Motorcycle Tire Pressure and Why It’s Important! | MC GARAGE

Back to basics! Checking tire pressures is the most fundamental of maintenance items, yet most riders fail to do it as often as they should. (Hint: You should be doing it at least every other week!) In this video from the MC Garage, Senior Road Test Editor Ari Henning explains the importance of properly inflated tires as well as where to look to find the recommended pressures for your bike.

--

We know, tire pressure is hardly an exciting subject, but it is really important. After all, your tires are the only thing connecting your motorcycle to the road, and tire pressure affects a lot of stuff like traction, handling, stability, ride comfort, and tread wear.

Checking tire pressures is the most fundamental of maintenance items, yet most riders fail to do it as often as they should. As a rule you want to check your tires at least every other week. Make sure you're using a decent tire gauge (see Tools 101: Tire Gauges), and check the tires when they're cold. That doesn't mean waiting until winter, it just means doing it before you ride since the tire will heat up as it rolls down the road.

Left alone, your tires are going to deflate. Tubeless tires bleed down more slowly than tube-type tires, but in any case the fact that air molecules find their way out of tires all on their own means that under-inflated tires are pretty common.

If your tire pressures are too low, then you end up with a soft tire and a big old contact patch. That leads to sloppy, heavy handling, premature wear, excess friction and tire temperature, and poor fuel economy.

On the other hand if your tire pressures are too high, you’ll have a really small contact patch and a very hard tire. That means less traction and a rough ride.

So how do you know what the correct pressure is? Some people go by the pressure listed on the sidewall of the tire. That’s the wrong place to look. That figure is the maximum allowable pressure for the tire, and the recommended pressure is sure to be well below that.

The right place to look is in your owner’s manual, or right on your motorcycle. There’s likely a sticker on you bike’s swingarm or on the frame that lists the pressure for your particular bike.

And since tire pressure is so critical, you’ll want to use a quality tool to check it. Those cheap pencil gauges are convenient but they’re notoriously inaccurate and are good for a ballpark reading at best, so you should invest in a decent gauge.

So in review: Check your tire pressures at least every other week; use a quality tire gauge; and take the measurement when the tires are cold.

[Bob-tstu]

sensible stuff. i didn't bother checking mine for a month or so, but when i did and inflated properly, the difference in feel & handling really surprised me, so lesson learned !!

[AlexanderTheGrateful]

Oh man I miss this guy, Hope he is doing well..

[gdiesel]

Oddly enough checked the pressure on my Daytona 675R today, holy shit....21 psi front 29 rear, manual calls for 34 front 36 rear. That seems dangerously low, I'm disappointed in myself for not checking sooner! Good video!

[ltcjohnson]

Excellent reminder, Ari. Thanks. From Murphy's Laws of War: The important things are always simple; the simple things are always hard; the easy way is always mined.

[wroclaw]

I was finally found unswer..your so smart and intelligent. I will recommend you to all my American & Polish friends..thanks. Peter

[Jarv]

It also matters how hard you ride, I started riding with tyres around 38psi but now I ride around 28-30 psi because the harder you ride the warmer the tyres get and of course the more they expand. If you commute and don't ride hard go by the label, but if you ride harder reduce tyre gradually and keep an eye on your tyre ware

[Turbomag]

I support the comments in this video, I had too much pressure in my back tire when it was balanced, and it diminished traction, increasing stopping distance.

[kornboy]

Be careful when you go to the track. I crashed the first time I went. The rear tire went up 6 PSI just from the heat generated and the the day heating up. You can either check the pressures through out the day or set and forget. I normally just set and forget now.
26 front/24 rear

[EreksonJ]

i am alwayse surprised at how many people think the recommended tire pressure is on the tire itself.

[hainhatphung]

Best call is this: git your Toyota and car tire pump on, then check for pressure with it and inflate your bike's tires accordingly.

A pretty decent pump will list both Psi and Kg on the gauge, easy to monitor during the process. I made a schedule to check both the bike and car's tires at the end of every month just to use that convenient tire pump.

And yes, ditch the dumb gauge!

[wsbygt]

Tires are one the top3 most interesting topics regarding motorcycles. A SportTires group review video would be an amazing adition from you guys! Thank You.

[MultiPleaser]

I get better traction on sunny, 80 or 90 degree days with 40 psi than I do on overcast, 28 degree days with 28 psi, and I'm talking about a swift street pace (45 degree lean angle, no hanging off, no dragging knee). I may eventually try 20 or 25 psi in Winter. (We used to race at 30 psi in Summer.) And don't dare do a swift pace on a 50 degree day with 40 psi, that's crash material (video on the way). I'm slipping a little bit as low as 32 psi that day. The sun and wind make a huge difference on pavement temps, such as a little slide vs an actual crash. Be mindful of air temp, wind and sun. (I've never ridden on valcanically heated roads, so feel free to chime in if you have.)

[comeonhay]

I think you should explain "sloppy Handling" when many people states that (low pressure = more traction).

[elizabethwonders]

Thanks for the clarification! Happy Holidays! ❤🎉😊

[ravenshield]

I hadn’t checked my pressure since I got new tires (about 3 months) I was at 26psi front and 35 rear - I felt unconfident in my stability in corners, always felt like it was going to kick out, and handled weirdly...

Just inflated and damn it feels completely different, a lot more planted, confident and handling is amazing

[shawnk]

In places like Georgia where our seasons changes rapidly but don't always stick 80 on day, 50 the next, 80 the day after that, I check my pressure more often because the temperature loves to mess with it. (On my mountain bike and my cage, unfortunately don't have a motorcycle yet)

[tallcip]

no joke, I just finished looking up my bikes tire pressure recommendations online right before pulling up my YouTube feed and seeing this video posted today. Is the universe trying to tell me something?

[roycegee]

Thanks for the info man. I knew 42 psi on the tire was not correct.. didn't know the info was on the frame.

[byahenihashtag]

wow thanks for this.... I always rely on vulcanizing shop without measuring my tires.

[Rghfish]

I check my tire pressure before every ride. Probably overkill, but it gives me peace of mind, and I'd rather be in the habit than to be reminded by a sloppy handling bike while out on a ride.