Thursday, July 14, 2011

Tech Tip - Road Trip Readiness


For many of you this is the time in the “riding season” that you have trips planed and are about to leave for one.  There are two areas for getting ready for a trip first and most important is to make sure your bike is ready. Second is to pack your bike safely.
 
The most important part about going on a trip with your motorcycle is to make sure it is ready. Before you leave on a trip you should check over your bike or bring it into one of our service departments to have it looked over. If you bring your bike in to us or look over it yourself this is what needs to be checked. The tires and breaks should be looked and to make sure there is enough life to make the whole trip, that is something that best to be check by your service department. 

Tire pressures should be check before you leave. Before and while you are on the trip you should check all major electrical components like headlight (high and low beam), turn signals (front and rear), brake light and running lights (front and rear).

 
     
Second area to get ready for your trip most likely will happen the night before you leave and that is packing your bike. Many of you may bring tools with you. If you do or anything else that is heavy it should be packed at the lowest point possible. For example if you have saddlebags it should be at the bottom of your bags and weight equal is both bags for best handling on the road. Also remember that you are limited on space on your bike so small travel size containers save a lot of space. To help with space management remember you can buy whatever you may run out of and wash your clothes at a laundry mat if you run out of clean clothes.

If you need or think you need tires or brakes or any service before you leave for your trip just stop by one of our service departments and we will be happy to go over what you may need to make your bike safe for your trip. For those of you taking trips on your bike have a safe and wonderful time.

Greg Smith
Service Manager
Fox River Harley Davidson