Tire Care

Tire Pressure

It probably can't be said often enough: check your tire pressure regularly! Ideally, check it every day before you ride. Under-inflated tires can cause loss of traction, lower gas mileage, premature or uneven wear, and increased risk of blowout. Overinflated tires can increase your risk of a blowout. Consult your Owner's Manual for the front and rear tires on your motorcycle. In fact, your Owner's Manual is the first place you should look for all important information about your tires.

Wear/Tread Depth

Because maintaining traction is so much more crucial on a motorcycle than a car, motorcycle tires are made of softer compounds than car tires. This helps them grip the road better, but it also makes them wear out faster. So it's especially important to check the tread depth regularly. If you want to really do it right, you should inspect your tires (for tread depth, pressure, damage and uneven wear) as part of your daily pre-ride inspection.

As part of every check-in by your Service Advisor, we will check and annotate your tread depth on your tires when you come in for any service at Thunderbird Harley-Davidson/Buell.

TIP:Visual Inspecton of brake pads can be made without removing the caliper by viewing each caliper with a flashlight. Check your owner's manual for acceptable minimum brake pad thickness. (note: always replace brake pads in pairs.)

A Word About Tubes

Most motorcycle tires these days are of the tubeless variety, but laced wheels (those with spokes) require tires with tubes-and a bit of special attention. The tubes are necessary with laced wheels because the spokes, which run through the rim, create an opportunity for air to escape. The tube keeps the air inside the tire, where it belongs. Tube tires and laced wheels are best dealt with by your Harley-Davidson dealer; balancing and spoke tensioning should be left to the professionals. And when you have a tire replaced, make sure they replace the tubes and rim band (the rubber band-like strip that circles the wheel between the tube and rim), as well. The tube and band both degrade with age, so it's a relatively inexpensive safeguard to change them both along with the tire.

Check your headlight(s), directional signals, tail light and brake light every time you ride. Not only do they help you see where you're going, but they are your best way of being seen by others. If a light is out, it is often easy to change it yourself. Consult your owner's manual and/or service manual for correct type, and removal and replacement procedure. If replacing a headlight, consult your owner's manual for proper headlight alignment.

TIP: If your turn signal indicator light is on but not flashing, check the bulbs. It may simply be a burned out bulb in one signal that is causing the other signal (and the indicator light) not to flash.

Next you'll want to check the controls to be sure they operate properly. Inspect the front and rear brakes, throttle, clutch and shifter. Squeeze the cltuch to feel if it is operating smoothly. Squeeze the front brake-it should feel firm and keep the motorcycle from rolling forward when pushed. Check the rear brake in the same way. Replace broken, worn or frayed cables at once.

Start by checking your fuel supply. Check the engine-oil level according to the instructions in your owner's manual. Harley-Davidson motorcycles are designed to make oil changes easy. If you do it yourself, don't slack off on the maintenance schedule. Make sure the old oil is properly disposed of; it should be sealed in an approved container and taken to a legitimate oil disposal facility.

If you have an older model, consult your owner's manual for the proper battery maintneance procedure. For those who can't ride as often as they'd like, install a battery charger with a convenient disconnect. If you travel often, for instance, the charger will help you avoid a dead-battery homecoming.

Check for any fuel, oil or hydraulic fluid leaks. Give the cases and lines a once-over to make sure there are no leaks.