Tips For Pothole Season

Summer is a wonderful time of the year, but it does have its own hazards for motorcycle enthusiasts. Potholes are dangerous. The steep sides of a pothole can catch your tire and cause you to lose control. In addition, the edges of a pothole are sharp; they can bend or break your wheel rim.

Of course, you’ll try to keep a bigger distance between you and the vehicle ahead of you so you get better warning of a pothole and can possibly steer away from it. The problem for commuters is that other vehicles will usurp that space you leave. Sometimes you just have to accept the inevitable, use a “beater bike” for commuting, and keep the shiny new one garaged until the road crews have time to fix them. You can also check out alternate routes where less traffic might mean less damage to the roadbed.

Minor maintenance issues that don’t cause a problem on a straight, level road can add to your problems when you hit (or swerve to miss) a pothole. You can minimize that by checking tire pressure each time you ride—a must at any season. Add to that a quick check of wheel, swing arm, and head bearings and snug up the pinch bolts at the fork triple clamps and axles and elsewhere. This might be the best time for the annual flushing and filling of your front forks—at least top up the fluid. Flush and bleed your brakes and replace your shocks if you’ve got a lot of miles on them.