Hi Guys, I’ve noticed on this forum and others that some people run a couple of psi lower than the manufacturers recommended psi. What are the reasons for this? Does it give you a little more grip or is it tyre specific? I always keep mine at recommended psi and on the compressor if it falls slightly below, or am I just being anal?
I had a similar question in mind when this cropped up last week and perhaps like you thought if say Bridgestone and Honda spend millions testing to get to an accurate inflation figure how come it makes sense for dudes like us with no training to change this figure to make it better . It may appear to make the bike handle better but at what cost to the tyre or other things.
Depends on the temperature outside/road temp also. I tend to run lower than recommended. I think the blade is 36/42 rear. Normally when cooler run 36/38 but never any higher. on track 29/33. when it's warm/hot run 34/34 to 36 I fond it just gives me more feedback. feels better and seems to give more grip due to lower pressure and more contact patch. really just a personal thing. But as I said a lot depends on where you are suing the bike, speeds involved and just how hot you can get the tyres.
Lower pressures will give a bigger contact patch, more grip and better bump absorption (up to a point) but to the detriment of stability and wear rates. The standard manufacturers pressures are a safe figure that covers their arses given the huge varience in rider & luggage weights and riding styles and conditions. On the road you don't want to go too far but Remels figures above are the same as I use.
I use 34f 38r normally. For motorway use I use 36f 42r. Just find it gives me better feedback, feels much better too IMO.
I don't think that we should play around with the recommended Tyre pressure! It's a different story on a race track, the recommend running pressures is lower than those reserved for the street. A Tyre that is very under-inflated generates a lot of heat which can lead to a blow out. Tyre that run too hot also wear out more quickly. The amount of air you carry can also dramatically affect handling and stability. Some Tyre manufacturer recommend pressures that should be run on particular tire/bike combinations. The most common motorcycle breakdown is for tire damage.
I have ran lower pressures for the last 5 years. In those 5 years I have had 1 puncture. When I was running standard pressures I was always getting punctures.
Riding on tires with too little air pressure is dangerous. The tires will build excessive heat. This can cause a sudden tire failure that could lead to serious personal injury. Underinflation may also: -Damage the tire leading to tire failure -Adversely affect vehicle cornering -Reduce tire life -Increase fuel consumption -Fatigue cracking
we are talking a drop of 4-6 psi here. That sort of damage would occur at much lower pressures. IO have been riding on lower pressures for ages and I know how by bike feels and handles with them. Nothing anyone tells me is going to change my ways.
I was lucky enough to attend level one at the California Race School where, in between track sessions we were given a talk by the national sales manager for Dunlop Tyres. He was advising us on the correct pressures to use on the track but he also told us that no matter what make of tyre we used it was essential to follow manufacturers recommendations for the road. On the track the tyre heats up tremendously with all the abuse you give it and therefore works well with pressures lowered but on the road regardless of how fast you think you are you can't get anywhere near the same temperature into your tyres. On the track you're looking for that ideal "orange peel" effect with bits of rubber gradually working their way to the outside of the tyre. If you get anything like this from riding on the road the chances are your suspension is set up wrong. This guy wasn't trying to sell us anything and he was extremely knowledgable on the subject of tyres. Up until meeting him I always had my pressures set a little lower than recommended but now they're set to 36 and 42 every time.
I'm kinda with the stock pressure guys on this.. I've had arguments on here before about it which ended in a kind of - agree to disagree scenario. Personally, i INFLATE to stock pressures - not for safety reasons, just because im lazy. So top it up an it will no doubt lose pressure over time, then top up to recommended levels again. Also, as far as my understanding goes - when track riding the pressures are low, because so much heat is generated which INCREASES the pressure back up to around the recommended level.
This is only partly true, the pressures do increase due to the heat but you don't want them back to 36/42. The correct way to measure track pressures is hot immediately off track. The figures may vary on tyre makes but on Racetecs 35/35 hot is about right.
I run 36/42 for the road and when i have reactecs fitted for TD's i run 30/30 and this gives me loads of feed back with excellent grip. Jay
I think ultimately unless you take it to extremes which are dangerous it's a matter of personal preference. The manufacturers will always stick rigidly to the party line but I don't think we need to blindly follow that. I don't believe a 36/42 pressure is always optimum. Compare say 10 stone rider on Southern Spanish roads in the height of summer to a 20 stone rider in a Scottish winter why would those magic figures work for both situations ? They don't, but manufacturers are obliged to give a recommended pressure, they can't take the mulitude of individual circumstances into account so they quote a safe average. You won't go wrong using 36/42 but experimenting with pressures to suit your personal circumstances is not an ultimate sin. As a general rule though lower pressures will tend to give less stability and higher wear but more grip.
was told by race tyre guy my Sportsmarts should be about 34/35 which I got but having the front on about 31-32 and rear at 29. felt great. As for recommended tyre pressure thats just it, it's "recommended" So you have them to suit yourself. some use recommend pressure, others like me don't Ok i've only been riding 6 years But have not had one puncture, found running the pressures lower have only "one possible" downside for my style of riding which has been lower mileage. but I can live with that
Black Devil - Your points are technically correct but based on an extreme view of things (it reminds of the guidance the authorities often give the public on the topic of speeding). Over inflation is theoretically just as bad as under inflation. 36/42 is obviously a recommendation, intended to cover many scenarios. For me , 36/42 is slightly over inflated (P.S. I'm just talking about road use).
You are right, my writing sounds more like a government related letter, but that was not my intention. I really don’t like rules at all and the speed limit for me is a whole joke. I know that there are more things to cover, like air temperature, weight, road condition, speed etc. and everybody got their own experience more or less. A friend of mine had an accident at high speed, because of a very low tire pressure, but he was riding on a cheap Chinese tire. A couple PSI up or down won’t matter on a good tire at normal speed and like you said, they only recommend it
I have always run 33/34 fr 39/40 rear. Never had any issues. Well, I have, but not tyre pressure related, more like lack of tyre walls around north yorkshire. Lol
