How to Check Motorcycle Tires

Video Transcript

"Right now we're going to talk about tire wear and tire pressure. It's very important to keep your tires at the proper pressure. A lot of people, depending on the riding you do, like to have it at different pressures. This bike has race tires on it, the customer rides it at the track a lot. It's a very sticky compound and, as you can see, the rubber right here, from turning, that it's a really soft and sticky compound so these tires get eaten up a lot faster, it's not recommended for street use. On a street tire, which you like to look for, is flattening out in the middle of the treads not being as deep as they should be, like on a new tire. One way to check that is with a tire depth gage. What you do is get the depth gage, put it into the tread, and then look at the depth and you can tell if the tire is still good or bad. If your tire is flattening down on the middle because you're doing a lot of highway riding, the best thing to do is replace it because it leads to instability while riding. You also need to check your tire pressure, which depends on how you ride like at a track or on the highway or whatever, the best way to keep your pressure in check is to check it every week or so because tires do let air out of them, from time to time. One of the main things to look at, on sport bikes or any motorcycle, to keep in mind, is your tire pressure because it can change drastically within a week or so. If you haven't ridden your bike in a month, then you definitely need to check your tire pressure before you ride. If you feel like your bike's heavy in the front or harder to steer, it's more likely because you have very low tire pressure, which leads to instability, unsafe riding, and, more likely, an accident because of the lack of control for your motorcycle."