MC Garage Video: Decoding Tire Sidewalls

There is loads of important info on your tires’ sidewalls—if you know how read it.

Tires are a pretty unglamorous part of your bike, but they sure are important. Here at Motorcyclist we’ve been banging the “pay attention to your tires!” drum for ages, which is why the MC Garage video series has talked about the importance of maintaining proper tire pressure and explained why you need to break in new tires. We’ve even used running shoes as an analogy to help you understand the differences between the various flavors or streetbike tires, and since flats happen and getting stranded sucks, we’ve made a video that shows you how to plug a tubeless tire so you can ride home.

For more info check out Pirelli's "All About Tires" website, and for load- and speed-rating charts, webBikeWorld has done a great job compiling conversion tables.

Watch this video to find out why bigger isn’t always better.

What’s With Tire Width?©Motorcyclist

Now, because we’re so into tires, we’re bringing you another video about those black and round buns. This time we’re taking a close look at the information listed on your tires’ sidewalls and helping you decipher what appears to be a pretty complicated code. Rest easy, though, because we’ll tell you what to look for and what it means in this video from the MC Garage.