Road Riding

ROAD RIDING

DAN HUNT

THE CHECKOUT

In the ten years I’ve spent riding and testing motorcycles for a living, I have encountered relatively few mechanical failures. I say relatively few because I can count these failures and not run out of fingers to count them on; and the mileage represented amounts to more than 100,000.

But when the failures happened, they happened rather heavily: Two instances where the swinging arm pivot parted company with its mounting point and I thus parted company with my intended line of travel; one where the throttle cable gave way, leaving me 100 miles from home, dumbly pulling raw, cutting wire to get the juice to get me back; one where the front brake cable snapped, leaving me the single embarrassing option of brakesliding up to a stoplight under the skeptical gaze of a patrolman at the side of the road; and one where my rectifier stopped rectifying, high, cold and lonely in the French Alps.

None of these events resulted in accidents, but they could have. Most of them could have been avoided entirely.

Perhaps we can take a clue from aviation, where the participants have their act together much better than we do. Maybe it is because they have much more to lose in any given situation of minor or major mechanical failure.

Just what is it that a pilot looks for before he takes off? He looks at all those things that could make him fall out of the sky.

Part of a pre-flight check concerns itself with the control surfaces: hinges, control freedom, key attachment points. Running gear: tires, brake lines and fluid, damper operation. Engine: vital fluids, prop condition, wiring, leakage.

All of this sounds terribly involved. Afterall, a motorcyclist never leaves the ground. Why do this every time?

Well, if you’ve ever done a thorough pre-flight check of an airplane, you know that it takes only a few minutes. The quickness comes from a routine method. It is done the same every time, starting at the cockpit and running counterclockwise around the plane until the pilot is back at the cockpit.

A motorcyclist would do well to check half as many points.

I’ve found that, with a little routine established, a “pre-flight” of a motorcycle takes less than a minute. It’s a worthwhile exercise that should be done at least once a day, on the first ride of the day. It brings you up to date, and attunes your mind and body to the condition of the machine.

And, if you are on a long trip and ripping off distance at high speed in 150-mile to 200-mile segments, the preriding check becomes required procedure at each stopping point.

At highway speeds, the stresses on a bike are much greater. A chain that remains faithfully tight in in-town commuting may stretch at high speeds, due to the effects of temperature or poor lubrication, until it is dangerously loose. Brakes may fade or loosen. Or cables may stretch to the point where full brake application is impossible. Engines with long service may become voracious oil-burners on the open highway, even though their appetites are more conservative in town.

How would a thorough pre-riding check be executed? Let’s try one.

1. Approach machine and insert ignition key.

2. Turn key and flip headlights on and off.

3. Step on rear brake to check taillight; pull front brake lever separately to check taillight actuation also.

4. If bike has neutral light, observe for operation as you slip the gearbox into neutral.

5. Actuate turn signals left and right, look front and back.

6. Turn ignition key off.

The preceding measures take about 10 to 15 seconds as you get used to them. You’ll note that the bike is in neutral at this point, a desirable thing to take care of early in the check.

In the next phase, you start at the left side of the machine and move counterclockwise around it.

1. Open gas cap, check fuel level. Close.

2. Open fuel tap.

3. If oil tank is by the seat or under the seat, check it now. If you have to pull an indicator out of the crankcase, you might want to move this portion of the check somewhere else in the sequence.

4. You could include a battery check, but it is time consuming. One must assume that you do perform a weekly or bi-weekly check, which should be sufficient. However, in hot times of the year, or whenever you’re driving long distances in a single running, the battery should be checked once a day or once every two days. Soon enough you’ll be able to predict the rate at which it loses water, a product of temperature and the idiosyncrasies of your bike’s electrical system.

Again you move counterclockwise:

1. Pull the drive chain upward at mid-point with your finger. In fact, shake it up and down. Does it have more than about 3/4 to 1-in. travel? If so, it’s loose. Did the chain seem dry, or unusually dirty and gooey? Remember that for your more thorough weekly or monthly maintenance.

2. Does your bike have a centerstand so that the rear wheel can be raised momentarily? If so, spin the wheel. First watch the sprocket area for signs that the chain is kinking, indicated by links sticking up as they come around the sprocket. Sometimes this can be cured by lubrication, and sometimes you’ll find that it’s just a rotten brand of chain, in which case it should be replaced with premium quality.

3. As the wheel spins, hopefully as fast as you can pump it, watch for any sign that the tire is wiggling back and forth. If so, it indicates improper tire mounting, or wheel distortion resulting from improper spoke tightness. Wheel distortion is much more common than you’d think because of the high stresses imposed on the driving rear wheel.

