How I dropped my bike
By Tony BLast week I dropped my bike while turning onto the street in front of my place. It wasn't anything major but it was definitely a shock. I've been riding since 2005, have 3 bikes and the worst that has happened was a tipover when the bike was warming up in the driveway.
So what happened? Well I decided to take out my Yamaha FJR 1300 sport tourer which I hadn't been on in over a month. I did my regular pre-ride inspection including checking the tire pressure. Afterwards, I rode up to the main street and prepared to make a left turn. After checking traffic, I eased into the friction zone, rolled on the gas and halfway through the turn the rear wheel kicked out and down I went. The bike slid 6 feet and I was fortunate that I was able to get off and didn't get hurt. I ran over to pick up the bike. No major damage....just a few scrapes on the hard bag and no damage to the clutch.
I've made that turn too many times to count and couldn't help but wonder what happened? Did I hit the gas too hard? Were the tires cold? Since I hadn't been on the bike in a while, did I forget how powerful the bike is? After getting the bike up and moving it to the side of the road, I decided to check the tires again to see if I missed anything. Sure enough there was some oily residue on the tires! I did have oil on my garage floor and some of it must have gotten on the tires. The combination of oil and cold tires was enough to cause the rear wheel to slide out.
I waited a
few minutes, started the bike and was able to ride 100 miles that
day. I was initally reluctant to lean the bike hard through
curves but after the tires warmed up I could feel them gripping
the road. Near the end of the ride, I was going around my
favorite curves with confidence.
Next time I will make sure to double check my tires for any oil or grease and take it extra slow until my tires warm up.
Motorcycle Service Manual
By Tony B
Your
motorcycle comes with an owners manual. It covers very
basic things you can do to keep your bike up, with the most
important being the maintenance schedule. You should familiarize
yourself with the owners manual and carry it with you to service
small items that may happen when you are on the road.
But if you want to go beyond the basics, you need to buy the motorcycle service manual for your bike. The service manual is what your dealer uses when fixing your bike and it covers everything from changing the oil to taking apart the engine.
Although you
will not need everything in it, it will pay for itself the
first time you change your oil (easy) or do your first brake
job (very easy). With it, you can change your spark plugs,
change your coolant, adjust engine idle speed, wire your
GPS unit, lube your chassis and more. Just about all of the
items in the maintenance schedule you can do yourself if you
have the service manual. Also, the service manual will tell you
what special tools to use, if any.
Gone are the days
of paying a mechanic $250.00 for a brake job or $150.00 to
drain and replace the coolant. One of the biggest savings is
learning to take off the wheel. Instead of paying your
dealer $500.00 to install new tires every year, you can buy
tires over the internet, take the wheels off yourself and
only pay for installation and balancing.....around here,
that's about $25.00/tire.
If you are serious about doing your own maintenance, stop by your local dealer and buy a copy of the service manual. It can save you thousands of dollars over the life of your bike.
