March 16, 2025
Spring Bike Prep: Essential Tips for a Safe Ride Ahead!
As spring approaches, it's time to prepare your bike for the riding season after a winter hiatus. Host Niels Meersschaert emphasizes the importance of checking the battery, inspecting for fluid leaks, and ensuring proper oil and brake fluid levels. He also stresses the significance of monitoring tire pressure regularly, as it can change with temperature fluctuations. A thorough inspection of the bike for loose parts and overall condition is essential for a safe and enjoyable ride as warmer weather arrives. Don’t skip the spring bike prep or rider prep!
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Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
01:25 - Prep your bike
06:00 - Prepare your mind
07:45 - Your first ride
15:07 - Address any issues
15:26 - State Inspection
16:13 - Ease into the season
17:50 - Wrap up
Transcript
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Spring is in the air and the bikes are coming out of winter hibernation.
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Welcome to the Throttle and Roast podcast. I'm your host, Niels Meersschaert. The first day of spring is nearly here, and if you've had your bike parked for the winter months, you may be thinking of pulling your bike out as the warmer weather returns. But after several months of not riding both the bike and the rider may need some TLC.
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So look, a lot of riders will park their bikes for the winter months, especially in the colder climates. Lots of riders don't care about riding in the cold.
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They don't care to ride with all the snow and everything else on the roads. And that's a completely viable reason. I myself do ride all year round.
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And this winter in particular where I am in the Northeast United States has actually been a pretty severe winter. We were actually having snow roughly every 3 to 4 days and as a result, it made it really hard to be able to get out and ride all the time. So my bikes were parked for a good month or two where I wasn't able to actually get out and ride.
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if your bike has been sitting for longer periods of time, you really want to go and look over the bike to make sure that the bike is ready to go.
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And if your remember from the episode that we had in prepping your bike for the winter months, we talked about one of the most critical pieces is to put your battery onto a battery tender.
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And the reason for this is to keep that battery ready to go, be able to fully start and run your bike as it needs to when the spring months arrive. If you'd forgotten to do that, It's very possible that your battery has had some parasitic drag, which will reduce the battery's capacity as you're getting ready to ride. So you may need to put your bike on to a battery tender.
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And it doesn't have to be a battery tender brand. It could be Optimate. It doesn't much matter. I personally use Optimate, The next thing you want to do is get down underneath the bike check and see if there are any fluid leaks.
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This could be oil that's weeping from the engine case. It could be brake fluid that could be seeping out of your brake lines.
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So a look and make sure that there's no fluid leaks. Also, you may not see it on the ground underneath your bike, but it still may be weeping. So look on the bottom of the bike. See if there's any sort of weeping where maybe the fluid is collecting underneath the bike, but it hasn't yet dripped onto the ground. Just a good thing to be aware of, to see if there's anything that you may need to address before you get that bike out onto the road. The and if you do what I recommended at the earlier episode in prepping your bike for the winter months, which was to change your oil, you may want to take a look at your oil now. Is it at the right level? Maybe the fluid in there is ready to be changed before the spring begins. So you want to take a look at that and just make sure that everything in terms of your engine's oil is ready to go while you're at it.
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Also, take a look at your brake fluid and check both the front and the rear brake reservoirs to make sure that you have enough brake fluid and also that it doesn't look like water has intruded. One of the challenges in garages, especially in the winter months, is that they tend to be filled with a lot of moisture. They're not climate controlled and as a result, brake fluid, which is hygroscopic, can attract that water. It comes into the brake fluid and that's going to make your brakes feel spongy and you're not going to have the same braking capability that you would have otherwise. So just take a look at that brake fluid.
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taking a look at your tyre pressure. Tyre pressure is probably the single most important thing that you can do for checking on your bike and check on it regularly. This isn't just only at the beginning of the season, but check on it every time that you're getting out to ride would be the best ideal thing. At the very least, check it weekly just to make sure that you have everything you need. The thing is, pressure will change based upon the temperature. So with the winter months, it's been colder. Your temperature may be at a different level than it would be supposed to be at. So you want to double check that it's at their correct manufacturer's recommended pressure both front and rear a look around the bike, see if there's any loose bolts or wires that are hanging down.