4. Rear wheel back on the ground, kick the rearmost portion of the back tire. Do you notice undue flex? Are the axle bolts loose and moving? Or is it the swinging arm mounting itself? Kick that tire from both sides and look both at the axle and the swinging arm mounting.

5. Swing around to the right side of the bike and check the cylinders and crankcases for any unusual leakage. Some bikes leak, some don’t. But if you check yours every day, you’ll come to expect what’s normal, and what is out of the ordinary and signaling mechanical disaster.

6. At this point, tap the spark plug covers with your finger and make sure they are securely fastened to the plugs.

7. If your bike has hydraulic front brakes, this is a good time to check brake fluid; the well is usually on the handlebars. Í

8. Swing around to the front of the machine, kick the front tire and halffeel and half-listen for any undue fork play that would indicate loose bolts or mechanical deficiencies.

9. Then back to the left-hand starting point to squat down and check for more leaks.

At this point you climb onto the machine. Do you fire it up and ride away into the sun? Not yet. But you do fire it up and quickly check the following conditions.

(Continued on page 120)

Continued from page 89

1. As the bike warms, you note tension of the throttle linkage. Is it loose? Stop and fix it now. Or you’ll hate it later. Check for stiffness, which may mean imminent failure of the cable wire.

2. Squeeze the front brake lever. While it’s squeezed, look closely at the exposed cable ends. Any loose strands? If so, fix it soon. Total failure or binding isn’t far behind.

3. Step on the back brake. Is the play right?

4. With the front brake on, rock forward and check the compression and decompression of the forks. Do the forks spring back without the usual short delay? You may have to service them.

5. At the same time you rock on the forks, note how much deflection it causes in the tire itself. This is a quick and reliable indicator of tire pressure...if you check it a few times when you know that the tire pressure is right by the air gauge.

6. Bounce back on the seat and note the rear shock damper compression and rebound. Most road bike dampers are not serviceable at the rear. If they don’t damp, they should be replaced.

7. At the same time that you bounce the rear, get an approximate reading on rear tire pressure, applying the same principle of tire distortion that you’d applied to checking the front.

8. Run the throttle up to 2000 rpm or 2500 rpm; and hold it steady by locking your thumb against the stop. At the same time, turn the handlebars from full right lock to full left lock. If the engine rpm varies even though you have turned the throttle, it means that the throttle cable is either too short, or it is binding against a frame or steering head member. This is an important check, as this malfunction seems to occur regularly in several current models and may prove embarrassing in tight turns. As a double check, rotate the handlebars from lock to lock with the engine idling.

The above is not the 60 to 90-second check that I inferred was possible. Rather it is an outline of a thorough check of the sort that you should probably perform on any machine that is unfamiliar to you—such as a new purchase or a bike loaned to you by a friend.

This kind of check is also advisable daily on any machine you’re using to cover more than 300 miles in a single day. In this case, you may want to pick a standard time of day to do it: a gas stop, or a leisurely noon stop for lunch.

(Continued on page 122)

Continued from page 120

On a machine that you regularly maintain yourself, that you know well, and that you are using for shorter commutes, the following abbreviated check before riding will suffice. Remember that the following is an outline for a once-a-day quick check. It may include points that don’t apply to your machine, or it may omit points that are necessary in your opinion. Be creative, therefore. Add your own. Perceptiveness and common sense are the important elements of owning a motorcycle, not adhering to a dogmatic formula.

1. Check gasoline.

2. Check oil. (Omit and use twice a week after establishing a trend of consumption for your machine in shorthaul use; use without fail before a day of high speeds).

3. Starting at left side, check for new leakage patterns.

4. Check spark plug wire placement.

5. Check rear chain play, maximum one inch at middle.

6. Hit chain guard with knuckle to detect cracking, loose mounting.

7. Hit fender on your way around the back.

8. Kick rear wheel to check axle mounting and swinging arm play.

9. Check leakage patterns on right side of engine.

10. Check spark plug wire security.

IOV2. Ping front fender for security

check.

11. Straddle machine. Ignition key on, gas tap open. Select neutral. Check neutral light.

12. Cycle the headlight: low, high, pull front and rear brake.

• 13. Headlight off.

14. Front brake on, check tension and cables.

15. Rock forward on front wheel, check tire distortion (pressure) and fork damping.

16. Rock back on seat, check rear tire distortion, rear damping.

17. Check neutral light again.

18. Start engine. Check oil pressure light, if there is one.

19. Run to 2500 rpm, and lock with hand, check freeness of throttle cable by rotating handlebars lock to lock.

20. Back to idle.

And off you go. Just a little bit surer that your machine is sanitary, properly adjusted and isn’t likely to give you any surprises.