Back on the road: the 12-point check before your first ride of the season

The machine has spent the winter standing in a garage. Nobody touched it, nothing broke, and that is precisely the problem: what damages a stored vehicle isn't use, it's the standstill. The tyre deforms on its contact patch, brake fluid pulls moisture out of the surrounding air, the battery self-discharges by a few per cent a month, petrol loses its light fractions and leaves varnish in the jets, seals dry out. Nothing dramatic taken one at a time, but it all lands together.

The first ride out is the worst possible moment to discover it. The check below is deliberately ordered: the first points are done cold and stationary, the next ones with the engine or the assistance running, the last two on the move. The logic holds for a motorcycle, a bicycle, an e-bike, a two-wheel tractor or a chainsaw — only the figures change. Allow thirty to forty minutes for a bicycle, an hour and a half for a motorcycle that has slept for six months.

Points 1 to 3 — Tyres and wheels

Point 1: pressure, cold and before you move it. A motorcycle tyre loses roughly 0.1 to 0.2 bar a month, a bicycle tyre far faster. Ballpark figures: 2.0 to 2.9 bar for a road motorcycle depending on the fitment and the load, 5 to 7 bar on a narrow road tyre, 2 to 3.5 bar on gravel, 1.6 to 2.2 bar on a tubeless mountain bike. The exact value is on the swingarm label on a motorcycle, and depends on rider weight and tyre section on a bicycle — the bike tyre pressure table has the detail.

Point 2: the age and condition of the rubber. Look into the bottom of the grooves and along the sidewalls under raking light. Fine, evenly spaced cracks mean ageing, not wear: a tyre can still have plenty of tread and be due for replacement. A flat spot picked up over winter storage works itself out within a few kilometres; if it still vibrates once warm, look at balancing or a bearing.

Point 3: the wheels. Bicycle: squeeze the spokes in pairs — one that is noticeably softer than its neighbours means tension to bring back before the rim goes out of true. Spin the wheel past a pad or a caliper to judge the buckle. Motorcycle: lift the wheel and pull it sideways top and bottom — the slightest perceptible play sends you to the bearings.

Points 4 to 5 — Braking is judged standing still

Point 4: pads and discs. The minimum thickness of a motorcycle disc is stamped on the disc itself, in millimetres. On a bicycle it sits around 1.5 mm depending on the make, and it is measured with a vernier caliper. A motorcycle pad is replaced when the friction material drops towards a millimetre, a bicycle pad well before that, at around half a millimetre of usable material. The visual wear indicator does not replace the measurement.

Point 5: the control. Work the lever or the pedal a dozen times: it should firm up and stay at the same point in its travel. A spongy control means air, or a seal that is leaking. A caliper piston left motionless all winter can seize in its seal; after a few metres, carefully touch the disc — one side clearly hotter than the other means a piston that isn't retracting.

Points 6 to 7 — Fluids and hoses

Point 6: the brake fluid. This is the check most often skipped and the one that pays best. A DOT fluid is hygroscopic: it absorbs moisture from the air through the hoses and the reservoir, and its boiling point drops month after month, regardless of mileage. The widely accepted marker is a change every two years, including on a machine that sees little use. Dark amber fluid is overdue, but clear fluid is no guarantee: the date decides.

Point 7: oil, coolant, fork. Check the level, but above all the appearance: milky engine oil means condensation water, common on an engine started for a few minutes then shut down. If the oil change was already due, do it before you ride, not after. Squeeze the coolant hoses one by one; any that crackle or have gone soft need replacing. On a motorcycle, run a finger down the fork tubes looking for an oily film.

Points 8 to 9 — Energy

Point 8: the battery. Measure the resting voltage after at least two hours off charge: around 12.7 V for a full lead-acid battery, 12.4 V for half, below 12.0 V sulphation has set in and the capacity will not fully come back. Recharge slowly, at around a tenth of the capacity, so 0.8 A for an 8 Ah. The real test happens on cranking: the voltage must not collapse below ten volts or so. The special cases are covered in the guide to winter motorcycle battery care.

Point 9: the fuel. E10 petrol degrades within one to three months without a stabiliser. If it smells of varnish, drain it and refill with fresh before leaning on the starter. On a small two-stroke, a mix more than a month old goes in the waste can — and E5 'super' remains the safer choice for those engines. On a diesel, drain the water separator first: condensation collects there over winter.

Points 10 to 11 — Transmission and controls

Point 10: the transmission. Motorcycle chain: check the slack at its tightest point while turning the wheel — the manufacturer's figure is often between 25 and 40 mm but varies a great deal from model to model. Look for tight spots and stiff links. Bicycle chain: measure the wear with a gauge; you replace at around 0.5 % elongation on an 11 or 12-speed transmission, around 0.75 % on an 8 to 10-speed. Go past that threshold and the cassette goes with it.

Point 11: controls, cables, lighting. A throttle must snap shut on its own, with the bars on full lock both ways. A clutch or brake cable that has taken on damp goes stiff and snaps at the first hard pull. Test the kill switch, the sidestand switch, the brake light on each control separately, and the indicators: a poor earth often shows up after a damp winter. On a motorcycle these are exactly the items the annual MOT looks at — a bike is due for its first test once it turns three — so sort them now rather than at the testing station.

Point 12 — The fasteners that have moved

Torque back up what you have handled, plus what works loose in normal use. Ballpark figures on a bicycle: 5 to 6 Nm on a stem, 5 to 8 Nm on a seatpost clamp, 6 to 8 Nm on caliper bolts, 12 to 15 Nm on a thru-axle. On a motorcycle, a wheel spindle generally sits between 60 and 110 Nm depending on the machine, and there you need the manufacturer's exact figure, not an estimate. A torque wrench left wound up for six months gets recalibrated before you trust it.

The first five kilometres

The check doesn't stop in the garage. Within the first five hundred metres, make two progressive stops at low speed on each brake separately, to confirm the control bites and the machine doesn't pull to one side. At five kilometres, stop and carefully bring your hand near the hubs, discs and calipers: a clear temperature difference between left and right gives away a binding brake or a bearing running hot. Go round the fasteners again after twenty to thirty kilometres — that is when anything that was going to move has moved.

Note down whatever you couldn't verify for want of a figure: that is exactly what L'Atelier's technical assistant gives you from the make, model and year — wheel spindle torque, chain slack, recommended pressure solo or two-up, oil change intervals. For a motorcycle coming out of full winter storage, the detailed recommissioning procedure walks through every item in order.