Friends don't put friends on derelict bikes

Bikegeezer

I recently attended a gathering of vintage bike enthusiasts. One of them showed up on a street bike he'd borrowed from another fellow who also attended on another of his bikes. The borrowed bike was interesting. But as I looked it over, I was astounded that someone would offer it to someone else to ride on the street, or that the borrower would have actually accepted and ridden it.

I hate to see folks get hurt, whether through benign neglect, lack of knowledge, or a DILLIGAF attitude. Some bikes that look good from 50' are not safe to ride. And this was (in my opinion) one of them. The chain was dry, rusty, and worn way out of tolerance. The tires on this old bike were likely the originals, as the owner speculated while laughing (the guy who'd borrowed it wasn't laughing at that point). And the hard-as-a-rock rear tire was so worn that the wear indicators had worn flush with the surface long ago. Could this tire fail at road speed? Could it slide out on a curve that wouldn't affect a newer tire with more tread? Yes to both questions. Could that boat anchor of a chain snap, wrap around the rear axle, lock the rear wheel, and toss the rider on the ground? You bet. The other bike ridden by the owner had a Metzeler Laser front tire mounted on the rear wheel. That by itself should have sent up a warning flag, but I doubt the borrower would have realized this, even if he'd looked at it.

My opinion - A poorly maintained motorcycle isn't simply unreliable, it can be dangerous as hell. Too many of us would take the keys to someone else's bike and jump on without even so much as a cursory inspection. Maybe we don't know what to look for, or maybe we assume that the bike must be safe if the other guy offered to lend it to us. That could be a very costly assumption. Do yourselves a favor - at least inspect the tires, chain, brakes, and other safety items before riding a borrowed bike. If you don't know what to look for or how to determine a bike's condition, then don't ride it. Hindsight is always 20/20.

Stu

Hippykid · Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 1:00 pm Post subject: Stupid People

Stu-You have a very valid point in respect of poorly maintained bikes being loaned to others....But what you and I consider maintainance
on our cycles may not be a skill acessable to all....As long as there are stupid people out there(I mean that in a nice way)we are going to be amazed every day by what we see....I dont ever loan out bikes and I damn sure dont borrow them...I had a biker tell me one time that a
real motorcyclist would never ask another cyclist to ride his bike...At a show I was in here in town last May the winning bike was leaking fuel
and the owner was asking around if anybody could fix it for him...

Russell · Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 1:55 pm Post subject:

I differ from Hippykid to the extent that as owner of what I believe are very well maintained bikes that pass our rigorous 6 monthly government mandated safety inspections then allowing other competent and responsible people to ride them is part of the whole deal with ownership.Similarly I have no hesitation in riding the machines of certain other bike owners whom I know well. For me and the fellow riders I speak of the condition checks Stu speaks of are something we do as a matter of course before riding any bike at speed. Sure there are affectations and mystique to the image many of us have of ourselves as bikers but the facts are that a safely maintained bike should be safe when operated by any person who uses it within it's design parameters in reasonable road and weather conditions.I'm with Stu. There are certain bottom-line obligations that go with putting another rider on one of your bikes.

fasterspider · Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 2:07 pm Post subject:

To me a motorcycle is like a woman and if you lend out either one, they never come back the same.

Bikegeezer · Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 2:25 pm Post subject:

I forgot about the rigorous inspections some countries have for bikes. Most of the US doesn't have that, and many owners just ride the bikes till they quit or something breaks. For those in that category, consider doing a T-Clock inspection once a week. Here's a link to a PDF form that you can use. Also useful to print and hand out to your buddies.

http://www.bikerhiway.com/motorcycle-safety-info/images/tclock.pdf

Stu

05c50 · Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 3:08 pm Post subject:

Well said guys. Motorcycle safety not only effects the rider, but also the people riding around him. There's a story about a well known leader of a well known motorcycle club (gang) that would knife the tires on the other club members bikes if he thought that they would pose a hazard to other riders.

......Paul

Bikegeezer · Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 4:46 pm Post subject: