How to Get Your Motorcycle Ready For the Riding Season?

Who doesn’t love the thrill and adrenaline rush that comes with riding a motorcycle on the wide roads of North Carolina?

When the riding season comes near, the excitement indeed goes to a whole other level. But wait! Before you get on the road, we advise you to invest some time and money to ensure that your motorcycle is ready for the riding season. This is because your safety comes first. The last thing you want is to be in an accident because of low motorcycle maintenance and not fully compensated.

Based on our experience handling cases related to low motorcycle maintenance, here are some tips from our seasoned personal injury attorney to help you get ready and reduce the risk this riding season.

Check Tires

The tires of your motorcycle should always be in good condition. However, when seasons change, you need to take extra care because the bike’s tires may lose pressure as the temperature drops, so you must add more air if needed. Remember that low tire pressure makes motorcycles challenging to handle, which can increase the risk of collision.

While checking for air pressure in your tires, don’t forget to check for dry rot, cracks, flat spots, and other damages. It’s essential to check for these issues and fix them as they can cause a tire blowout, causing handling problems.

Test Brakes

When checking the tires, make sure to take the time to inspect the brake pads and lines. If you didn’t replace brake pads earlier and used them through the end of last season, now is the best time to replace them. This is because frequent use can damage and wear them off.

Moreover, brakes in the front and rear should be tested separately to see if they work perfectly. One of the best ways to check their performance is to listen for squealing and scraping noise. Such noises indicate that brakes are troublesome and must be fixed.

Fill Up on Fresh Oil and Fluids

To ensure your motorcycle’s top-notch performance on the road is to fill up on fresh oil and fluids. So, get started by changing the oil first. This will ensure that your motorcycle engine doesn’t get old oil, which degrades over time, thus lowering your bike’s performance.

To check if the bike’s oil and fluids have degraded, look for changes in the color and its consistency. If the fluid seems different and dirty, then change it right away. Ideally, it would help to change all oil and fluids to ensure a smooth and safe ride.

Try out Controls

You can’t overlook this aspect at any cost because poor controls mean trouble. Therefore, get your motorcycle ready by trying out your clutch, throttle, and steering. Make sure that all your controls work. Check the cables for fraying and hoses and lines for cuts, cracks, or leaks. You should also test the steering to see if it moves freely and without snagging any other thing on your bike.

Other controls that you must check are:

  • Belts and chain—check for cracks and tears on the drive belt and drive chain for damaged teeth
  • Control hoses—check control hoses and make sure that they are folded and kinked.

Examine Battery, Electrics, and Wires

A dead battery equates to a lifeless motorcycle. However, many motorcyclists still forget about charging it before that first ride, thus exposing them to accidents and injuries. To avoid this, don’t forget to charge your battery if it has gone flat.

While you are at it, we’d say do a speedy electrics check too. By this, we mean examine fuses and replace them if they are blown, try the lights, turn signals, flashers, and brake lights to see if all are connected securely and working as needed.

Ensuring that your lights are working correctly can play a crucial role in your road safety. This is because a motorcycle rider’s safety largely depends on their ability to get other drivers’ attention before the damage is done. Did you know that many car drivers swear that they never saw a bike coming in their way after a car and motorcycle accident? This is most often because motorcyclists fail to ensure that their lights are functioning. Motorcycle lights can make a huge difference, so it is always a brilliant idea to benefit from the auxiliary light kit and install it on your bike.

Check Your Safety Equipment

As you’re preparing your motorcycle ready, simultaneously check your safety gear and make replacements as needed. Start by checking your helmet for dents and cracks. Also, ensure that the inner lining of the helmet is clean. Apart from that, take out your emergency kit and verify that nothing is expired, broken, or missing.

Test Ride

Once you mark all these safety checks, your motorcycle is ready to go. But there is one thing that you should do before you take in on a busy road, which is to test ride in around the block! Take it for a short spin in the neighborhood to get rid of the greasy feeling. Take a few u-turns to check the controls and hit the brakes hard. This ensures that the fluid is not clogged up and the brake pads work seamlessly.

What to Do in Case of an Accident?

It’s essential to understand that sometimes even when you take all the safety measures, accidents occur. So, if you’re in an accident due to someone else’s negligence or carelessness, then seek immediate help from our experienced personal injury lawyer.