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Is there anything that looks out of sorts across the bike? Just do that once over around your bike, checking for everything.
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That one thing that I see is really common is a problem in the end of the winter months as you're coming in is you might have bumped into your bike in the garage as you were going through to whatever you needed.
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And mirrors have this habit of working a bit loose in the winter months. So take a look at them. Just make sure that everything is cinched down and appropriately tightened. Next thing is, look, winter is a slow period of year. We might be eating a little bit more than we should because we're not as physically active. And we may have put on a little bit of extra weight over the winter months. The thing is, is that you need to make sure that your bike is prepared for your weight, your riding weight, that is. So make sure that your preload on your suspension is set for your new riding weight as you're coming into the spring months.
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Sometimes we do gain a little bit. Sometimes we lose a bit. So just make sure that it's set for whatever your current weight is, because it's been a few months since you've had the bike out on the road. Next thing is, take a look at your registration.
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Oftentimes motorcycles, at least where I am here in the Northeast United States, our registration is renewed every single year.
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And actually it expires all on the same date in April. So you want to make sure that you've got that registration updated.
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Most of the time, a lot of registration will also have unlike on a car where you may have a little window sticker that you'll put on the windshield. We have a sticker that will typically put onto the license plate to validate that it has been renewed for the current year. So you're going to want to make sure that you have that prepared and ready to go. So that's preparing your bike. Now, your bike, you've looked over. Everything seems good on your bike before you even have taken it out of the garage. The next thing you want to do is prep your mind.
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you've been out of practice. You haven't ridden in at least one, maybe two, three, four, maybe even five or six months. It could be depending upon where you are. So you might not be in the right mindset for riding quite yet. And it may be out of practice for you. Remember that as you get onto the road with your bike, a lot of cars and trucks that are on the roads, they haven't seen motorcycles on the roads for perhaps a number of months. So they're not used to seeing them. They're not looking for them. And so you want to be mentally prepared that that is something that you can be running into. The other one is that your body may not be ready for a long ride. And this is because you need a lot of mental focus to ride a motorcycle effectively. because it can be mentally draining just to keep that focus, to be looking out for any sort of road hazards, looking out for cars that are going to turn, looking out for wildlife, you need a lot more focus when you're riding a motorcycle than when you're driving. And so you may be out of practice on that. The other thing is that your body physically may not be used to sitting in the position that would be on your bike. You might have been used to sitting in a very comfortable couch or a very comfortable chair through the winter months. And the position on your bike may not be the same as that would be. And sitting in that one position, your body takes a little while to get used to it. So just be mentally prepared that it may not be super comfortable for your first ride. And that's just a normal part of just getting off those winter doldrums and getting back out onto the bike.
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Now, when you do get out onto your bike for your first ride, what I really strongly encourage you to do is stick local for that first ride. Maybe it's only a 20 mile loop that's just within your local area, around your house. Just to be able to keep it where it's not going to be this epic ride that you're doing for multiple hours as your first ride of the season.
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The other thing to think of is that your first ride is really kind of a shakedown cruise for the bike while you visually inspected everything, you looked at everything. It seems to be okay. You want to now check it out on the road the first thing is, again, what we talked about with that mental preparation is be extra careful as that other traffic isn't used to seeing bikes out on the road. Assume they will turn in front of you.
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Now, here in the U.S., we're going to see a left turning vehicle is going to be the hazard that's going to run for us. They usually will not see us.
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They'll turn right in front of us. If you're in the U.K., they'll be right turning vehicle.
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But the point is, just assume that a vehicle will turn in front of you. And it's closely related to which you oftentimes here at the end of an accident is that the driver of the car will say, oh, I didn't quote unquote, see the motorcycle.
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Well, just assume that they're not going to see you and it will make it safer for you. So as you're coming up on to an intersection, assume the car is going to turn in front of you, cover that brake, cover that clutch, slow down a little bit just to be prepared to stop. In the event of that, they do actually turn in front of you.
