Check your tires!
 

Ok I'll admit it. Soon as I could, I hopped on my new F4i and took off. Did a very very basic check to make sure she wouldn't fall apart and was gone. 1st turn I took, I immediately said to myself "That felt odd" and wrote it off as being unfamiliar with the new bike's weight / balance. Rode around the block and parked it till I could get it legal.

1st real ride was to work last Tues. Again, the odd feeling from the front on a turn. But with a little longer ride, I could feel something not quite right even on the straights. The front was acting squirrely on the street, not quite fully biting the road. Being affected by the road surface far more than it should. I didn't like it. Getting to work I grab my tire gauge out my truck and roll her up to the air compressor: -10 PSI F/R. Couple minutes fooling around trying to get the air hose between the discs and she's at 36 / 42. Ride home felt... perfect. Leaned her down just a little bit in the turns (still getting used to aluminum vs steel frame) and could feel her bite the road and say "I'm still hungry!".

I shouldn't have taken her anywhere before slapping a tire gauge on her. The pride moment I had being able to feel the tire being low was tempered by knowing I had done something stupid. Yes, some people ride with under-inflated tires on purpose. But they have far more experience with their bikes, riding style and reason for doing so. A couple minutes with a tire gauge and air hose vastly changed the bike's performance and comfort level for me.

Point of the story: Check your tire pressure regularly. According to the experts you should do so before every ride. Tire pressure will affect your bike's handling, to the point of safe riding.

100%.
I hope my buddy pumped his up the other day after I left....lol...
He was down to 8psi!!! I could easily push the tire in with my thumbs. NOT good. I shouldn't have even taken it out for a test ride after doing some carb work. (just up and down a straight in the development, but still)
I had to muscle it around like..... well, like the tire was flat. :)

I'm gonna add that you should also check for cuts, cracks, missing rubber, and (gawd forbid) steel belts showing through. :eek:

Always check your tires, folks! It seriously effects handling/performance and is such an easy thing to do to prevent a major catastrophe.

Heh... I'm not as bad a rider as some of these posts may seem. The fact I could feel a low tire sitch with a completely new to me bike says something

But I hope I'm illustrating some things to the new riders. Its easy for them to says T-CLOCS during the BRC. But I'm hoping the personal experiences help to explain why.

Checking out your bike is certainly an important thing and you're right....many people don't even think about it.
Even the difference between like 20 and the recommended 36 makes a huge change in handling.

A quick pre-trip takes like 30secs. No reason not to check the important stuff. It's like the ounce of prevention vs. pound of cure thing.

:icon_teeth: Mr Obvious here :icon_doh: also check for nails/screws or foreign objects in your tires too.

dont feel all alone bud...when i got my old 900 RRrunning(after PO let it sit for 4 years) became a little(alot) excited to bring her back to life, pulled out and went for a small test ride, bike tuned in like a angy horse, tring to rid me of him. thot how horible it handled, got it home and checked the air 8psi frt and 12psi back, that is a rookie mistake, i usually preach to all my buds to check your air. dont let exitement of a first ride fool you, +1 on checking air pressure before u ride, pumped up and the bike rode like it was on rails. please dont risk overlooking this important step before a ride...peece

Good advice!

Another one is when your bike is parked for any length of time at say, a shopping mall, or where others have access to it....it might be worth giving your bike another quick inspection to make sure everything is okay.

Last year I rode my bike to the dentist's office and parked in a public parking lot.

When I came back, luckily I saw that someone had opened my radiator reservoir cap...leaving the extra radiator fluid exposed to the elements.

I also wonder if they maybe poured something in!


About 22 yrs earlier, when I had my first motorcycle, a Kawasaki Ex500, I had left it parked for the day at a shopping mall.

When I came back, I found someone had actually unscrewed two of the bolts that hold the handlebars down and they were now missing!

Was scratching my head over that one.

Once had someone drain my oil out of my bike when I left it parked on the street over night. It was an old XL250R that I checked the oil on every couple rides. Checked one day no problem and then parked for the night. Next day went for a ride (to renew my licence) and blew my engine. Figured it was my own fault until we found the garbage bag of oil in the bush. Lesson learned.

A basic but often overlooked one, If i'm running back and forth to work 5miles each way or around town i give em a knock and feel before i leave, generally put a gauge on it atleast once a week. Anything over about 10 miles i put the gauge on before i leave

Damn Jon... That's just messed up.