Quick question / front tire pressure

Energy One

CuDaMaN

Member
Prepping for a ride tomorrow and spot checked front tire pressure and it shows 24 psi. Seems a tad low to me and the sidewall indicates 40 psi.
I'm thinkin more like 30 maybe.
What is correct?? Is 24 too low??
THANKS..........
 

CuDaMaN

Member
cool....... I'm at least goin to go with 35 in the front. 24 just seemed WAY too low......... first time I've checked since last season. I noticed some small cracking as well and the bike is still fairly brand new...........WTF???? I'll post some pics later........
THANKS ! ! ! ! !:2thumbs:
 

Raywood

The Pirate
Staff member
Calendar Participant
Troop Supporter
cool....... I'm at least goin to go with 35 in the front. 24 just seemed WAY too low......... first time I've checked since last season. I noticed some small cracking as well and the bike is still fairly brand new...........WTF???? I'll post some pics later........
THANKS ! ! ! ! !:2thumbs:
Why would you want to go with a lower tire pressure on the front tire? I've never run anything but the tire recommended pressure and made them last many miles. Would think the tire manufacturer knows what pressures to run for best performance.

:cheers:
 

CuDaMaN

Member
Thanks for all the replies. I went with 40 in the front. The difference between 35 and 40 is just a tenth of a second fill from the air hose and BAM, there's 5 lb's added. Really not that much air as far as volume is concerned. I can see how easy it would be to way overfill these tires within a matter of seconds.
The cracks still bother me and I'm not sure how I lost that much air pressure. I'll have to do a soap test for any slow leaks.
Thanks again :cheers:
 

mobsta

Well-Known Member
hm,havent checked tire since last season? i check once a week if not every ride,my owners manual says 42psi frt and rear,but thats on my 04 and thats how i roll.becareful puttn silicone on your tires,slip and slide:cheers:
 
CuDaMan

Yeah ... it's exactly what the guys above have said.

You wanna' run with the recommended tire pressures, and that especially goes for your front tire. The pressures in MC tires are not like tires on auto's. You can drive your car on tires that are a bit low, and there's not much bad effect (provided your tires are not ridiculously low). But for MC wheels you need to be dead on with your tire pressures. Guys who race bikes will adjust their tires in 1 psi increments - meaning that they might reduce a tire pressure by 1 psi below recommended ... then see how that affects the handling of the bike. Then they might do another adjustment ... just by another 1 psi. It can be that sensitive. So you never wanna' run tire pressures that are 10 psi lower than what the manual says.

When you really get to know your bike, you can adjust tire pressures a bit - esp. for the rear tire. Running the rear tire pressure slighly low (and I do mean slightly) can give you a bigger contact patch with the asphalt. This improves your braking. But you need to ensure that you are not overheating the tire by doing this. And DON'T do this if you are cruising on the freeway (i.e. higher speeds). Tires with lower pressures can overheat, which can ruin your friction with the road and wind up damaging the tire rubber.

So my advice is to stick with the exact reommended tire pressures until you get very experienced, then start learning more about friction & tire temperatures.

have fun!
dT
 
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