It is funny how bikers will select just the right motorcycle helmet, women’s motorcycle chaps or motorcycle jacket to protect their head, skin and feet before they ever think about getting on a motorcycle . Nevertheless, they will just hope on their bike with out a thought of doing a pre-ride safety check.

Pre-ride motorcycle safety checks are important. They insure that you make it to your destination and back again safely and help prevent brake downs.

Over the years, I have heard horror stories about terrible motorcycle accidents because of a blown tire or a brake or suspension malfunction. Fortunately, this has never happened to anybody close to me .

On the other hand, my wife did have a break down one day because we didn’t give the bikes a good once over before we went for a cruise.

My wife Sherry rides what a lot of motorcycle women are riding these days, a Harley Sportster 883 Low and I ride a Honda VTX1300R. Sherry didn’t like the feel of the center controls so we had forward control’s put on her Harley. She loved the way her Harley rode after we added the forward controls.

All was good, so one warm Sunday morning we decided to go for a bike ride in the country. It was a beautiful day and the ride was wonderful. We took the back roads for about 90 miles or so and then decided to head back home for dinner.

The shortest way back was to take the freeway .

As we turned down the onramp towards home it was a good thing I glanced in my rear view mirror because my wife was stopped along the side of the highway onramp flashing her high beams like there was no tomorrow.

I stopped, parked my VTX, and walked back to her to see what the problem was.

As it turned out, the linkage that connects the foot shifter, to the transfer case had fallen off and Sherry had no way of shifting gears.

This was a big problem. We were ninety miles in the middle of nowhere, we didn’t want to leave a brand new sportster sitting on the side of the road and I could not leave my wife there alone sitting on her bike sportster while I went to try and find linkage. Although that would have been impossible because it was Sunday and none of the motorcycle shops are open on Sunday where we live.

Not all was lost though. I asked Sherry if she remembered the last time she had changed gears . She told me she had down shifted just before we turned onto the on onramp of the highway . Therefore, I went on a quest up the ramp to see if I could find the linkage and the two bolts that fastened the linkage in place.

“Fantastic!” About half way up the onramp , I found the linkage. I was half way home. I still needed to find the two bolts that fastened the linkage on to the bike so Sherry could shift and we could continue our ride home.

I went up one side of the highway onramp and down the other looking for the ever so elusive linkage bolts. Frustration was setting in, as I searched again for those bolts.

It didn’t help matters that a couple of half drunk rednecks in an old 1982 faded red colored pick-up truck had stopped by Sherry and started to harass her. I think they thought better of it when Sherry told them to go do something with themselves that I am sure neither one of them had done with a women in years and they saw me walking up the ramp scowling. They drove off gesturing, I guess they though that we were number one or something.

Back to the problem at hand, I had the linkage but no bolts to attach it. I had my Honda , however, it is a metric bike and Sherry’s motorcycle is good old American standard.

If you know anything about metric and standard bolts, they do not fit. The threads will not match up. Nevertheless, that didn’t stop me. I found out that the seat bolts on my motorcycle are just about the same size as the bolts that hold the shifter linkage for the forward controls on a sportster Low. The difference is the thread pattern is a different . They did fit just enough though; I just didn’t tighten them in.

After my fix up , it did not take long and we were cruising back home .

I guess the reason for this story is not to take doing a pre ride check for granted.

You would have thought that getting work done on your new motorcycle by a certified Harley dealer would insure that the work would be done correctly . Well as it turned out, the mechanic that changed the controls on Sherry’s bike didn’t put lock tight on the linkage bolts and after a few months of riding the bolts came out.

Could the problem have been eliminated if the mechanic had installed the linkage correctly? Yes, it could have. However, it could have also been eliminated if we had taken the time and done a pre ride check.

We were lucky that it was just a linkage that failed and not something that could have caused injury or death.

For your safety and the safety of others , take the extra time and do a pre ride safety check. It will save your life some day.

Read how to start money right now with auto loan calculator.