Inspection
WARNING
Be sure tires are properly inflated, balanced, undamaged, and have adequate tread. Inspect your tires regularly and see a Harley-Davidson dealer for replacements. Riding with excessively worn, unbalanced, improperly inflated, overloaded or damaged tires can lead to tire failure and adversely affect stability and handling, which could result in death or serious injury. (00014b)
WARNING
Replace tire immediately with a Harley-Davidson specified tire when wear bars become visible or only 1 mm (1/32 in) tread depth remains. Riding with a worn tire could result in death or serious injury. (00090c)
Harley-Davidson tires are equipped with wear bars that run horizontally across the tread. When a tire is worn to the point the tread wear indicator bars become visible on the tread surfaces, or 0.8 mm (1/32 in) tread depth remains, the tire can:
See Figure 1. Arrows on the tire sidewalls pinpoint location of wear bar indicators.
See Figure 2. Always replace tires before the tread wear indicator bars appear.
When To Replace Tires
WARNING
Harley-Davidson recommends the use of its specified tires. Harley-Davidson vehicles are not designed for operation with non-specified tires, including snow, moped and other special-use tires. Use of non-specified tires can adversely affect stability, handling or braking and lead to loss of vehicle control, which could result in death or serious injury. (00024d)
New tires are needed if any of the following conditions exist (refer to Specifications → Specifications → Specified Tires for the specified replacement tires):
  1. Tread wear indicator bars become visible on the tread surfaces.
  2. Tire cords or fabric become visible through cracked sidewalls, snags or deep cuts.
  3. Bumps, bulges or slits in the tire.
  4. Punctures, cuts, or other damage to the tire that cannot be repaired.
When installing tires on rims, do not rely on tread design to determine direction of rotation. Always be sure the rotational arrows molded into the sidewalls point in the direction of rotation when the vehicle is moving forward.
Figure 1. Tire Sidewall Wear Bar Locator
Figure 2. Wear Bar Appearance