Checklist to follow Before Going On a Road Trip on Bike

Have you ever been on an enthusiastic and adventurous road trip on your bike? If not, you must plan a trip soon keeping in mind the tips to take care of your bike before embarking on a road trip. 

After almost two years of home confinement owing to Covid-19 pandemic, people have started going out on trips once again.  And when it comes to fun trips,  a road trip on your bike is something that you cannot miss. The feeling of roaming freely on the highways on your bike is simply amazing. However, you cannot just embark on a long journey with your bike without any preparations. There are certain bike care tips to remember before heading on a road trip. In this blog, we are offering some tips through which you can take care of your bike before hitting the road for a long, interesting journey.

As such, every bike lover fantasies about going on a long trip on his bike at least once in his lifetime. Moreover, with so many splendid options of road trips across India including green valleys, snowy mountains and much more, it is just not good enough to leave the option of a trip with your much loved bike. However, careful inspection of the condition of your bike is the key concern to take care of before you plan a bike road trip.

So, here are some very vital tips to ensure that your bike is in the best condition for going on a long road trip.

10 Things to take care of your bike before planning a bike road trip: 

• Understand your bike
• Lubricate your bike
• Get tyre pressure checked
• Test brakes
• Ensure the battery is fully charged
• Check Air Filter
• Ensure healthy Drivetrain
• Check the Bike Essentials
• Documents most important
• Renew insurance if policy is about to expire

Are you planning a bike road trip for the first time? If so, there must be plenty of questions in your mind regarding the preparations. Not to worry! Below are some bike care tips that will answer most of your questions.

1. Understand your bike

If you are planning your first trip on the road, it is important to understand your bike in and out. Commuting daily to work or locally is a different thing, but when it comes to long journeys on the highway, it is essential that the technical aspects of your bike should be clear to you so that you can handle any unpleasant situation that might arise with respect to your bike. So, ensuring the proper functioning of the brakes, accelerator as well as pick-up of the bike is important through premium bike care service.

2. Lubricate your bike

Lubricating your bike chain periodically is also important or else, the chain might dry out completely and get damaged due to rust. So, lubricating and cleaning are some basic things that you must carry on normally in your bike. If you have not been taking care of these bike maintenance tips all this while, it is time to get them done with an experienced mechanic so that you don’t face any issue on your road trip.

Also Read: Must Have Two Wheeler Maintenance Tools

3. Get tyre pressure checked

This is another important tip to keep in mind before heading for a long trip on your bike. Firstly, you must maintain your bike tyres properly as it might be dangerous to drive with tyre having a disparity in inflation pressure. It might damage your bike tyres and cause any mishap on the road while you are riding on the bike. Thus, ensure the manual checking of the tyre pressure to see its condition. Only after proper checking head towards your long bike trip on the road.

4. Test brakes

Brakes are the most important parts in your bike that you must check in your bike before your road trip. As such, you cannot predict any uncertainty while on the road. Thus, it is very important to ensure the proper functioning of the brakes of your bike as well as brake pads and fluids before starting. Wear and tear of brake pads is very common, which causes brake failure on many occasions. So, checking them well is a must for proper bike care before you embark on a bike road trip.

5. Ensure the battery is fully charged

Your bike receives the energy it requires to run from the battery. So, the battery has to be in proper condition and fully charged before you could begin your road trip. Along with battery, you must also check if the lights of your bike such as the headlight, blinkers in the side as well as tail lights are all working fine to ensure your two wheeler care.

6. Check Air Filter

The proper functioning of the air filter is another requirement to check in your bike for proper bike care before you head towards a long fun trip on your bike in the beautiful yet deserted highways of the country.  As you know, an air filter stops the entry of harmful air particles in your bike’s engine and ensures proper air supply into the engine of your bike. So, if you don’t want your bike’s engine to stop working due to unwanted air particles, you must clean the air filter regularly. This is especially important if you are planning for a long road trip on your bike.

7. Ensure healthy Drivetrain

A regular drivetrain check-up is important for taking care of bikes which is often overlooked during bike servicing. So, make sure that you check the drivetrain components to check if the drivechain belt has cracks, if the sprocket is working fine or the chain stretch is in proper condition.

8. Check the Bike Essentials

To ensure complete safety while riding your bike, always carry the bike essentials with you be it a long bike trip or a short ride. Helmet, rain coat, luggage facility and luggage cover and having a GPS installed are some such essential things to keep in mind for bike trips.

9. Documents most important

This is another most important tip to remember. Ensure you have all the papers required, such as bike RC, driving license, PUC and third-party insurance. All these documents are mandatory by Indian law and you must have them while you are on the road.

10. Renew insurance if policy is about to expire

In the excitement of your first bike trip, do not forget to check the expiry date of your bike insurance. If your insurance policy is about to expire, get it renewed before heading on the journey to be safe and worry-free. You can easily get the bike insurance renewal via online methods within minutes using your phone.

Conclusion

Before you head for a long bike road trip, it is very essential to get your bike checked thoroughly by an experienced mechanic. Also, it is better to keep a spare set of important tools so that you can tackle a break-down on the road, if required.  Further, the above mentioned bike maintenance tips will help you with taking care of your bike before setting off on your bike trip.  Even if your bike is brand new, you must ensure the new bike maintenance tips so that you don’t have to face any untoward situation while on the road.

Also Read: Tips To Keep in Mind While Relocating Your Bike | Tips to Keep in Mind in Case of a Two-wheeler Accident