The best motorcycle tyre pressure gauges to keep your rubber in the right shape

Checking your motorcycle tyre pressure can be considered an inconvenience, meaning (believe it or not) some don’t even bother! But this is a mistake. Wrong tyre pressures can ruin your fun at best, harm your fuel economy, and cause an accident at worst. Identifying the best motorcycle tyre pressure gauges is not always straightforward though. It can be hard to know where to start.

Why check your tyre pressure?

The correct tyre pressure will make sure that the tyre is contacting the road in the right way – the way it has been designed to. That means it will adopt the correct shape and present the optimum amount of contact with the road. If the pressure is low, then the tyre won’t be the right shape and will distort as you ride, leading to a loss of feeling for the road and a definite looseness to the bike’s behaviour. If your tyre pressure is too low you will require a tyre inflator to put them right.

If it’s too low, then in addition to the bike handling badly, the tyre could start to become damaged and worse, it won’t be able to sustain the levels of braking that you would be used to, increasing potential danger to you and other road users. Conversely, if the pressure is too high, then this will also affect handling by making the tyre too rigid and preventing it from presenting the right contact patch on the road.

The solution is simple. You can check your tyre pressures regularly with a gauge. This should be done once a week and perhaps more often if you use the bike daily. There are different types of tyre pressure gauges available.

They range from simple pencil-style slide-out ones, through analogue gauge-style items, to digital ones with separate displays and hoses. The easier to use, the better – it’ll mean you’re more likely to check your bike. Also think about how and where the valve on your bike is and the best way to get a gauge on it. A compact version should definitely be in your packing list for your luggage on your touring bike if travelling long distances.

Read MCN’s guides to the best sport-touring tyres, sports-adventure tyres, and best track day tyres.

The best motorcycle tyre pressure gauges

Our best piece of advice is simply to use the same gauge at all times. Some may not be as precisely calibrated as others (with petrol station forecourts being notoriously unreliable), but the same gauge will pretty much always read the same pressure.

With this in mind, consistency is key: always use the same one and find the pressures that work for you, over-inflating slightly with a compressor before letting air out to the desired pressure.

However, here are some top tips on tyre pressure gauges of various types:

How MCN tests tyre pressure gauges

Here at MCN, we make it our mission to help you find the right kit for you, at the right price for your budget. We test our levers the same way you’ll use yours; by fitting them to the bike and riding with them. Our word is backed by at least eight years of testing per product, and in some cases up to 14 years. You can rely on our verdicts.

While testing, we predominantly focus on build quality, and accuracy. When we write up our full reviews, we’ll give each gauge a rating out of five stars for quality and value. This page is only for the best motorcycle tyre pressure gauges, so every one you’ll see has been awarded at least four stars overall – that’s the passing grade – but here’s what each score really means:

1 star – Poor performance in this category or overall. A product with a single star rating has fallen below the expected standard and should be avoided.
2 stars – Basic performance in this area or overall. A product with a two-star rating has managed to perform to a barely acceptable level, and there is much room for improvement.
3 stars – An average performance in this area or overall. A product with a three-star rating has achieved a basic level of performance and is deemed adequate.
4 stars – A product has performed over and above the accepted averaged in this category or overall. A product with a four-star rating has surpassed expectation and delivered in a particularly impressive way.
5 stars – A product has performed at the highest possible level in a particular category or overall. A product with a five-star rating has delivered to the highest possible level, impressing the tester with its performance. We would happily spend our own money on it.

To find out more, head to our dedicated page explaining how we test motorcycle products.

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