Most of us treat our bike’s tyres with disdain. But maintaining your bike’s tyres and the correct tyre pressure will go a long way in not only saving fuel and preventing excessive wear and tear, it will also improve your bike’s handling as tyre pressure will determine the size of your bike’s footprint. Here are some tips to maintain the correct tyre pressure:
Check the tread from time to time for depth. Replace the tyre whenever there is tread wear or a chunk of the tread has come off.
Braking and accelerations should be gradual.
Avoid amateurish antics like wheelspins, tyre burnouts and power slides.
Check tyre pressure twice a week. Further, get tyre pressure checked when the tyres are cold so select a pump that is near your house.
If you are the DIY types then buy a tyre pressure gauge and handy tyre pressure inflators. Most of the tyre filling stations at petrol pumps have faulty gauges.
Adhere to the tyre pressure stipulated in your bike’s owner’s manual by the manufacturer as they have quoted the optimal tyre pressure after days of testing.
A low tyre pressure will increase the size of your bike’s contact patch with the ground. This will make your bike sluggish and consume more fuel. Also, this will make the tyre more susceptible to punctures.
Higher than normal pressure will reduce the size of the patch making for a harder ride and instability during cornering.
Keep the valve nozzles capped by those small black plastic caps. No, they will not prevent air escaping but they prevent dust entering.
