Motorcycle Maintenance 101: Tire Replacement
A commonly overlooked but crucial mechanical element for motorcycles is tire performance. A motorcycle's tires are its only point of contact with the road when you're riding. Tire tread, shape, age, and condition all have significant impacts on your ability to ride safely and effectively. Tires can blow out due to punctures, low pressure, or excessive wear and tear. A sudden tire blowout or a flat can cause the rider to lose control and crash, especially at high speeds. Inspect your tires for signs of wear, punctures, or damage, and maintain proper tire pressure according to the manufacturer's recommendations. But do you know what you're looking for when assessing your tires? Read on to find out.
Signs It's Time to Replace Your Motorcycle Tires
1. Worn Tires. Worn tires don't provide as much traction, can adversely affect stability and handling, and may be more easily damaged by potholes, foreign objects on the road, gravel, etc., leading to potential tire failure. When tread depth reaches 2/31 inch, it's time to consider installing new tires. When tread depth is 1/32 inch or less, your tires should be considered worn out and potentially unsafe. Past this point, there is no guarantee that your tires will keep you safe or deliver grip and performance, particularly on wet or sandy surfaces.
Most tires have wear bars molded into the grooves of the tire tread. There may be a small triangular indicator on the tire sidewall that points to the location of the wear bars. But remember, your tires should be replaced before the tread wears down to the level of the wear bars. The traction of off-road tires will diminish as the tread wears, and the rear tire usually wears out at twice the rate of the front.
Look for wear bars at base of the tread valleys.
If you're finding it challenging to see the wear bars, some tire pressure gauges feature a tool for measuring tire tread depth. Contact our parts department here at Barnes Harley-Davidson for more details!
2. Old Tires. Even if older tires appear to be in good shape, the rubber compound can begin to dry out over time, and the internal construction can deteriorate. You should regularly spend some time inspecting your tires to pick up on any external signs of aging or wear, such as deformations or cracks in the tread, on the shoulders, or on the sides.
The UV in the bright sun can prematurely age tires if the bike is usually parked outdoors. Inspect your tire's sidewalls for small cracks or discolouration that make the tire appear to be drying out.
If you buy your bike or tires used, you may be unsure of the age of the tires. The date-of-manufacture code on the sidewall of every motorcycle tire will tell you. The code is preceded by DOT (Department of Transportation), followed by a series of numbers. The last four digits are the date code - the first two numbers represent a week, and the second pair indicates a year. For example, a tire with a code of 3522 was manufactured in the 35th week of 2022.
Dunlop and Michelin recommend that after five years or more of use, tires should be examined every year by a professional mechanic, and replaced 10 years after the date of manufacture, even if they have not reached the legal wear out limit.
The last four digits reveal the week and year the tire was manufactured. For example, Code 1016 means the tire was manufactured in the 10th week of 2016.
3. Damaged Tires. Rough pavement, potholes, and impacting blunt objects can seriously damage tires. Any tear, cut, or deformation in a tire should be carefully examined by a professional mechanic. Consider the repair of a punctured tire with a plug, a temporary "get home" procedure. A repaired tire loses its speed rating and should be replaced. Harley-Davidson® recommends that when riding on a repaired tire, speed should not exceed 80 km/h (50 mph) for the first 24 hours after repair, and the repaired tire should never be used over 125 km/h (80mph).
4. Cupping or Uneven Tread Wear. Tread that is worn unevenly can affect handling and cause uncomfortable vibrations. It may also be an indication of another problem, such as an unbalanced wheel, a bent or mis-aligned axle, a damaged wheel rim, a bad wheel bearing, or riding with incorrect tire pressure. A professional technician can often diagnose other problems by looking at uneven tread wear, which is just another reason to have your tires inspected by a professional!
5. Wrong Tires. Motorcycle manufacturers carefully select tires for each model, and those tires are often integral to the performance of the motorcycle. It's imperative that you use tires in the original size, speed rating, load rating, and construction as the original equipment tires.
Are you ready to replace your tires? Contact our parts department or our service department to get started!