>> If it's got a stick it'll...
>> If it's got a stick it'll do the trick, and digital is fine until the battery runs out. But for the utmost accuracy go with a gauge that's got an analog needle immersed in water.
At any given moment a motorcycle has nothing more than several inches of rubber on the road, and compared to the massive contact patches a car possesses, a bike isn’t working with much. Thus, maximizing a motorcycle’s contact patch is crucial to keeping the rubber side down.
In addition to tire design and size, air pressure is the number one aspect that affects tire performance and should be kept under a watchful eye. While modern radial motorcycle tires are marvels of technology and can still perform at amazing levels despite under or over inflation, in actuality there’s a sweet spot where the tire works best (and it’s usually within a couple PSI of the manufacturer’s recommendation). All tires are different, and rider/bike weight also comes into play, but in general you want to keep your tires inside the ideal PSI window for the best performance.
While keeping your tires at the optimal inflation range is critical, how do you know if the gauge you’re measuring pressure with is even remotely accurate? What if your trusty old gauge is off by a few pounds and your tires have never been at the optimal pressures because it’s inaccurate? With all the various types of PSI measuring devices floating around we decided to find out if all air-pressure gauges are created equal.
>>Save your 75 cents because...
>>Save your 75 cents because these gauges are as accurate as the "finger push" test.
To ensure that we had an accurate baseline to compare everything against, we opted to use a Motion Pro unit that’s been certified against the Dunlop truck at several trackdays—it’s as accurate as they come.
With the Motion Pro representing our baseline we rounded up five of the most common gauges and even paid a visit to several local gas stations to see where everything fell in line.
Keeping things as scientific as possible, the tire was refilled with air and reset at the given pressures before each new gauge was tested. For the sake of precision we sampled each gauge at both 40 and 30 psi. As for the gas-station gauges, we utilized three different locations and calculated an average.
|
| Actual Air Pressure Measured |
40 psi |
30 psi |
| Motion Pro (91.99) |
40 |
30 |
| Road Gear Talking Gauge (24.99) |
41 |
30.5 |
| Victor Digital ($11.99) |
41.5 |
31 |
| Slime Mechanical ($3.99) |
39 |
29.5 |
| Slime Stick ($2.99) |
42 |
33 |
| Gas Station ($.75 per hit) |
48 |
35 |
Conclusion
If the utmost accuracy is your priority then the pricey Motion Pro is your meal ticket, but if figures within a half-pound or so are sufficient a quality digital gauge should fit the bill. While stick gauges will get you in the ballpark, that’s about as close as you’ll get and are better left for the four wheelers. When it comes to the gas station, forget it! Why would anyone pay $.75 per air session only to arrive at an incredibly inaccurate reading? We’re not saying that all gas station air gauges are useless, but why risk it? And if you’re still using the kick test then you’re a lost cause all together. After all, with only a few inches of tire on the ground at any given moment wouldn’t you want to optimize your grip?
Myth: Busted
Not all air pressure gauges are created equal and most examples found at a local gas station are going to be a shot in the dark. Just because a gauge displays a certain number doesn’t mean that’s the actual PSI inside the tire. The solution? Get a quality gauge.