What to check on your motorcycle before a ride

Before you ride, check tyres, brakes, steering, controls, lights, fluids, the chain, belt or shaft drive, and the stands. Then secure your luggage, remove locks and make sure you're ready to ride too. Do it in the same order every time and you're more likely to spot a new leak, a damaged tyre or a loose strap.

The Motorcycle Safety Foundation recommends a check before every ride. Its T-CLOCS reminder covers the main areas: tyres and wheels, controls, lights and electrics, oil and other fluids, chassis, and stands. Its inspection guidance sends you to your owner's manual for the details. Use the list below for everyday checks; it doesn't replace scheduled maintenance.

Start with a walk-around

Leave yourself time to deal with anything you find. Keep a tyre gauge handy and bookmark the manual pages you'll need. Work in good light on firm, level ground, and ask for help if you can't hold or move the bike securely.

Make a note from your manual with front and rear cold tyre pressures, their units, the load they apply to, and the fluid-check page numbers. Keep solo and loaded settings separate if the manufacturer gives different figures. It saves hunting for the right page every time.

Look under the bike before you move it, then walk the same path around it each time. Give anything recently changed a second look: a wheel after a tyre change, freshly packed luggage or a newly fitted phone mount. A recent service doesn't mean you can ignore something that looks or feels different.

Do these checks while parked. Save the list for reference if you like, then put the phone away before moving off. If the bike's been standing for a long time, start with the more thorough post-winter and pre-season checklist.

Check tyres and brakes

Use a gauge; you can't judge tyre pressure by looking. Find the bike manufacturer's cold-pressure figures, including any different setting for a pillion or luggage. Check before riding, while the tyres are cold, and don't let air out of a hot tyre to bring it down to the cold figure. Michelin explains why in its motorcycle tyre pressure guide.

Roll the bike a short way by hand with the engine off so you can see the rest of the tread, then park it securely again. If you find a nail, leave it in and get the tyre assessed before riding. Plenty of tread doesn't rule out other problems: Michelin's tyre replacement guidance also covers damage, uneven wear and ageing. Stick to the legal wear limit where you ride and the tyre maker's advice.

Try each brake while stationary. Does it feel the way it normally does? Look at the pad wear indicators you can see, and check for wet hoses, damaged discs or contamination. A spongy lever, grinding or weaker braking needs attention, as Honda's brake maintenance guidance explains. A stationary check can't prove how the brakes will work on the road, so once the inspection's done and any faults are fixed, check that the bike stops normally at walking pace in a clear, level area before joining traffic.

Controls, fluids and final drive

Check that the steering and cables move freely and the throttle snaps back when you let go, including with the bars turned. Test the lights and horn; a reflection or a helper lets you see the brake light. The MSF's full inspection checklist shows what to look for.

Fluid checks vary by model, so follow your manual. Some oil levels need a warm engine and a waiting period; other bikes use a different method. If the manual says to hold the bike upright, a reading on the side stand won't do. Use the specified method and fluid, and if a level has dropped or a leak has appeared, find out why. Never open a hot cooling system.

For a chain, look up where to measure, the allowed slack and how the bike should be positioned. A belt or shaft needs its own checks. Don't guess an adjustment or use a generic slack figure from the internet. If the job's beyond you, book a service; Honda's maintenance advice also separates basic owner checks from mechanical work.

Check yourself and the route

Decide whether to go before you start the engine. Are you alert enough for this ride? Can you see clearly through the visor? Will your clothing cope with the coldest or wettest part, including the way home? Does the luggage move when you push it by hand?

Check the forecast along the route, not just at home. Our route-weather guide walks through rain, wind and temperature checks before you leave. Look at official warnings and road closures too, and be ready to change the route or postpone. No forecast can tell you what the road surface is like round the next corner.

When to leave the bike parked

Don't set off with a sticking throttle, brakes that aren't working normally, a damaged tyre, a fuel leak, loose luggage or an unresolved critical warning. Get it repaired or inspected first. If you're not sure the bike's safe, have it transported to a workshop rather than riding it there.

For a longer trip, use the motorcycle travel abroad checklist as well. Reset this list before every ride so you're checking today's bike, not yesterday's ticks. This checklist saves its ticks separately in this browser. Use Print / save PDF for a copy to take with you; saved progress doesn't make the website work offline.