Our personal injury lawyer can evaluate your case and provide you with quality representation, assisting you at every step of the legal process. We strive our best to get clients the compensation that they deserve. Contact us today.

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Notice of Data Security Event
Updated March 28, 2025

The Law Offices of Jason E. Taylor is providing notice of an event that may affect certain individuals’ information. Although we have no indication of identity theft or fraud in relation to this event, we are providing information about the event, our response, and additional measures individuals can take to help protect their information, should they feel it appropriate to do so.

What Happened? On October 28, 2024, The Law Offices of Jason E. Taylor identified suspicious activity related to our email system. We quickly took steps to investigate and determined that an unknown actor may have accessed certain emails within our email system between August 7 and November 7, 2024. We then conducted a comprehensive review of the potentially affected emails and attachments to determine what information was contained therein and to whom the information related, which was completed on February 25, 2025. Unfortunately, we were unable to verify the addresses of certain affected individuals, so we are providing this notice to ensure potentially affected individuals receive information about the event.

What Information Was Involved? The information affected may include individuals’ Social Security number, driver’s license and state ID information, financial account number, and health information.

What We Are Doing. We are notifying individuals about this matter and providing guidance about free resources that are available to assist with monitoring relevant accounts, credit reports, and how to place a fraud alert or security freeze on one’s credit file. Further, as with our typical security practices, we will continue to evaluate our policies, procedures, staff training, and technical security measures to reduce the likelihood of an event like this reoccurring.

What Individuals Can Do. We encourage you to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud by reviewing your account statements and monitoring your free credit reports for suspicious activity and to detect errors. We also recommend you review the below “Steps Individuals Can Take To Help Protect Personal Information”.

For More Information. If individuals have questions about this matter, we have a dedicated assistance line with agents ready to answer their questions. Please contact our toll-free dedicated assistance line at 1-800-939-4170, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. through 9 p.m., excluding holidays. You may also write to us at The Law Offices of Jason E. Taylor, Attn: Compliance, P.O. Box 2688, Hickory, NC 28603.

Sincerely,

The Law Offices of Jason E. Taylor

STEPS INDIVIDUALS CAN TAKE TO HELP PROTECT PERSONAL INFORMATION

Monitor Your Accounts

Under U.S. law, a consumer is entitled to one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. To order a free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call, toll-free, 1-877-322-8228. Consumers may also directly contact the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below to request a free copy of their credit report.

Consumers have the right to place an initial or extended “fraud alert” on a credit file at no cost. An initial fraud alert is a 1-year alert that is placed on a consumer’s credit file. Upon seeing a fraud alert display on a consumer’s credit file, a business is required to take steps to verify the consumer’s identity before extending new credit. If consumers are the victim of identity theft, they are entitled to an extended fraud alert, which is a fraud alert lasting seven years. Should consumers wish to place a fraud alert, please contact any of the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below.

As an alternative to a fraud alert, consumers have the right to place a “credit freeze” on a credit report, which will prohibit a credit bureau from releasing information in the credit report without the consumer’s express authorization. The credit freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in a consumer’s name without consent. However, consumers should be aware that using a credit freeze to take control over who gets access to the personal and financial information in their credit report may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application they make regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, or any other account involving the extension of credit. Pursuant to federal law, consumers cannot be charged to place or lift a credit freeze on their credit report. To request a credit freeze, individuals may need to provide some or all of the following information:

1. Full name (including middle initial as well as Jr., Sr., II, III, etc.);
2. Social Security number;
3. Date of birth;
4. Addresses for the prior two to five years;
5. Proof of current address, such as a current utility bill or telephone bill;
6. A legible photocopy of a government-issued identification card (state driver’s license or ID card, etc.); and
7. A copy of either the police report, investigative report, or complaint to a law enforcement agency concerning identity theft if they are a victim of identity theft.

