Your San Diego Spring Motorcycle Checklist: Get Ready for Prime Riding Season
San Diego riders do not really get an off-season, but we get something close: those few wet weeks when the first rains slick up the freeways, the canyons run cold and greasy, and a lot of bikes sit longer than usual. Once the roads dry out and the hills go green, Palomar and the Sunrise Highway S1 are calling, and it is tempting to just fire up the bike and go. Give it one honest afternoon first. A bike that sat through the rainy stretch is not the same bike you parked, and the best day of the season is a bad time to find out. Here is the walkaround, the gear check, and the five-minute coverage review that keeps a great spring from turning into a claim.
Start With the Bike: The T-CLOCS Walkaround
Experienced riders use the MSF's T-CLOCS inspection, a simple six-point run through the whole bike. Do it in the driveway, cold, before the first real ride of the season.
- ✓ Tires and wheels.. Check pressure cold, look for cracking or flat spots from sitting, and eyeball tread depth. Rubber that baked through months of San Diego sun can be hard and cracked even with tread left.
- ✓ Controls.. Work the levers, throttle, clutch, and cables. The throttle should snap back on its own, and nothing should feel notchy, sticky, or frayed.
- ✓ Lights and electrics.. Headlight on both beams, brake light on both front and rear inputs, turn signals, horn, and a battery that actually held its charge over the downtime.
- ✓ Oil and fluids.. Check oil, brake and clutch fluid, and coolant levels and condition, and look under the bike for anything that dripped while it sat.
- ✓ Chassis.. Frame, suspension action, the drive chain or belt tension and lube, and the fasteners. A chain that dried out over the layoff needs attention before the canyons, not on them.
- ✓ Stands.. Side stand and center stand, springs and pivots, so nothing folds or drops when you do not expect it.
Check Your Gear, Not Just the Bike
Your gear sat out the wet weeks too. Pull the helmet and look hard at it: any impact, any real age, and it is done, because a compromised shell is exactly as useless as no helmet at all. California requires a DOT-compliant helmet for every rider and passenger, so make sure yours still is one, not just that it is on the shelf.
Check the fit and closures on your jacket, gloves, and boots, flex the armor to make sure it has not gone stiff, and clean and treat your visor and any electronics so you are not fighting glare or fog on day one. Gear is the only thing between you and the pavement when a driver does something dumb, and spring is when the roads fill back up with drivers who forgot motorcycles exist over the winter.
The Insurance Check Nobody Does (But Should)
Here is the five minutes most riders skip. Pull up your motorcycle policy before you head for the canyons and actually read it, because the first day back is the worst time to learn your coverage is thin.
Confirm you carry uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, and confirm the limits, because California is full of drivers running the bare state minimum of 30/60/15 or nothing at all. If an underinsured driver takes you out on the South Grade, your UM/UIM coverage is what actually pays, and riders routinely carry far less than they think. While you are in there, check whether you have MedPay, which covers medical bills regardless of fault, and make sure your policy did not lapse over a quiet, low-mileage winter. A quick call to your agent now is a lot cheaper than finding the gap after a crash.
Maxwell Agha and the San Diego motorcycle accident attorneys at Banker's Hill Law Firm represent riders hurt by negligent drivers. If you have questions after a crash, their team is here to help.