The best way to ensure your safety while on your motorcycle is to always conduct a pre-ride motorcycle inspection. Follow these steps before you ride to help keep everyone safe on the roads!
Even though a pre-ride motorcycle inspection will take you a few extra minutes, it is well worth it to ensure you and others are safe on the roads.
Your first step in any motorcycle inspection is to complete a full walk around to check if there is any obvious and visible damage that needs your attention right away. A pre-ride inspection should be done before each ride, even if it has only been parked for a couple hours. However, if you don’t conduct a full pre-ride inspection, at the very least ensure you are doing a full walk-around inspection before hitting the road.
Once you have walked around your entire bike to inspect any obvious damage, you can then begin a more in-depth pre-ride motorcycle inspection with this checklist:
Pre-Ride Motorcycle Inspection Checklist
1. Tires
When it comes to the tires, be sure to check the air pressure, spokes, rims, brake pads, and brake function.
2. Frame and Parts
There are many important parts to check during your pre-ride inspection. Here is a list of some of the most important parts of the motorcycle framing and body to check on your pre-ride motorcycle inspection:
- Shift lever
- Side stand
- Centre stand
- Left foot peg
- Clutch lever
- Brake lever
- Switches
- Cable
- Throttle
- Mirror
- Horn
- Chain frame
- Suspension
- Bolts
- Fasteners
- Double check for any loose or broken parts
3. Electric Lights
Double check that all of the lights and signals are working properly. Also, take a look at the gauges and indicators on your motorcycle and ensure the information you are looking at is accurate (i.e., fuel levels)
4. Fluids
Be sure to check all the fluids to ensure a safe ride including fuel and coolant. This is also a good time to inspect if your motorcycle has any leaks.