Gadsden, Alabama
All About Safety
Jim and Linda Zabler
Here is our first safety article for the Jan newsletter. As you can
see, it is not written by us but a good friend and former educator.
T-CLOCK - Safety inspections
By David Dirig
This past week, I went over both bikes and discovered that my rear tire was 10
pounds low. Then, I went out to check the car and discovered that the tread
was ruined on the outside part of the tires -- this was partially due to bad alignment
but also due to driving the car with under-inflated tires. What does this
have to do with GWRRA? Learn from my lesson, and inspect your vehicles
often. This applies to your 4-wheelers, but more importantly to your 2-
wheelers. If you lose a tire on a car, its bad but not catastrophic. If you lose a
tire on the bike, well...... it could be deadly. Nothing can prevent having a tire
go out after hitting something, but proper maintenance and inspections can go
a long way toward decreasing the chances of a break-down along the road.
Inspections are critical to maintaining a bike and riding safely. This is especially
true as we start the riding seasons. After a string of bad weather days,
how many of us have jumped on the bike after it sitting in the garage for
weeks, and taken it for a spin.
Make a habit of inspecting your bike before you ride it, especially if its been a
while since you've taken the bike out. Now if you're like me and you commute
on your bike, you don't want to crawl under the bike and check your tire pressure
in your work clothes (unless you're a mechanic). But at least once a week,
and especially before long rides (if not also during them), you want to inspect
your bike to make sure you are in safe riding condition. I would rather find out
at a rest stop that I have a nail in my tire than find out at 70mph! How many of
you have seen Craig Rush sitting on the curb at a gas station inspecting his
tires? While the rest of us are loading up, emptying out, or socializing, I have
noticed him several times, with his bike on the center stand going over the
tires, inspecting tread and looking for foreign matter in the treads. Better than
anything I could write, that's an example of proactive safety inspections.
8
T-CLOCK is an acronym that describes an overall safety inspection of the motorcycle.
While this is a much more extensive inspection than you would make
at a rest stop (even for Craig), this will give you an idea of what you should be
looking for and checking in most all aspects of the motorcycle to maintain
proper operations or alert you to improper operations. Check with you friendly
local Chapter Educators for the checklist that covers the inspection called TCLOCK
T -- Tires and Wheels - inspect condition of front and rear tires (pressure,
tread), wheels, rims, bearings, and seals
C -- Controls - This covers the condition of levels, cables, hoses, and throttle
L -- Lights - Inspection of battery, lights lenses, reflectors, wiring, and the
headlight reflector and aim of the headlight (right/ left & height)
O -- Oil - Check levels and for leaks in Engine oil, Hypoid gear oil, Hydraulic
fluid, coolant and fuel
C -- Chassis - Inspect frame, steering head bearings, swingarm, and suspension
K -- Kickstand - Inspect Centerstand and side stand for cracks and bent parts.
Maintain proper tension on springs to keep stand in place when folded up.
The T-CLOCK form has more extensive descriptions of the inspections suggested
above. Whether you use T-CLOCK or your own experience with inspections
and making sure the bike is ride-worthy, I encourage each of you to
routinely go over your bikes or have a mechanic do it for you if you are so inclined.
The crucial point is that we have a long riding season ahead of us, and
some bikes have been sitting for what little winter we have or are still suffering
from last seasons' rides. Before you take off for that next weekend jaunt or
cross-country trip, make sure the bike is as ready as you are. It may well be the
most important time you spend preparing for your next trip.
Ride Safe and COAST
Concentrate On A Safe Trip
BIKE DOWN!!
BIKE DOWN!!
By David & Dori Dirig
We had a ride the other weekend where a chapter member went down, and I
finally had to hear those fateful words. There was no co-rider, the
rider was extremely lucky in the incident with minimal physical harm,
and bike and rider were able to continue on. I won't go into the
specifics of the incident, as I didn't see it. However, I will proceed
from those four words, as I was the front door, and there were a number
of developments after the rider went down that need to be addressed in
the category of "what role does each of us play when someone goes down?"
The purpose of this article is not to fault or criticize anyone for what
they did the other weekend. My sole purpose is to put forth a procedure
so that all the chapter knows what to do and who to turn to in case such
a thing happens again. For group members as well as front and back
doors, this article should provide direction on what do to if someone
goes down.
First off, the word "down" only has one meaning and usage during a ride;
that is to designate that a rider has dumped his bike. Cars are 'stopped
on the right,' they are not 'broken down.' If the call goes out that a
bike has gone down, everyone should be primed to fulfill their role.
This role varies depending on your position within the group. The bottom
line is that once this call goes out, the non-involved groups (assuming
multiple 5 member groups) should find a place to safely pull over and
await further commands There may be a need for further first aid kits,
additional trained personnel, a cellular phone call for help, or people
to direct traffic. Radio silence should be maintained to facilitate
communication between the front and back door of the group involved in
the incident as well as between the leaders of other groups.
If we take it from the call above, what happens and who calls the shots?
The front and back door manage the situation, but it is the back door of
the downed bike's group that is running the show. In the case of the
other weekend, I had already gone around the next turn by the time the
call went out, so I had no way to keep track of the situation except for
CB communication with my back door (who did an excellent job of keeping
us apprised of the situation). Your back door should naturally have a
good CB and should be your best rider, carrying a first aid kit, and
ideally be CPR and First Aid trained (Rider Ed. Level 3 or 4). Assuming
there are multiple groups on the ride, the other groups should find
place to pull off the road safely and await further developments. This
doesn't necessarily mean pull over immediately, but the front doors of
the non-involved groups should be looking for a safe resting place for
their groups while they monitor the situation.
That's actually the key concept for everyone; get stopped safely and be
available should the front and back door of the involved group need
help, but staying put within your group if they don't. Communication is
key here, and all should stay within radio range if at all possible. If
not, arrange a meeting place up ahead or send a rider to scout ahead to
find a good stopping place if the groups are unfamiliar with the area.
The most important point is to stay calm and organized. No one should
take off on their own or go back for the downed bike unless help is
asked for by the leaders of the group managing the situation. The worst
thing that could happen after an incident like this is to have someone
take off on their own and get in trouble or become one more thing for
those helping the downed biker to worry about.
Looking back on last weekend, there are a number of things that could
have been done differently, but everyone pulled together, helped out our
friend and got everyone back on the road safely. In a perfect world,
we'll never have to worry about this procedure. However, this is not a
perfect world, and we all enjoy an inherently dangerous hobby. If we do
get into a similar situation, now everyone will know what to do, who to
turn to, and how to handle the situation.
Until next month, Ride Safe and COAST (Concentrate on A Safe Trip)
David and Dori Dirig
Link to Wayne Gargus's previous articles