Bob LaRosa

Motorcycle Tire Maintenance Tips

Bob LaRosa
Duration:   4  mins

Description

We have mentioned this many, many times. Your tires are one of the most important parts of your Harley-Davidson and one that gets overlooked the most. Bob takes a few minutes to review what to look for when reading a tire. If you are experiencing a wobble make sure to check out these top 6 procedures.

Watch all the procedures to correctly and cost-effectively maintain your Hog:

Maintenance – Videos

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4 Responses to “Motorcycle Tire Maintenance Tips”

  1. Marty Gottlob

    Want to see it.

  2. Neil

    The saddlebags on that classic look great. What do you use on them??

  3. Al Scott

    You mention pressure fluctuation with temperature - by the way, altitude is a factor too - but are you suggesting letting air out reduce tire pressure when it's hot? That sounds dangerous! You didn't say that but it is easily inferred from your comments. Thanks!

  4. Vernon Mathews

    Nice video with some great information to make riding safe.

When it comes to tires on your motorcycle, it's probably the most important component that you need to maintain regularly. You need to bear in mind as a rule of thumb, tires will change one pound of pressure per 10 degrees of Fahrenheit temperature change. Parts of North America, you'll see a 50 degree swing, which can leave your tires either five pounds above where they should be set or five pounds below. Cold obviously will condense the air, drop the tire pressure. Heat will expand the air in the tire, make the tire pressure rise. Air is a gas. It is affected adversely by temperature. On a standard tire from the factory, no matter who the manufacturer of the tire is, there is pertinent information right on the sidewall of every tire manufactured. Not only correct tire size, and again everybody would like a larger rear tire on their motorcycle. If you opt to attempt to put a larger size rear tire, make sure you have adequate clearance, not only with the swing arm, the brake brake caliber, but also up inside the fender. Make sure the tire has adequate room to travel the entire length of the suspension. Along with tire size, you're also going to find the manufacturer, or who it's manufactured for. A lot of tire companies like Dunlap or Michelin, will private label them for specific manufacturers. You'll also find a handful of DOT, Department of Transportation information. Probably the most important of that is the four digit code. You'll only find this four digit codes on tires made from the year 2000 and forward. The four digit code reads exactly as it's printed. 4510, means this tire was made the 45th week of the year 2010. I myself don't personally run tires, whether it's on an automobile, a dirt bike, street bike, any other type of vehicle that has a rubber compound tire, any more than five years. I find the UV from the sun, I find wear conditions, whether the bike is stored, or extensively used, has a wear factor on the tire. Typically five years, I like to replace them with new tires. Whether they're warn out or not. My best recommendation I can give you for replacing tires, do your research, look around, search the Internet, search forums of people that utilize typical machines as yours. If you drive a Road King, don't use a forum for Sportster riders to get the best info on what tire you may be happy with. Again, you have to bear in mind, each manufacturer makes different tread designs, and when I talk about tread designs, it's the same as the tread pattern. Some tires are made to run in wet or slippery conditions. Some tires with a softer or harder compound are better suited for different climates, different altitudes, different parts of the country, different parts of the world. So before you go and buy a tire that just looks good, do a little research. Find a tire. It may not be the most attractive. The tread pattern may not be the most exciting to look at when it's standing still, but you want that tread to work at it's optimum when you're riding.
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