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But I always assume that they're going to do so. Now when you get out onto the bike and you start riding, you want to look over the bike and see just how does it feel? Is the steering smooth?
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Is there no binding throughout the movement? So as you move that handlebar back and forth, is there any binding? Is there any grittiness that might suggest that maybe the bearings need to be replaced or at the very least repacked? This could happen within your steering head.
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So just you want to take a look and look for Is there anything that feels awkward with the steering you want to listen for any unusual noises? Now, if you've got a big aftermarket exhaust, that's going to be a normal noise and it may be harder to hear some other noises on the bike, but just keep an ear out Is there a jingling that suggests that maybe something is dangling and moving around? Is there a weird sound in the valve train of the engine? Just anything that sounds out of sorts. You want to just be listening for that. The other thing is, are there any sort of wobbles? Does the bike feel that it's just kind of jiggling on there and this might be an indication of suspension or tire issues in terms of your whole chassis setup? Is there something that's giving a wobble that's making the bike just feel a little uncomfortable as you're riding? Check for that as you're going through on that first ride.
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Next thing you want to do is you want to check your brakes front and rear. Give them a good squeeze. Are they able to give you good stopping power? Are you able to feel that you have good modulation, that you can adjust how much braking force is going on? Are there any squeaks on the brakes? Do you hear metal against metal? Maybe you forgot to change the brake pads and now that'd be a good thing to realize in your first ride. Oops, I got to do that. Just check both of your brakes. Make sure that you're there. All good to go. Are there any issues with fueling? And fueling is when you're adjusting your throttle.
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So is the acceleration smooth?
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Is there any RPM variation when you're trying to hold the throttle in a single position?
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Could be a problem with you have a carburetor bike, maybe it's got some clog in the jets and it's not going to go at certain points. Maybe it's going to be varied it depending upon what R.P.M. you're at. So maybe at a low rev, it's fine. And it really starts to give a weird feeling as you get into higher revs. Check out your bike at all of the rev spectrum to just really understand what's going on. Is everything working as it is intended to? The other thing we talked about is checking your mirrors. Well, sometimes they may have seemed okay when you first were looking at it in the garage, but now you get out on the road, the engine vibrations going, the bikes hitting bumps on the road and they may shake loose. The other thing is see that the positioning of of the mirrors is actually correct, even though they may not have gotten loose on you, they may have shifted their position and they're no longer giving you a good, clear view of what's behind you. Now is also a good time because you're fresh onto the bike. Do you need to make any control changes? Does all the controls feel natural? Do they feel any sort of awkward angles? Well, now that you're coming at it almost with fresh eyes on the bike, this may be a good point to find out. Oh, you know what? I want to move the brake levers a little rotated down. It'll be more comfortable as I'm riding. Just be mindful of what are all these things that you want to check on the bike? Next thing is, does the bike handle as it should, or has there been a reduction in the capability did you remember to change that preload that we talked about earlier? Maybe your weight changed a little bit.
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Maybe it's not set appropriately for your current riding weight.
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Could be a problem. Maybe your tires a little off and that's going to be causing some problems. when you park your bike for the winter months, oftentimes you're just leaving the bike where it is and the tires are going to develop a bit of a flat spot where the bike is sitting. Unless you're putting the bike up on stands. Now, my S1000R my sport bike. I do lift it up onto stand so the tires are not going to get a flat spot.
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But my other bikes don't necessarily have that. You mean some of them have center stands, which does help them, but there is very strong possibility that you could have a little bit of flat spot The other thing is think of all of the variety of roads that you'd normally ride on, whether it be an urban environment, whether it be backroads, whether it be highways. You want to try and exercise the bike on all of the different types of roads that you'd normally ride on because different facets of the motorcycle are used in there. If you're in an urban environment, you're probably hitting the brakes and doing stop and go traffic much more. So you're going to notice some problems with the bike, much easier in an urban environment than what you would when you were riding in the back roads and you're just going you never really touching the brakes at all for the most part, or at least not hard braking. Meanwhile, on a highway, you may find that, hey, keeping that single throttle position, you might notice some problems that you didn't notice when you were in Stop and go again. This is why having that variety of roads is going to help you see any issues that arise about the bike. And now you're going to keep all of those mental notes of what's the checklist of things that I need to address.
