A pneumatic tire for motorcycles includes a carcass extending toroidally between a pair of bead portions, at least one ply of a belt layer installed outside thereof in the tire radial direction, and a tread portion radially outside the belt layer. In the tread portion, the 50% region of the developed width of the tread whose center is on the tire equatorial plane is a “tread center portion”, the 25% regions of the developed width of the tread region on either side of the tread center portion are a “tread side portion”, and each tread side portion is divided into three equal parts in the tire width direction defined from the tread end in order as regions A, B and C. The average modulus of elasticity in region B at 100% elongation at 40° C. is larger than the average modulus of elasticity in region A and in region C at 100% elongation at 40° C.