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Telling you that tire pressure is vital is entirely redundant – so I won’t.
But even so, there are still a few common questions about tire pressure, such as:
- What is tire pressure measured in?
- How often should I check my tire pressure
- Why do my tires lose pressure in the first place?
Tune in to discover:
- 6 common questions about tire pressure
Transcript
Hello, and welcome to another episode of 30-minute motorcycling – a podcast for those riders who are at the beginning of their own Dual Wheel Journey, where you’ll discover something new about how your motorcycle, moped, or scooter works – in less than 30 minutes.
And welcome to the tire pressure episode! Are you excited? Probably not – after all, tire pressure isn’t the most exciting topic in the world.
Now, I won’t talk about why tire pressure is important because that’s a topic that has been done to death.
But even so, there are a few frequently asked questions related to the topic of tire pressure that I thought I’d explain.
So let’s start with the biggest one – why does your tires pressure drop?
Because even if it’s not caused by a leak, your tire pressure still drops over time. But why does this happen? Where does the air go?
It’s all through a process called “osmosis.” Translated into plain English, it means that air will pass through the rubber parts of the tire.
It’s not going to happen overnight, but compare your tire pressure one month from now, and you’ll see what I mean.
Anyway, it’s because of this that you should check your tire pressure regularly – which brings us to the second question – how often should you check this?
Ideally, you should check this as often as possible. Once every hour might be too much, but at the bare minimum, make sure you check your tire pressure at least once a week.
So what can you use to check your tire pressure? A tire pressure gauge, of course.
There cost between $10-$60 US dollars and are one of the most essential tools you should have in your toolbox.
Whether you should buy one with a digital display or a good old-fashioned analogue one with a gauge is up to you – but if you are going to buy a digital tire pressure gauge, keep in mind that they usually require extra batteries.
Moving on to the next question – what is tire pressure measured in?
It depends on whether you use the metric or the Imperial measuring system. If you use the Imperial system, tire pressure is measured in PSI (or “Pounds Per Square Inch”). If you use the metric system, like I do, tire pressure is measured in BAR.
And before you ask, I’m not sure if “BAR” stands for anything, but we’ll leave it there.
Regardless of the system you use,, how can you tell how much pressure your tires need?
There’s no clearcut answer to this, since every motorcycle and scooter requires different pressure rating. The best advice I could give you is to check your owner’s manual.
As a general rule, the rear tire needs a higher amount of pressure than the front one.
And for the final question – what happens if your tires are under or overinflated?
If your tires are underinflated, it causes a number of problems – mainly increased tire wear, but also:
- Poor fuel economy
- Loss of traction and even
- Poor handling
On the flip side, if your tires are overinflated, it’s not as much of a problem – in fact, if you ride with a passenger (also known as “riding two-up”), you want to overinflate your tires a little to compensate for the extra weight.
The worst thing that can happen if your tires are overinflated is that the ride might feel a bit stiff and rough than it should be.
And that’s it – those are the 6 tire pressure FAQS answered.
Come to think of it, I wonder how many times I said “tire pressure” in this episode?
Nevermind, I hope you enjoyed listening and above all, that you learned something new.
Until next time, keep your helmet on and your eyes on the road. Bye!
