How to check if your motorcycle's tyre or engine oil is genuine

Every motorcycle tyre sold in India is legally required to carry the ISI mark under standard IS 15627:2005, which covers pneumatic tyres for two and three wheeled vehicles. India has mandated BIS ISI certification for automobile tyres since 2009, and BIS revised the tyre standards again in April 2022. That mark, and the licence number printed with it, is the first thing to check if you think a tyre or a tube is not genuine.

Checking a tyre

Start with the sidewall. On a genuine tyre the brand name and model are moulded into the rubber, not just printed on a sticker, and the lettering is crisp and evenly spaced. Misspelled brand names, blurred numbers, patchy sidewall colour and uneven tread blocks are all signs of a copy, according to a buyer's checklist from touring gear retailer Reisemoto. The same checklist flags a missing or unclear four digit date code, a tyre sold without a bill or warranty card, and a price that undercuts the market by a wide margin as reasons to walk away.

A real case from Odisha shows what this looks like on the ground. Police in Cuttack raided a unit in January 2025 after a complainant found duplicate tyres being sold far below the going rate. The genuine product the complainant made had an embossed company name, a registration number and a trademark, while the counterfeit copies had only printed stickers, no registration number and no trademark, and that mismatch is what gave the racket away.

To check the number itself, use the BIS Care app, which the Bureau of Indian Standards runs for exactly this purpose. The app's "Verify Licence Details" feature lets you enter the CM/L licence number printed with the ISI mark and returns the manufacturer's name and address, the products covered, and whether the licence is still active. It is free, works on Android and iOS, and also has a complaint feature if the number does not check out or does not exist at all.

Checking engine oil

Oil counterfeiting works differently because there is no ISI mark to check, so the signs are mostly in the packaging and the liquid itself. Motul's own guidance to spot fake engine oil lists label misprints, blurry fonts, inconsistent logos and spelling errors as warning signs, along with caps that feel loose or show inconsistent threading. A missing, blurred or inconsistently printed batch number or QR code is another flag, and Motul says scanning the QR code or calling customer service is the way to confirm a bottle is real. On the oil itself, genuine Motul product should be golden to light amber and smooth, and a chunky, watery or discoloured oil, or a rancid smell, both point to a fake. Motul also repeats the same price warning as the tyre checklist: a price well under the market rate is reason enough to be suspicious.

What to do if you suspect a fake

Buy from a dealer you can trace, not a roadside stall, and keep the bill. If a tyre or a can of oil fails these checks after you have already bought it, go back to the dealer first, since a genuine retailer will exchange or refund it. If the dealer refuses or cannot be traced, the BIS Care app lets you file a complaint against a specific CM/L number, and that complaint goes to BIS directly rather than to the brand. For oil, most brands including Motul publish a dealer locator on their own site, and buying only from a listed dealer removes most of the risk before it starts.

None of these checks take more than a few minutes, and they cost nothing. On a two wheeler, the tyre is the only thing touching the road and the oil is the only thing protecting the engine, so the few minutes are worth spending before, not after, the ride.

Sources

• BIS ISI Certification for Automotive Tyres
• BIS Care App. Bureau of Indian Standards
• How to Identify Fake Motorcycle Tyres in India. Reisemoto
• Fake tyre manufacturing unit busted following raid in Cuttack. OdishaTV
• How to Spot Fake Engine Oil. Motul