First days: Living with a motorcycle: Difference between revisions

[[Category:New Riders]]

You've taken the MSF class, bought your gear, and made the Big Purchase. There's a motorcycle in your life now, but how do you deal with it? This is a guide to those first few experiences on the bike that MSF didn't cover, and all the books seem to skip over.  

This is also very specifically a guide for the first few days of new bike ownership. This advice doesn't necessarily apply to any more-advanced use such as touring, aggressive riding, racing, etc.

Parking a motorcycle is not as obvious as it would initially appear. Sure, parking in a big flat parking lot is easy, but there ar other considerations.

If you only have a sidestand, this section doesn't apply to you so much.   

If your bike is heavily loaded, using the centerstand may be easier, since it doesn't tip the bike to either side. Loaded-down bikes have a higher center of gravity, which makes them much harder to control when tipped over a little bit.  

Parking your bike on an incline presents special problems. Even on the sidestand, you can park in such a way that it'll easily fall over, unless you follow a few simple rules:  

In any of these cases, the final trick to parking on a hill is to leave the bike in first gear. That prevents the bike from rolling. Once the engine is stopped, let out the clutch lever, and let the bike take up any slack in the engine before you set it down on the stand. It acts just like a parking brake. Remember to take the bike out of gear when starting it, or you could have trouble with safety interlocks in the clutch or sidestand keeping the bike from starting.

Motorcycles fit in a lot of spaces where cars don't.  When I park, I usually try to avoid taking up a full-sized car spot, but sometimes it's unavoidable.  Check your local laws, but some alternate parking spots may include:

If you decide to park in a full-sized car spot, park near the entrance to the spot, with your bike's tail towards traffic.  There are several factors at play here.  Leave the bike near the entrance (closer to traffic) to make it obvious that the parking spot is filled.  A bike pulled way into the spot looks empty until the car driver pulls part-way in, and that may make the driver angry.  An angry driver can smoosh your bike flat, or may take it out on another motorcyclist later.  Leave the bike parked with the tail towards traffic because the tail is more durable than the front end, in case an inattentive or angry driver ''does'' hit the bike.  Parking at the back of the spot also helps you avoid the big grease-spot where cars' engines have dropped motor oil for the last 20 years.  This grease can cling to your tires, making for a very exciting time at your next turn.

Filling a motorcycle's gas tank is not like filling up a car. You can't just shove the nozzle in as far as it'll go and grab the handle. With most bikes, that will result in a tank filled about half way.  

Once you've filled up the tank and closed the lid, check to make sure (if you have one) that your fuel petcock is set to the ON position and not to RES or Reserve, or OFF. For more discussion on what reserve means, please see [[How does the reserve tank work?|this FAQ article]]. If you have two petcocks, check both of them. Fuel injected bikes don't have a petcock at all for normal operation.

Most motorcycles don't include a fuel gauge. On those that do, the fuel gauge is usually inaccurate or worse. The best way to solve this problem is to use your trip meter. If your bike has several trip meters, pick one for gas and always use it that way.  

At a minimum, you need to track mileage since the last fill (conveniently there on the trip odometer if you reset it with each fill) and gallons used. It's also handy to record the date and odometer reading; tracking which gas station/brand you use can also be helpful.

Most motorcycles these days still have a choke or fast-idle lever (referred to as a choke lever from here out). On many bikes it's on the left handlebar near the grip, but they can also be found elsewhere on the handlebar, or near the carburetor. Your owner's manual should explain where it is.  

The best way to [[Warming up your engine|warm up your bike]] is to ride it. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes before it's warm enough to turn the choke all the way off.

There are a number of important documents you should always carry with you. Vehicle registration and proof of insurance are the obvious ones, but you should also carry a sheet with basic medical information in the same place. I use [http://www.wetleather.com/medform this medical form], but any piece of paper which contains roughly that information will suffice. The most important information is your contact information, the name of your emergency contact, what you're allergic to, and what you're taking right now.  

Note that you should never carry your bike's title with you. That should be kept somewhere secure, in a place where you can find it if you need it.

Here are some of the things you can do, even with no experience or tools. These are all important actions to take when you own a motorcycle, since a bike has a much smaller margin for mechanical problems when compared to a car.  

   

Your engine's oil should [[How do I check my oil?|be checked]] about every week or two, or every time you ride if it's less often than that.  

Some people may tell you that it's terribly important not to mix different types of oil, but it isn't really. Oil, for the most part, is oil. Mixing different weights or brands, or even synthetic and non-synthetic, doesn't make much difference. It's much more important that you have ''enough'' oil than to worry about type, weight or brand.  

   

Your drive chain needs to be lubricated and checked for adjustment at least every 500 miles (800 km).

This serves the double purpose of checking the switch and checking the light or other device. If anything isn't working, fix it before going for a ride. Motorcycles are already at a huge disadvantage in traffic, and losing any of those signals is unacceptable (and probably illegal).

Once you're done riding, you may want to secure your bike. Motorcycle theft is rampant, particularly in urban areas, and particularly of high-value or lightweight bikes.  

Any of these methods can be combined with others for more effective security. A thief who sees a cable lock, locked forks and an alarmed disc lock is very likely to move on to an easier target. Really, that's all you want. In particular, an alarm becomes a bit more attractive if it's combined with a cable or chain locking the bike to something sturdy. A brake lever lock is still a terrible idea, no matter what you pair it with.  

Your first motorcycle is one you'll always remember, even if it's not the one you really wanted. Treat it with respect, for even the cheapest 50cc scooter is still capable of killing you without too much effort. If you haven't yet taken the MSF Basic Rider Course, please sign up and take it as soon as you can. That class will give you the real-world basics to make motorcycling much more fun and much safer. If you don't yet have a good set of gear, [[If you only read one article about gear|read this article]] and go buy the best you can afford.