Tire Pressure question

[cris nitro]

2005 R1150RT

My manual calls for tire pressure as follows;

Single 32F/36R

2 Up 36/39

2 up and luggage 36/42

 

I am traveling alone with about 50 pounds of stuff in the side and top case this weekend on a 2,000 mile trip to the Smokey Mountains. Interpolating the above figures, should I be at 32 front and 39 rear?

 

Thanks for all your help.

 

Cris

 

 

[Nice n Easy Rider]

2005 R1150RT

My manual calls for tire pressure as follows;

Single 32F/36R

2 Up 36/39

2 up and luggage 36/42

 

I am traveling alone with about 50 pounds of stuff in the side and top case this weekend on a 2,000 mile trip to the Smokey Mountains. Interpolating the above figures, should I be at 32 front and 39 rear?

 

Thanks for all your help.

 

Cris

 

Cris,

I think you'll find a lot of riders here running pressures higher than what the user manual calls for. After reading a number of previous posts, and based on the suggested pressures from my dealer's service manager, I've been running 38/42 (1 up, both side panniers and top box). I've found the handling to be fine and I get at least 8K out of my Metzler Z6's. When I ran the recommended pressures (32/36) on my first set of Metzlers I had cupping on the front by 6-7 K.

[hANNAbONE]

40 / 42 F / R

[tobyzusa]

38/40

[Rinkydink]

38F/42R

[cris nitro]

Ok, like oil, everybody's got their "thing". I wasn't that far off on the rear, but the front's gotta come way up, say 38 to 40.

 

Thanks for the help! Seriously, I think.

[JRMSR]

I agree 39-40 is fine on the rear, one up

 

Anything under 38 on the front, and you will get eaaly cupping on the left, In my experience.

 

 

I get 11,000 to 13,000 on tires, front and rear

run 42 / 40 one or two up

 

[Quinn]

40/42 f/r

 

The most important thing is to use even numbers.

 

---

 

 

[OlGeezer]

If you use the 10% rule, you will know exactly what pressure you should run in your bike, with your load and your riding style.

[jjg3]

I get 11,000 to 13,000 on tires, front and rear

run 42 / 40 one or two up

 

If you wouldn't mind, which bike and what tires?

[Mike05]

If you use the 10% rule, you will know exactly what pressure you should run in your bike, with your load and your riding style.

 

What's the 10% rule?

[Boffin]

If you use the 10% rule, you will know exactly what pressure you should run in your bike, with your load and your riding style.

 

What's the 10% rule?

 

That is a means of establishing the correct pressure for your bike/riding style/roads etc.

You set a cold pressure, say 32/40 and go for a ride then measure the hot pressure. If the pressure has risen by 10% you are at the right pressure. If it has risen more than 10% the base pressure is too low, if it has risen less than 10% the start was too high.

 

Andy

[Mister Tee]

If you use the 10% rule, you will know exactly what pressure you should run in your bike, with your load and your riding style.

 

What's the 10% rule?

 

That is a means of establishing the correct pressure for your bike/riding style/roads etc.

You set a cold pressure, say 32/40 and go for a ride then measure the hot pressure. If the pressure has risen by 10% you are at the right pressure. If it has risen more than 10% the base pressure is too low, if it has risen less than 10% the start was too high.

 

Andy

 

I do that on my track bike if I'm running race slicks, but I'm going for more than 10% (I want to end up with 36/40 hot after a few laps but I have to start in the 20's to get there). But those are designed to be heat cycled and road tires are not. I don't know why one would want to artificially impose a 10% pressure rise by reducing the inflation pressure on a street tire, if handling and traction are otherwise acceptable, since the penalty is shorter tire life. If I'm running a street tire on the track, like a standard Pilot Power, I still inflate to the upper limit for my bike (36F 42R), and I'm running 38F 42R on the RT.

 

Even running at the upper limit of inflation pressures on the RT, tires have not been a limitation, as evidenced by the wear in my pegs and engine guard. On the other hand, I appear to get better wear out of my tires (both on the RT and on the gsxr) than anyone I know. I posted in a couple other threads about the life of my PR2 rear tire, which is currently at 21,000 and some odd miles, with probably at least a couple thousand more left in them. I'm a big fan of keeping those pressures high. At least in dry conditions anyway, but wet weather riding isn't much of an issue for me.

[ragtoplvr]

I have an RS, and I am trying the Shinko Ravens. Used to run Pilot Road

 

So far I like them. But the front is extremely sensitive to tire pressure, the rear less so.

 

I started at 42/42, (cold) and the bike was too twitchy to ride, dropped rear to 40, and front to 38, better but me no like.

 

Dropped to R38 F 34, and now they feel wonderful. Never saw tires act that way. Just as an experiment, at F 28 they were pushing in corners, R at 30 it felt kind of loose. So, if I lose pressure, hopefully I will detect it. 38R 34F was the winner. So far I am liking these tires. Only negative, aside from costing Michelin an extra $125 profit, is the tread does not wrap around the side quite as far, some of you real aggressive touch the footpeg types might run off the edge of the tread. As it is I have no chicken strips, so I look like I am better/braver/stupider than I am.

 

So, go for a ride, take your pump (you do have a pump right) and your gage, find some twisties and see what fits your style. Then let tire cool, and measure pressure, then see how much it rises. In my case, the change is less than 3 PSI so not overheating tire.

 

FWIW the Michelin Pilots are not true radials, they have slight overlap, and according to Shinko, ravens are true radial. All Kevlar. Deeper rubber than Michelin. Center groove in front, rumored to track rain grooves but so far, does not. Next year when worn out and after winter cold and spring rain I will write a post about their tread life and grip. So there are a lot of tire related variables.

 

Rod

 

 

[Mister Tee]

Point well taken - I guess it just depends how you like the bike to handle. Anything less than "twitchy" feels "sluggish" to me, so if I'm just a couple pounds low, I feel it.