Dont worry Kilgore I put air in the tires, Ive got a leak somewhere because I was a little low again down to like 28psi in two or three weeks

 

Just wanted to say.

I read over this thread a couple of nights ago and went to check my tyres. I usually do it once every 2 weeks but after what I found I now do it every 2-3 days.

I had parked the bike in the drive and while walking towards it I noticed something shiney in the rubber. I tried to pick it out with my finger but it was stuck in there tight. It didnt look like a screw so I thought Id just keep picking at it. After about a minute I realised I was going to need pliers.

I got a set, came back out and got a good hold of the metal. I almost felt sick in the stomach as I pulled. I was praying the tyre didnt burst. Thankfully it didnt!

What I had on the end of the pliers was a 6mm long ( shaped peice of shrapnel. Looked like a sheared bearing housing or something along those lines.

Check those tyres!

 

my tire psi is like 20 psi lower than it should be. but I never had a problem with handling and the tire is stiff as hell. should I still pump it up? but I swear the tires are rock hard

 

put the correct psi in our tires. no doubt. When I'm riding I check mine about once a week.

 

I can tell if my tyres are down by as little as 2-3 PSI. When you ride every day you get pretty well tuned to how the bike feels.
I have a little digital pressure gauge which gets used once a week as a regular check and then as a final check when I put air in.
If you're going to a gas station to pump up you can't rely on the accuracy of their pump gauges so it's a very good (and cheap) investment to have your own to ensure consistency.
Good post Kuro! We can never be reminded too often about the most basic maintenance that has a direct bearing on safety issues.

 

If it's -20 PSI and rock hard you prolly need a new tire

 

I am really sticky about maint on my bikes. So I check my pressure regularly. It is interesting too that my 1000RR has Dunlop Road Smarts on it and it keeps pressure very consistent. I ride it mostly on the weekends. The F3 is the daily commuter and has Michelin Pilot Powers on it. The Powers are constantly off. I had the same issue on the 1000 when it had Powers on it. Just thought I would share that. FYI, not banging on the powers..they are a good tire, just seems that some may not hold consistency as much as others.

Also, was riding home behind a Harley the other day. Obvious Newbie, on a very curvy road, sandles, T-shirt and shorts...back tire buldging out from the extra cheeseburgers he must have had at lunch. He kept standing it up in the corners, probably because of how the bike felt, but I passed him, not to buzz him but to be out of his way. I kept sight of him behind me til we got to town and I managed to get stopped where he pulled up next to me. I informed me about the tire and he looked at me like I had three heads. Oh well...what can you do??

 

Another thing to add to this: check the date of manufacturing on your tires. If its more than 6 years, its prolly a very good idea to replace it. Regardless of when you bought the tire.

My F4is tires are stock original and 4 years old. I'll be replacing them next season. And I just had to replace the tires on my girl's VW. They were 7 years old and her car failed inspection, thankfully. The inspection station found the rear tires about 100 miles from a total failure despite good tread being left on the tires. That good tread was about to separate from the tire.

You could see the crack circling the tires where the tread met the sidewall. And I watched them take the tires off so they were hers.

 

im gonna add to this too, i had a new set of tyres fitted last thursday, done about 30 miles on them and it felt fine, when i was cleaning the bike last night i was giving the wheels a good scrub and discovered they had put the front wheel and tyre on the wrong way so the rotation on both was wrong!

so this is something i will also check when having new tyres again, i took it back this morning and got them to flip it round!

 

Tires, brake pressure, brake lights and signals are checked before every ride. No exceptions. It only takes 2 minutes to do the whole check.

Well worth it!

I ran into a problem recently where as soon as I rode off, I almost had no front brake pressure. I still don't know what the problem was, but after pumping the front lever about 5 times, my pressure was back to normal. I'll be changing the fluid soon.

The only thing I don't check before every ride is the chain slack/tightness. I do this about once a week.

Always, safety first!