Tire pressure is one of those things no one likes to talk about, but everyone needs to have checked regularly (sort of like a prostate). After all, it can affect handling, tread wear-even your bike's gas mileage.
So you might as well get one that's easy to use, accurate and packs easily for roadtrips. Cue Roadgear's Programmable Digital Tire Gauge; a unit that combines the small footprint of a pencil gauge with the accuracy of bulky high-tech units more often found in repair shops. Lots of us have a dial-type gauge in the worhshop, which is great for the workshop, but not always ideal for motorcycle use; large diameter front brake rotors and ornate wheel designs often make access more complicated than it needs to be. And forget about packing it on a trip.
It's a bit pricy at $32, but we feel it's a worthy addition to the toolbox-the Roadgear Gauge offers a 90-degree rotating head that's easily manipulated to fit tight valve stem locations, while the rubberized body of the gauge itself is comfortable to hold. Press the gauge onto the tire stem and you instantly get a large digital readout of the pressure (in half-pound increments) against a bright blue background. The readouts can be set for PSI or BAR, and are said to be accurate to within 1%. Program it to show recommended front and rear tire pressures, and all you'd need to do is compare the upper and lower numbers. The icing on the cake is a built-in LED flashlight that allows me to obtain a reading even in myshadowy man-cave. -AC