Author Topic: Preflight  (Read 887 times)

Offline John A

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Preflight
« on: October 17, 2021, 09:59:28 AM »
Most experienced riders do a pre ride inspection. I’ve been trying to convince my SO to do a better job of it. She doesn’t think it is her responsibility for some reason. I take care of her bike and keep a close eye on it and ask her to bring it to the shop periodically so I can do a thorough job. I expect her to do her own pre ride inspection so when she fails to bring it to the shop and does not do a thorough pre ride, it is difficult to get her to understand the importance of her responsibility to do so.
I always check it out at stops on the road and when we go out together. The trouble comes when she goes out on her own and fails to do her own thorough preflight. Nothing serious has happened but that is just luck. She is showing improvement, maybe that’s enough for now. She has been riding since ‘67 or so and has done well. It’s a tricky human factors problem alright .
John
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Offline Guzzi Gal

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Re: Preflight
« Reply #1 on: October 17, 2021, 11:13:47 AM »
I do our preflights before each ride, or they wouldn't happen. My husband is just like your SO, and it doesn't cross his mind. :bike-037:

Our club president was even worse until recently when I convinced her to at least check her oil. Her scooter is a 2020 model that is known to burn HUGE amounts of the stuff. She relented after much pestering and discovered it was nearly dry! Now I've got to convince her to check her tires. :thumb:
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Offline Scout63

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Re: Preflight
« Reply #2 on: October 17, 2021, 04:44:20 PM »
For the amount of care I put into restorations, I’m ashamed at the lack of pre-ride checks I do.  I visually check the tires, feel the carbs and peacocks for leaks and check head, tail and brake lights.  I check oil maybe once a month and had the v50 oil light come on recently after a hard weekend of mountain riding. It was down a good quart.  I should learn.
Ben Zehnder - Orleans, MA USA

Offline lucky phil

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Re: Preflight
« Reply #3 on: October 17, 2021, 09:03:57 PM »
Most experienced riders do a pre ride inspection. I’ve been trying to convince my SO to do a better job of it. She doesn’t think it is her responsibility for some reason. I take care of her bike and keep a close eye on it and ask her to bring it to the shop periodically so I can do a thorough job. I expect her to do her own pre ride inspection so when she fails to bring it to the shop and does not do a thorough pre ride, it is difficult to get her to understand the importance of her responsibility to do so.
I always check it out at stops on the road and when we go out together. The trouble comes when she goes out on her own and fails to do her own thorough preflight. Nothing serious has happened but that is just luck. She is showing improvement, maybe that’s enough for now. She has been riding since ‘67 or so and has done well. It’s a tricky human factors problem alright .

The answer is simple, leave it to her and let it bite her on the arse. I call it "experiencial learning" and with some people its the only way they can actually lean. A couple of my kids fall into the category. BTW when it all goes to shit, it's on them, no bailing them out. Experiencing and copping the "outcome" is the only road to learning for some people. Let them know upfront the "it's on you not me" deal and let them get on with it.
Personally I observe closely the failures of others because I'm the opposite. Learn from the mistakes of other people, it's the cheapest education you can get.

Ciao

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Re: Preflight
« Reply #3 on: October 17, 2021, 09:03:57 PM »

Offline John A

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Re: Preflight
« Reply #4 on: October 17, 2021, 10:01:29 PM »
I do our preflights before each ride, or they wouldn't happen. My husband is just like your SO, and it doesn't cross his mind. :bike-037:

Our club president was even worse until recently when I convinced her to at least check her oil. Her scooter is a 2020 model that is known to burn HUGE amounts of the stuff. She relented after much pestering and discovered it was nearly dry! Now I've got to convince her to check her tires. :thumb:




My wife’s brother is bad as well, several times when he has stopped by, I convinced him to check his tire pressures which were visibly low. He has been a truck driver all his life . With my wife, I get better results if I’m more casual. If I use my sergeants voice, it seems counter productive- for a long time.   :grin:
« Last Edit: October 17, 2021, 10:03:30 PM by John A »
John
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It is easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled-Mark Twain
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Offline larrys

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Re: Preflight
« Reply #5 on: October 18, 2021, 08:21:58 AM »
When I rode British bikes a THOROUGH preflight was a necessity. My Cal and Monster, not so much. I do check tire pressure every ride...
The boat? Absolutely every time. I open the engine hatch, sniff for fuel and coolant, check all fluid levels, grab a few hoses, check linkages, make sure both bilge pumps run.
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Offline JJ

