A Post-Ride Check is NOT a Pre-Ride Check.

And I'll tell you why.

The weather has become nice enough that I can start commuting via XJ. Yesterday I went for my typical after-work ride in anticipation of commuting today. After the ride I did my usual post-ride inspection; fluid levels, air pressures, lights, signals, etc. and found all to be well.
This morning I skipped my usual pre-ride inspection and went to work without issue. Because of the amount of material I have to take home each evening I unfortunately have to wear a backpack while commuting (I really need to invest in a smaller drybag for the rear seat), and it tends to make slow-speed turn-ins a bit sudden (this comes into play soon). My route home is different than my route to work due to traffic conditions, and the trip home has more slow-speed turns on surface streets.

On the way home I twice noticed that slow-speed turn-ins resulted in a sudden increase in roll partway through the turn. I attributed that to the extra weight of the backpack making the vehicle more top heavy than usual (I was carrying more weight than usual in the bag). Upon arriving at home I dropped off my crap, changed clothes , and went for a short ride to relax. This is where things get interesting.

One of the loops that I take after work includes a roundabout. I love that because...well...you know. Anyway As I was midway through the turn I noticed that the bike tipped in suddenly. Keep in mind that I didn't have any cargo on me. I thought to myself, "WTF!?" and assumed that I had just made a minor error, or that there was something in the road that I hadn't seen (there had been an accident in that roundabout the day before, and there was still some visible debris on the verge).

I rode on to my halfway point and stopped to pick up a few things from the grocery. It was then that I noticed something odd about the front tire. I have been using those air-pressure gauge valve caps on most of my vehicles for decades. The set on the XJ makes it easy to check air pressure at every stop, but....o-rings do eventually start leaking. It's the o-ring that allows those valve caps to work. When they fail you get a slow air leak. I was suddenly aware that I had a slow air leak, ZERO psi in the front tire, and had thankfully cheated death.

A post-ride check IS NOT the same as a pre-ride check.
Had I practiced what I was taught in flight ground school, or had I not changed my usual habits, I would have not come so close to having a very bad and very expensive afternoon.

 

Good to hear you're all right. Never stop learning.

 

I tell my kids all the time, we learn better through pain.
One of them said once, "I learn more when you tell me your mistakes". He is the wise one of the 4.

 

The day that I stop learning is the day that I will have to give up my profession.

 

The back end of my GL1500 was acting funny/squirrelly one morning, turned out it had 0 psi. That was an eye opener!