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30 | WheelsOfGrace.com | Issue 46 We made it! It's almost spring me and that means it's almost riding season! If you're anything like me, you're probably really excited at the prospect of riding in the next month or so. Now is the perfect me to start ge ng your motorcycle, your riding equipment and yourself prepared for that first ride. Here are some pro ps to get everything ready to go. 1. Plan for service. Servicing your motorcycle is the most important aspect of preparing. Don't wait until ride day, or you may be tempted to rush. If you're a better rider than mechanic, I recommend taking your motorcycle to a local dealership or professional mechanic, so be sure to plan ahead for that. If you're a capable mechanic yourself, you can do most of this in a day, although there is one part of this service you might want to have done professionally. 2. Change your fluids. If it's been longer than six months since you changed your engine oil, now would be the time to do it. How important is your oil? Racers change their oil every 300-500 miles–that's about as many miles as we ride in a weekend. We also swap out our engines about every 1000 miles. You certainly don't have to do that, but don't start a new season with old oil. You should also change your gasoline, because gas goes bad and then your bike can run poorly. These days everything is fuel injected, and injectors get plugged up easily up if your gas is old. You wouldn't put 6 month old gas in your car, so don't use it in your bike. Coolant should also be drained and refilled. If your brake fluid is look- ing low you should top that off. And don't forget to clean and lubricate your chain! 3. Check your brakes. If you've no ced the brakes aren't work- ing as well as they used to–maybe the lever is coming to the bars, or the bike isn't stopping as quickly as it once did– then you should bleed them and let some fresh fluid in the lines. This is something pro riders do every race weekend, because Ten pro tips to prepare for THE riding season fresh fluid helps with be er delivery. For casual riders, once a year is o en enough. I recommend that you take your bike to a mechanic for this part. If you're doing this at home, be careful of those ny air bubbles that get into your lines that will cause your brakes to feel like they are fading. 4. Visual inspec on. Really every time you ride you should give your whole bike a visual inspection. Look at brake lines and pads, any exposed wires, and wheels. Check to make sure your wheels are spinning freely and your brakes are working correctly. Also, if you have some sockets and wrenches at home, give everything a quick tightening up. You will likely find several nuts and bolts that have become loose over a season of riding. 5. Check your res. Make sure there are no visible cracks in your tires and that there is adequate tread left. You should measure for approximately 3/32" of tread remaining. If there's less than that, you should definitely get new tires before hitting the road. Even if your tires pass visual inspection, you should still get new ones if they're more than a couple years old. On a car you wear your tires out before they go bad. On a bike, not so. Racing res don't generally last more than 20 laps, but yours will likely last a lot longer–long enough so that the rubber starts to get hard and then you get less trac on. That's never good. Also, make sure you get those pressures set to the manufacturer's spec. 6. Check your ba ery. Ideally, you should keep your ba ery on a tender all winter, and if you were able to do that you should be good to go. If not, start your bike and make sure it fires up right away. It's be er to find this out now than to be ready to go for your first ride of the year with your buddies only to find that your ba ery is dead and your bike won't start. To avoid this in the future, if you don't have a tender, 30 | WheelsOfGrace.com | Issue 46