Motorcycle Tires - Why Should You Care?

One of the most important parts of any vehicle is its tires. Not only are the tires subject to a large amount of wear and tear, but also their durability depends largely upon how you maintain them. But before we go into the details of motorcycle tires maintenance, let us first understand how you should determine which tires are best for you.

One of the most trusted sources to which you can speak about the kind of tires that would suit your needs the best should be the dealer from whom you purchased your bike or your bike repair mechanic. Since both these parties do not have any interest in giving you wrong information, they make a good starting point.

Besides your dealer and mechanic, you can also look up for information on motorcycle tires in: tire guides, magazine reviews, manufacturer official sites and a few serious forums on the Net. This will help you to re-affirm the information that you have gained from your bike dealer / mechanic.

One of the simplest ways of determining the correct brand for tire choice is to look at the tires which are being utilized by other motorcyclists in a competition. If any particular brand strikes you to be most commonly used, it might do you good to check out that particular brand first.

It's VERY IMPORTANT that you also check for what your user's manual recommend. You don't want to end up messing up with the performance of your motorcycle because you chose motorcycle tires that do not fit the requirements for your bike and kind of riding.

While choosing your motorcycle tires, you must categorize tires according to their performance level, their wet grip ability, durability and mileage, load carrying capacity etc.

Of course, price is a critical factor as well, but always make a considered choice while deciding upon your tires. Nowadays, there are several financing options available which you can lighten the burden on your shoulders.

Assuming that you have purchased your tires and are happy with them, let us now checkout some of the ways in which you can make your tires last longer.

Tires are constantly being subject to a lot of dust, scuffing, and abrasions, mud etc. Thus, it is crucial to keep them in optimal condition in order to get the most out of them. Here are some great motorcycle tire maintenance tips for you:

MOTORCYCLE TIRES MAINTENANCE TIPS

-> Use a mild detergent to clean your tires.

-> Rinse the tires properly and do not use harsh chemical washes onto them. This will lead to faster corrosion of the wheels.

-> It is also important that you wash and wax your wheels on a weekly basis. If you have a aluminum wheel, then use a corrosion protector as well in order to make it look nice and shiny all the time.

-> Please bear in mind to always check your tires every time that you get on it for air pressure.

-> Regularly check for any cracks, stuck debris or loose nuts and bolts.

Enjoy the ride!

The Motorcycle Helmet You Want May Not Be As Safe As You Think!

Choosing the right Motorcycle helmet can make a difference....

....literally between life and death. But how does an ordinary guy in the street make an informed decision about what kind of helmets give the best protection? There are so many makes, models and styles. Not to mention DOT approved, Snell approved, ECE approved! It is enough to make you go goggle eyed when confronted with so much information.

Tests have shown that it is perfectly possible to suffer a fatal injury falling off a stationary bike if you hit your unprotected head on the kerb, so clearly choosing the right helmet is important.

But which one?

Wouldn't it be easier if someone just said, "Look, when you are in a crash, you need to protect this part of you head, because this is the part that is most likely to get hurt"...

Well that's what I thought. But it wasn't that easy. The kind of information you need to make that kind of call requires someone, somewhere to look at a whole bunch of motorcycle crashes, look at the motorcycle helmet damage, assess where point of impact occurred and put the information into a form that allows ordinary motorcyclists (like you and me) to make a decision for themselves.

However, the good news is that if you look hard enough, the information is available. A study was carried out a few years ago by Deitmar Otte, at the Medizinsche Hochschule in Hannover, Germany on the damage incurred to helmets worn by motorcyclists involved in accidents. His analysis was extremely detailed; in fact it was far to detailed for me to go into here, but it was extremely important.

What I am going to do is tell you in a nutshell, what parts of your head are most likely to be hurt in a motorcycle accident, based on Herr Otte's findings. The rest is up to you...

Take a motorcycle helmet and look at it from the front. Now imagine it is divided into three sections; the top (the cranium area) the middle (the area most likely covered by the visor) and the bottom (on a full face helmet, this would be the chin guard area). If you were involved in a motorcycle accident, and you hit your head you would have a 35% chance of the impact occurring to your chin area, 10% to your visor area, and 22% chance of the impact occurring to your front cranium area.

Now turn the helmet around. Looking at it from the back, divide it in two down the middle. In an accident, if you hit you head, you have a 16% chance of impact occurring on the back of you head to the left side, and a 17% chance of impact occurring on the back right side.

Conclusion? Well, this is only my personal conclusion but I would say the following...

The safest helmets are full face helmets...

Second would be three quarter helmets with visors...

Third would be half helmets...

Last would be novelty helmets.

There are lots of reasons people wear helmets. However, if safety is you main consideration, then take a good look at the full face helmets on the market, take some time and find one which you can wear comfortably on every ride.