Whether it is due to carelessness, lack of a proper regular maintenance schedule or lack of familiarity with the need to perform daily safety checks before riding, a lot of the bikes that we see come into us for cleaning and detailing have physical or mechanical problems that can have a direct impact on rider Safety. Even if the motorcycle has come in to the shop for Service prior-to then being fully Detailed, we have observed that many Safety problems may not even be detected by the Service Technician, especially Safety issues that are not even remotely related to elements that are the focus of the work-order for the Technician. This is not in any way an indictment of the Service folks - - especially in a very busy and hectic Service shop one would generally not expect that a motorcycle that was in for an oil-change and a new sissy-bar would also be checked for completely non-related items like tire-wear & pressure or pipe-clamps & mounts. The result is that the Detailing Specialist has, I would say, an obligation to think "Safety" as much as they think "Clean-&-Polished". Another way to look at it is to ask: "What good is it to ride on a super-clean motorcycle if by doing so you run unnecessary risk at having an accident?" Of the dozen or so bikes I have seen after an accident, I have never seen any motorcycle wreckage where my first thought was "Wow- - these pipes sure are shining and clean".

In this "Part 1" of our two-part-newsletter we will talk about only a few of the more-obvious items that can be checked while the motorcycle is in the process of being cleaned and polished. The following two-part article is for Detailers and non-Detailers alike.

Wheels and Tires: Generally, my first thought when it comes to wheels and tires is more along the lines of seeing if the wheels have any scratches or damage, finding out if they are chrome, polished aluminum or powder-coated, and checking to see if they have spokes (the most challenging type of wheel to clean and polish). In terms of thinking "Safety", while the topic of the operational condition of the wheels and tires might appear to be an "obvious no-brainer" item to many people, it is in our experience the most frequently neglected and poorly attended element, and is one that has the potential to have the greatest direct impact on the safety of the bike. Let's start with the wheels.

Be practical during your inspection of the wheels. Check to see if they have any deformity or extreme scars. Motorcycles that have made contact with large road objects or with curbs or path-guides may have heavy gashes in them. This should be a red-flag to you. It is possible that these extreme scrapes and scars may visually indicate a dangerously deformed wheel (one that is no longer "properly round and individually shaped"), even if your eye-sight cannot detect such deformation. Deep scrapes and scars may also indicate potential areas of a weak seal between the wheel and the tire. Even if a heavy scrape or gouge does not result in actual deformation of the wheel, it will often throw the wheel out-of-balance or alignment, or indicate damage to the wheel-hub. As a result, in most cases such extreme scars or scrapes will manifest their presence to the rider in a change in handling and smooth tire rotation. In the face of such extreme damage, a new wheel should probably be recommended to the owner.

Another less glaring yet simple practical element to look for was pointed out to me by a true old-school custom-Harley guy who is the Parts Manager for Low Country Customs. Dutt has taught me a lot about old-school bikes and new-age customs, as well as standard production bikes, and he came walking by a motorcycle I was Detailing one day and pointed out that there was an after-market item that had been added to the wheel that could potentially impact wear-and-safety over time. He reached down and to my complete surprise un-screwed one of the valve-stem caps. He pointed out to me that few people recognize that the really cool valve-stem covers that come in various interesting shapes (like skulls or dollar signs or some other metaphoric artistic piece) are often made of solid aluminum and may even have a chrome finish. That these could impact the wheel and, as a result, long-term wear and Safety was something I had never considered. Dutt even pointed-out that the bike I was cleaning had already begun to exhibit unusual and unnecessary tire-wear as a result of the valve-stem caps that it was sporting (a really hot-looking set of skulls with ruby-red eye sockets). He handed me the valve-stem cover he had removed and asked me if it was lighter or heavier than the counter-weights used to balance the wheel. It was heavier - - by a LOT. The next time you see one of these (on a bike or as part of a display of "bling-parts" for sale), pick it up and you will quickly realize that Dutt is right - - it weighs quite a bit - - much more than any single counter-weight that was or might-be used to balance the wheel. Remember - these are "after-market", added to the bike after it was built and had the original wheels perfectly balanced. Adding these can actually make the wheel just enough out of balance as to cause an unusual wobble and wear-pattern in the tire over time. Seems like a little thing, but this is actually a very real problem. I am certainly not saying that these items should be avoided - I personally really like skulls with ruby-red eye sockets (both of my current bikes are painted in a "skull theme" and both of my helmets and our logo have skulls). I am merely saying that if the bike you are Detailing has these items on the valve-stems, ask the owner (or the builder, if this is a custom-fabricated bike) if the wheel was balanced before or after the addition of the valve stem caps, and if the answer is "after", then recommend that they have the wheels re-balanced to account for this weight.
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