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The last thing that you want to do when you're out on this first ride is evaluate yourself. Were you comfortable? Was there anything that made you nervous?
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Was there something where you'd normally would have felt completely comfortable in this sort of a situation? But now it's making you feel a little uncomfortable. You haven't been out on the bike. Maybe you're feeling uncomfortable in slow speed maneuvering in a parking lot with your large, heavy cruiser. Well, then, you know, that's something that you've had to practice at the beginning of the season. So just make a little bit of a mental note of what's making you feel comfortable, what's uncomfortable, and that's the things that you're going to want to address. The other thing to keep track of is what was your fatigue level like after the ride? It's not really unusual for you to feel tired after your first ride because there's a lot of mental focus required and you've been out of practice for having that mental, just absolute focus for riding for maybe several months at this point. So it's very it's very common for you to feel a little bit fatigued at the end of that first ride. now you've got that checklist. You've got any issues that you need to address on the bike, anything that you need to be thinking about for yourself.
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Is there training that you want to do? Is there maybe a comfort level change that you want to do to the bike? Just think about all of those things and address all of those concerns. And now you can bring your bike out to get your inspection.
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Now, where I am in New York State, we have annual inspections and they typically will be one year from when you last had the bike inspected. I tend to get my bikes inspected right around the same time after I get the new registration done, which is right in April here in New York State. So all my bikes, the registration and the inspection, I kind of do in the early spring months. The reason why I suggest that you do the inspection after your first shakedown cruise is because now you've been able to notice any issues and you've been able to address them before you brought it in to be inspected. The reality is that if you bring it in to be inspected before you've done that, the inspector may notice some issues and fail your bike because you could have saved yourself a lot of time and effort to actually go and check those before you took it to be inspected. So now that you've checked the bike and yourself after your first ride, you're ready to get going for the season, right? Well, take it a bit slow. That first ride was really not just a shakedown for the bike, but it was a shakedown for you. You want to take your time just easing back into the season, especially if it's been multiple months since you've been riding. just think of those cobwebs that we removed on that first ride. There may still be a lot of rust left over and you've got to ease yourself into expanding the distance and the duration of your rides and keep track of how you feel after each one. Don't push yourself too hard. Fatigue is a really common cause of accidents, so just if you went for 30 minutes, maybe the next ride to try for 40 or 45 minutes, just take a little bit longer each time till you start to feel more comfortable.
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So you're not just going from like, Oh, I did a 20 minute ride, now I'm going to do a five hour ride like it's a really big jump.
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And you haven't gotten that sort of pacing for yourself quite yet, especially since you're out of practice. And if you do this, if you take that pacing and you're beginning just as the spring months are coming, by the time the summer and the full season really rolls into it, you're pretty much going to be up to speed. So even though it may feel like, Hey, I'm going a little bit of a slower pace of just how far I'm riding, by the time the summer comes around, you're ready to go and you're ahead of the game. So don't think of it as a downside. Think of it as it's just preparing you for the full season to be ready to go and do whatever kind of rides, float your boat, whatever you want to do with your motorcycle journey.
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So let's wrap up. We've covered some items to check on your bike before you pull it out of the garage. We also looked at some checks for yourself before you ride. Are you mentally ready to ride? We talked about what to look for on the shakedown ride and how keeping it local is important. You don't want to make it too far of a ride. We also talked about addressing any of the issues that you found in that shakedown cruise before you get the bike inspected and then getting that state inspection done so that your bike is ready to go on the road and you're not having to break in the middle of your season to go and do something else. This is why I like doing the inspection first thing. Finally, we talked about easing yourself into the full riding season, build up your confidence and build up your endurance as you go over time.
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So my question for you is what are you most looking forward to as the riding season resumes?
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Share your thoughts through the text, the show link in the show notes, or leave us a voicemail at throttle and roast dot com slash voicemail. Thanks for listening. I'll talk to you next week.
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