Should consumers wish to place a credit freeze or fraud alert, please contact the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below:

Equifax Experian TransUnion
https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/ https://www.experian.com/help/

https://www.transunion.com/credit-help
1-888-298-0045 1-888-397-3742 1-800-916-8800
Equifax Fraud Alert, P.O. Box 105069 Atlanta, GA 30348-5069 Experian Fraud Alert, P.O. Box 9554, Allen, TX 75013 TransUnion Fraud Alert, P.O. Box 2000, Chester, PA 19016
Equifax Credit Freeze, P.O. Box 105788 Atlanta, GA 30348-5788 Experian Credit Freeze, P.O. Box 9554, Allen, TX 75013 TransUnion Credit Freeze, P.O. Box 160, Woodlyn, PA 19094

Additional Information

Consumers may further educate themselves regarding identity theft, fraud alerts, credit freezes, and the steps they can take to protect their personal information by contacting the consumer reporting bureaus, the Federal Trade Commission, or their state attorney general. The Federal Trade Commission may be reached at: 600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20580; www.identitytheft.gov; 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338); and TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The Federal Trade Commission also encourages those who discover that their information has been misused to file a complaint with them. Consumers can obtain further information on how to file such a complaint by way of the contact information listed above. Consumers have the right to file a police report if they ever experience identity theft or fraud. Please note that in order to file a report with law enforcement for identity theft, consumers will likely need to provide some proof that they have been a victim. Instances of known or suspected identity theft should also be reported to law enforcement and the relevant state attorney general. This notice has not been delayed by law enforcement.

For District of Columbia residents, the District of Columbia Attorney General may be contacted at: 400 6th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001; 1-202-442-9828; and oag.dc.gov.

For Maryland residents, the Maryland Attorney General may be contacted at: 200 St. Paul Place, 16th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202; 1-410-576-6300 or 1-888-743-0023; and https://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/.

For New Mexico residents, consumers have rights pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, such as the right to be told if information in their credit file has been used against them, the right to know what is in their credit file, the right to ask for their credit score, and the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information. Further, pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the consumer reporting bureaus must correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information; consumer reporting agencies may not report outdated negative information; access to consumers’ files is limited; consumers must give consent for credit reports to be provided to employers; consumers may limit “prescreened” offers of credit and insurance based on information in their credit report; and consumers may seek damages from violators. Consumers may have additional rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act not summarized here. Identity theft victims and active-duty military personnel have specific additional rights pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act. We encourage consumers to review their rights pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act by visiting www.consumerfinance.gov/f/201504_cfpb_summary_your-rights-under-fcra.pdf, or by writing Consumer Response Center, Room 130-A, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20580.

For New York residents, the New York Attorney General may be contacted at: Office of the Attorney General, The Capitol, Albany, NY 12224-0341; 1-800-771-7755; or https://ag.ny.gov.

For North Carolina residents, the North Carolina Attorney General may be contacted at: 9001 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-9001; 1-877-566-7226 or 1-919-716-6000; and www.ncdoj.gov.

For Rhode Island residents, the Rhode Island Attorney General may be reached at: 150 South Main Street, Providence, RI 02903; 1-401-274-4400; and www.riag.ri.gov. Under Rhode Island law, individuals have the right to obtain any police report filed in regard to this event.
STEPS INDIVIDUALS CAN TAKE TO HELP PROTECT A MINOR DEPENDENT’S PERSONAL INFORMATION

Typically, credit reporting agencies do not have a credit report in a minor’s name. To find out if a minor has a credit report or to request a manual search for a minor’s Social Security number each credit bureau has its own process. To learn more about these processes or request these services, consumers may contact the credit bureaus by phone, writing, or online:
Equifax Experian TransUnion
https://www.equifax.com/personal/help/article-list/-/h/a/request-child-credit-report/
https://www.experian.com/help/minor-request.html
https://www.transunion.com/fraud-victim-resources/child-identity-theft

1-800-685-1111 1-888-397-3742 1-800-916-8800
P.O. Box 105788
Atlanta, GA 30348-5788 P.O. Box 9554
Allen, TX 75013 P.O. Box 2000
Chester, PA 19016

To request information about the existence of a credit file in a minor’s name, search for a minor’s Social Security number, place a security freeze or fraud alert on a minor’s credit report (if one exists), or request a copy of a minor’s credit report consumers may be required to provide the following information:
● A copy of their driver’s license or another government issued identification card, such as a state identification card, etc.;
● Proof of address, such as a copy of a bank statement, utility bill, insurance statement, etc.;
● A copy of the minor’s birth certificate;
● A copy of the minor’s Social Security card;
● The minor’s full name, including middle initial and generation, such as JR, SR, II, III, etc.;
● The minor’s date of birth; and
● The minor’s previous addresses for the past two years.

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