Motorcycle Tire Inspection
It’s important to check up on your motorcycle tires regularly. Frequent inspections can show you a problem before it becomes dangerous on the road or requires an expensive fix. Below, we cover the key steps in inspecting motorcycle tires.
Look Them Over
Always do a visual inspection first. If you see any bumps, bubbles, or cracks in your motorcycle’s tires, they might be losing structural integrity. Make sure you take them in for maintenance before you spend too much time riding to avoid running into problems on the road.
Fill Them Up
Proper inflation is vital in order to optimize your tires for conditions on the open road. If your tires are flat or over-filled, everything from your fuel efficiency to the comfort of the ride can be impacted.
Check your owner’s manual to find the ideal pressure for your tires, then use a pressure gauge to check the psi. Measuring the psi in the morning when your tires are cold can help you get an accurate reading, which will help you make any adjustments necessary to match the pressure in the manual’s recommendations.
Tread Lightly
Your tires’ treads help your motorcycle grip the road, which is important for acceleration, deceleration, and turns. The tread will be worn down naturally over time, and will eventually become a safety issue.
Grab your owner’s manual again to tell you how to check your tread, and how low it can get before the tire needs replacing. If one tire is wearing down faster than the other, one may be inflated wrong, or you may need to realign your wheels. A service department can help you with either problem.
Once you take all of those steps, your tires should be in good shape for any ride, no matter how long. If you have other questions, though, don’t hesitate to contact the service department at Bartels' Harley-Davidson®. In case you’re looking to add to your collection, our dealership also carries a range of motorcycles for sale! We are based in Marina Del Rey, California, and also serve those in Malibu, Santa Monica, and Brentwood.