to the on position. This will apply power to all the lights. Check the low and high beams of the headlight to ensure those are both working. And replace any bulbs that are not working immediately. Most motorcycles have replacement headlight bulbs that install into a fixed casing. 

If you have an older bike however, that still uses a sealed beamed headlight, the steps to replace the bulb are slightly different. In either case, check your owner’s manual on how to get to the bulb/sealed beam. Most are fairly easy to get to by just removing a couple of screws. WARNING -When replacing the bulb, ensure that you don’t touch the glass portion with your fingers. Newer motorcycles use a halogen bulb that gets extremely hot and will explode if the oils from your skin come in contact with the glass.

The front blinkers have running lights that stay on all the time when the cycle’s ignition switch is on or the engine is running. Many people don’t check the running light bulbs, yet they provide that added ounce of safety so make sure they are not overlooked. Check to ensure both filaments in the bulb are working. If you have wired your rear turn signals with running lights or you own a touring motorcycle that has bags on the rear with running lights installed, you will want to check those as well. And don’t forget to check the bulbs in the taillight. Again, if you have two bulbs, make sure that both are working. Once all the running lights have checked out, you are ready to start checking the blinkers.

Turn on the left blinker and look to see if both the bulbs, front and rear, are actually flashing. Then turn on the right blinkers to inspect them for proper operation as well. They should be bright and should flash nice and steady. If they do not, try looking for bad fuses, bad flashers, or possibly a corroded switch. That volt/ohm meter I had you purchase a few articles back could come in handy if you end up chasing electrical problems. Almost all-newer motorcycles have some sort of lights in the instruments. These are small bulbs that light up the instruments at night. Additionally, most manufacturers place temperature and oil “idiot” lights in the gauges these days. To test all of these, turn on the ignition switch and see what lights are on. If you find any of these lights to be bad, check your owners manual for the correct method of changing the bulbs. Some of the gauges will require removing other items to get to the instrument bulbs.

  If you have located any bad bulbs, it is a fairly easy process to replace them. Start by getting a screwdriver, usually Philips, and remove the screws that hold the plastic cover or lens on. If you are replacing a turn signal or tail light bulb, make sure you don’t damage the rubber gasket that goes between the light cover and the turn signal/tail light. You will need to reuse those gaskets again when you’re done. To remove most bulbs you will need to lightly push the bulb in and turn the bulb counter clockwise to align the two staggered pins on the bulb’s base with the bulb grooves in the housing. Then pull straight out to remove the bulb. Once you get the bulb out of its socket, check the contacts at the bottom of the bulb socket to ensure they’re not corroded. I use a little WD40 and a small wire brush to clean bulb contacts, but you could just as easily use a pencil eraser or anything that you can safely get down into the bulb socket. Just make sure that you turn the ignition switch off before you start or you will blow a fuse. IMPORTANT - Always replace a burnt out bulb with the exact same size. Just because it looks the same doesn’t mean they are the same. Use the size and specifications that are called for in your owner’s manual.

Don’t Wear Yourself Out

The next items to check are the tires, paying particular attention for wear. An old method used to determine whether a tire is still safe is to use a penny. Place the penny into the tread of the tire with Lincoln’s head facing down. If Lincoln’s head is fully visible, the tire tread is worn too much to be safe and the tire should be replaced. Tire wear alone is not the only thing you need to check when inspecting tires however.  You also need to check your tires for signs of cracking.  If the tires show signs of excessive cracking, they should be replaced. Check for cupping (a weird wear pattern where one side of the tread is great and the other side is almost bald) and replace any tire that shows a bad cupping problem. Check with a mechanic or your dealer to get a permanent fix to your cupping problem. Sometimes a tweak bar (a bar that spans both fork tubes and helps stabilize the forks) can help, but check with your mechanic before buying one.

Drink Plenty of Fluids

Check your brake fluid devices such as the brakes and clutch (if it’s hydraulic) to ensure they have enough fluid. If the fluid looks dirty or milky you will want to replace the fluid using the brake bleeding method described in a previous brake-bleeding article. Also check the cables, to ensure that they are working properly. They should move smoothly without any friction. Don’t mistaken tension for friction. Friction feels like two metals (the cable rubbing inside the sheath because the sheath is dry) rubbing together without lubrication. If you find that your cables are dry you will want to lubricate them using WD40 or some other recommended cable lubricant. 

  If you let your motorcycle sit for a month or longer without a fuel stabilizer you will probably have the start of a gumming problem. The gum that forms in the carburetors can be disastrous. If you have severe gumming, you will need to remove the carburetors, tear them down and clean them. CAUTION - Many motorcycles use a rubber diaphragm at the top of the carburetor that can be destroyed if you use a carburetor cleaner. The diaphragms in my 1982 Suzuki GS1100G cost $100.00 a piece. My teeth fell out when the motorcycle shop down the street quoted me the price to replace them. That equates to $400.00 for the set so if you have to clean the carbs, make sure that you do all you can to prevent cleaner from getting on the diaphragms.

For those of you that have air suspensions, check the amount of air pressure in your forks and shocks. If you find that they are low you will want to be careful when you refill them with air. Most systems use very low air pressure so a regular air hose from a gas station, which might have a 150 pounds of pressure available at the nozzle, could blow out your shocks. I tend to use a small hand pump so that I can control the rate and amount of pressure I apply to the shocks or forks.

If you have a motorcycle with a chain you will want to start your season out by adjusting and cleaning the chain with WD40 and a rag. Don’t use high-pressure washers or garden hoses. Today’s chains have rubber o-rings and high pressure water coming from a power washer or even garden hose can force water into the center of the chain that will force out the lubricant and eventually ruin it. Use a chain wax or a special lubricant to lubricate your chain after cleaning. Wax tends not to fling off which makes it a preferable product.

  If you have a drive shaft and you haven’t ever changed the fluid in the differential, now’s the time.  It is really easy to change and only takes a short while to accomplish. There is a drain plug located at the bottom of the differential that you will use to drain the old fluid. To fill it up there will be a filler plug that is up a little higher on the differential casing. Look in your manual for the proper type and amount of fluid to put in the differential.

Scrub Up

After you have finished checking everything, top off your seasons preparations by doing a great washing and waxing of your motorcycle. Use a good wax that will protect your motorcycle against the sun’s ultra violet rays and road grime.

  Finally, check out your helmet, coat, boots, and gloves to ensure they are in good condition and ready to do what they were designed to do - protect you.

Have a Great (and hopefully maintenance free) Riding Season!!!      

Ratchet

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