New York Chapter "W"

Gold Wing Road Riders Association

Rochester, NY

NY-W Rider Educator’s Corner

Off Season Motorcycle Maintaince

by Gregg Miller

Happy New Year to all!

I hope that everyone has had a very happy and safe holiday season. As we look forward to the next few months, many of us hope that the 2010 riding season will be better than 2009.

One thing that we need to be aware of as personal ride season planning takes place, is how to keep ourselves safer when we are NOT riding. By this I mean, how we can remain safe when we prepare our rides before the season starts. It’s never too early to think about pulling the covers off the bikes, and how we’ll do the maintenance safety checks before the annual inspection.

Mechanical and chemical maintenance are on our checklists, and this month’s corner deals with poison control. Poison control is critical for those of us who personally handle chemicals like motor oil, brake fluid, potential exposure to battery acid and fumes, cleaners, waxes, etc. There are several ways that we can be poisoned – through inhalation, ingestion, and absorption.

Inhalation speaks for itself. Through regular breathing, we can inhale fumes given off by chemicals. When topping of batteries for the bikes, there is always a chance of vapor from battery acid. Likewise, fumes from gasoline, or even something as simple as an oil change can have an adverse effect on our physical well being.

Ingestion suggests that we are poisoned through whatever may enter the body through the mouth. The range here can be as simple as an allergic reaction to certain foods, or as serious as poisoning by harsh chemicals. Be aware of what chemical residue could enter your mouth while performing maintenance on the bike. Wiping your mouth with a shirt sleeve that is soiled with grease, oil, cleaning solutions, etc. can lead to a poisoning situation.

Absorption is probably the most overlooked. This form of poisoning happens when chemicals are absorbed through the skin. However, the skin isn’t the only organ that chemicals can enter through. The nose, eyes, and ears are also potential entry points for chemical absorption. How many times have we itched our noses or wiped our eyes with our hands when they are dirty from other maintenance activities.

This all leads up to simple and inexpensive poison control prevention. Personal protective equipment (PPE) isn’t just for medical or other emergency personnel. Disposable gloves, safety goggles, and ear plugs, are all components of PPE for us as well.

There are a couple of types of gloves – latex and nitrile. Both are powdered inside for an easier fitting. However, the nitrile glove is better for protection from chemicals. They hold up better, and are the alternative for someone with an allergic reaction to latex. It may feel awkward at first, but wearing nitrile gloves for an oil change is a good idea. Gloves come in boxes of 50 pair and varied sizes, so keep some on the bike as well.

Protective eyewear in this situation doesn’t mean safety glasses, but full goggles. Glasses don’t close off the area around the eyes as well as goggles, and don’t protect from chemical splashes due to the open areas on the face. It’s very easy to get a splash when changing oil, topping off the battery, adding antifreeze to the cooling system, or even fluid reservoirs that contain corrosive brake fluids.

Many of us have gone to rock concerts where the decibel level is literally out the roof. Ear protection in high noise level environments makes sense, because our hearing is slowly damaged over time. But in certain situations it can also be beneficial where our ears can come in close proximity to chemical exposure, such as during an oil change where we lay on our backs to reach the filter or oil pan plug.

The more we can proactively be aware of our maintenance environments, and use PPE during these exercises, the safer we’ll be and minimize our potential risks to poisoning.

Gregg