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Re: Preflight
« Reply #6 on: October 18, 2021, 08:24:48 AM »
At a BARE MINIMUM...one should ALWAYS check the air in both tires...I do...ALWAYS!! :wink: :thumb: :cool:
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Offline LowRyter

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Re: Preflight
« Reply #7 on: October 18, 2021, 08:43:14 AM »
I'm a big believer in "PostFlight" inspections.  Clean and inspect the bike, service the chain ( :evil:), top off the oil, etc., after it's been ridden.  I'm not saying that a quick inspection isn't needed before riding but I'd rather have a clean bike and confidence before I put it away.
John L 
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Offline John A

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Re: Preflight
« Reply #8 on: October 18, 2021, 09:15:42 AM »
I'm a big believer in "PostFlight" inspections.  Clean and inspect the bike, service the chain ( :evil:), top off the oil, etc., after it's been ridden.  I'm not saying that a quick inspection isn't needed before riding but I'd rather have a clean bike and confidence before I put it away.





That is what I do too, except the cleaning part. I like to keep it close to riding condition so there is less to do on pre ride. It doesn’t negate the pre ride inspection responsibility which is where my system is breaking down. I think I’m trying to get my wife to be as self sufficient as possible, something she is good at in most other areas. Maybe the years of riding together with very few breakdowns lessen the perceived possibility.  With the goal of trouble free mindless operation of transportation vehicles that society has had since the Model T, many operators don’t do a simple walk around, something I think is part of the responsibility of the operator
John
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It is easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled-Mark Twain
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Offline John A

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Re: Preflight
« Reply #9 on: October 18, 2021, 05:06:45 PM »
The answer is simple, leave it to her and let it bite her on the arse. I call it "experiencial learning" and with some people its the only way they can actually lean. A couple of my kids fall into the category. BTW when it all goes to shit, it's on them, no bailing them out. Experiencing and copping the "outcome" is the only road to learning for some people. Let them know upfront the "it's on you not me" deal and let them get on with it.
Personally I observe closely the failures of others because I'm the opposite. Learn from the mistakes of other people, it's the cheapest education you can get.

Ciao





Anybody but my SO I don’t care much how they operate and maintain their bike, as long as they don’t wreck me. That’s the tricky part, getting her to be more observant with her ride without being harsh
John
MGNOC L-471
It is easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled-Mark Twain
99 Bassa, sidecar
02 Stone
84 V65C
15 F3S Spyder

Offline dguzzi

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Re: Preflight
« Reply #10 on: October 18, 2021, 06:00:42 PM »
I might add, always watch your riding friends.  My friend went down very hard and was laid up for months...the problem?...his sidestand was down in a turn! 
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Offline lucky phil

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Re: Preflight
« Reply #11 on: October 18, 2021, 06:59:59 PM »




Anybody but my SO I don’t care much how they operate and maintain their bike, as long as they don’t wreck me. That’s the tricky part, getting her to be more observant with her ride without being harsh

Well then I think you've struck the correct balance. Time to relax about it. I could go on all day about women and their modern axiom that men "don't need to find solutions to all our problems but just be good listeners". Men generally have a built in "protective gene" which annoys some women, generally until the shit hits the fan then the dynamics change. Nothing you can do about it I'm afraid, one day it will be probably forced onto her.
My 87 YO mother and rabid feminist is having a "learning experience" right now. My 94 yo father that's always done absolutely everything in their married life such as  electrical work, plumbing, building home extensions, servicing cars and even looking after the IT stuff, gardening and much more has been on the slow decline with Dementia for the last 2 years and isn't capable of any of this now. My mother now at her age needs to learn how to handle the most basic of maintenance chores and problems. I'm 1000klm away and can advise her over the phone of course but doing it is another thing. After basically making her aware of the fact that for the last 65 years she's "led the life of Riley" with a husband that carried the burden of all this stuff on his own so she had the freedom to pursue her interests, including "feminism" she needs to "suck it up" and learn some new skills, including dealing with tradies like the vast majority of other people. It's a hard lesson to learn at 87. My wifes totally different and part of my duty to her is the preparation for when I'm no longer around. She understands my logic and learns stuff.
Ciao
« Last Edit: October 18, 2021, 07:04:29 PM by lucky phil »
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