Walker Sky Ranch
05-13-2008, 10:50 PM
Hello All
DNF'in a race or getting stranded on the trail due to equipment failure sucks and getting hurt is even worse. Before I ride, I view my bike as if it was an airplane, "I want it to get me from point A to point B without dropping out of the sky" so I check my bike like a pilot would do his pre-flight check on his plane, instead of checking wings and rudders I check all the critical nuts/bolts to make sure they are sufficiently tight.
This can be time consuming, so to shorten the time necessary greatly, after you have properly torqued a nut/bolt, break out your Sharpie permanent marker and mark the nut/bolt in line with a reference mark on the surface being tightened into. Then the next time you ride, unless the mark on the nut/bolt and the surface being tightened into is not lined up, the nut/bolt is still torqued properly.
I mark the following nuts/bolts
-Handlebar Clamp/riser ect
- Brake rotors
- Rear Sprocket
- Shift Lever
- upper and lower triple clamps
- front axle and pinch bolts
- rear axle and adjuster nuts
The Sharpie pen reference marks wont wash off with water, but are easily removed with carb or brake cleaner/solvents
DNF'in a race or getting stranded on the trail due to equipment failure sucks and getting hurt is even worse. Before I ride, I view my bike as if it was an airplane, "I want it to get me from point A to point B without dropping out of the sky" so I check my bike like a pilot would do his pre-flight check on his plane, instead of checking wings and rudders I check all the critical nuts/bolts to make sure they are sufficiently tight.
This can be time consuming, so to shorten the time necessary greatly, after you have properly torqued a nut/bolt, break out your Sharpie permanent marker and mark the nut/bolt in line with a reference mark on the surface being tightened into. Then the next time you ride, unless the mark on the nut/bolt and the surface being tightened into is not lined up, the nut/bolt is still torqued properly.
I mark the following nuts/bolts
-Handlebar Clamp/riser ect
- Brake rotors
- Rear Sprocket
- Shift Lever
- upper and lower triple clamps
- front axle and pinch bolts
- rear axle and adjuster nuts
The Sharpie pen reference marks wont wash off with water, but are easily removed with carb or brake cleaner/solvents