Safety Checks

Last time when I used to go for my defensive riding and motorycle courses, they put a significant amount of attention on pre-ride checks. Like checking if your signal light is working, your brake fluid enough or not, got engine oil, tyre got any stones inside it.

Actually I think it's bullshit. Firstly it's impractical for the everyday riding commuter, 2ndly it's hard to really check things when your bike is not moving at all.

1. Tyre/Tire
   Do you really think you can feel the pressure of the tires just by pressing your nibby fingers on them? Dream on. Start riding it out and figure out whether the tires wobble when you bank, if they do, check and pump up some pressure. Also check if there's any leakage, e.g punctures, nails or so ever... 2ndly, who the hell in the world has time to turn your wheels and check if any particles are really stucked between the thread? I have not seen anyone doing that, especially for average time-conscious singaporeans.
   
   Pumping your tyres should be done periodically. Not everyday see see feel feel and let it cloud your judgement. Let the meter do the talking if you really want to check.
   
   *TIP
   For those interested to check for tire leakages, you may want to buy a pressure meter or go to any petrol station with those retro analog meter pumps. Simply go to any of those petrol kiosk and set it to about 5~10 psi lower of your average tire pressure and see if the meter jumps/sounds. If it does means your tire is leaking, because tires take very long to lose the air inside (I can go without refilling the air in the tires for more than 6 months and the pressure only drops 1 psi). If not confident, pump to your average required pressure and check again the next day to see if there's any minor leakage.
   
   1 psi = ~7kPa
   PSI = Pound Per Square Inch
   kPa = Kilopascal
   
2. Brakes
   Aiyah, just take your ride out of carpark and you know whether if it's working isn't it? Besides, do you think you can really check if your bike is running on drum brakes? These checks should be done periodically with discipline. Not every morning come down check n check. I don't believe your brake pads can be used up within a month if you service it regularly.
   
   Unless you visit the track.
   
3. Engine Oil
   Just check if there's any seriously wet pool of oil under your bike. But don't worry if there's a patch of damp oil, because it may not be from your bike. Sometimes parking lots are full of such patches because engine oil takes very long to dry up, it might be left over by some Lao K. Just look out for fresh damp pool of oil. If in suspect of anything, just check your oil level.
   
   Why is it not necessary to take out the oil dip to check everytime before you ride? Firstly engine oil does not evaporate into thin air by itself, or simply just dry up. Loss of engine oil is usually due to engine block leakages. Besides, do you really have time to upright your bike and unscrew your oil dip and see if there's oil? Even if there's a oil monitor, there's no way for you to stretch your head down to look at that piece of small glass panel while uprighting your bike. Maybe you can, I don't know.
   
4. Lightings
   Though it is not a crucial part of riding, but it can save your life when it comes... This is the only part of the checking which I would encourage checking. Plus checking your lightings is one of the easiest pre-ride check that can be done.