Ive heard many times that maintaining tire pressures is very important. How important is it?
Maintaining your tire pressures is one, if not the most important maintenance task you perform. This is particularly so on a motorcycle. For a start, you must realize that the air pressure in a tire is what carries that load. Although the carcass and overall structure of the tire has a significant effect in the overall dynamic performance of the tire, you must have sufficient air pressure in the tire for it to function. When it comes to supporting load, air pressure is the basic ingredient. Once this is realized, you can easily see why air pressure is so important with respect to load carrying for large touring motorcycles. Most of these motorcycles are at or in excess of their rated load, so having enough air pressure is critical. Check your pressures daily when you are on a trip and remember that every 4 psi of inflation air lost is approximately equivalent to losing 60 or 70 pounds of load carrying capacity. That means that if your tire pressure is 36 psi instead of 40 psi, then you
