tire pressure

[Cormanus]

What the manual says.

[Tortuga_imp]

I'm going to buy an accurate gauge soon and check mine properly.

I will however experiment with mild changes as I've found stock pressures to be a little unforgiving on previous bikes. Mostly they are specified too high.

[wayne van horn_imp]

sorry ferret no typo, most of the weight of the bike is on the front, so the tire can handle it plus i'm hoping to get it to last as the rear, then I can change both at same time. I haven't notice any weird going ons with the extra 10 pounds.

[Red Mist_imp]

sorry ferret no typo, most of the weight of the bike is on the front, so the tire can handle it plus i'm hoping to get it to last as the rear, then I can change both at same time. I haven't notice any weird going ons with the extra 10 pounds.

You can do as you wish, of course, but with that kind of excessive pressure, you are asking for trouble.

For anyone contemplating following this lead to save wear on the front tire, here are the down sides (pun fully intended):

1. 10 psi over the maximum pressure recommended by the tire manufacturer is going to put too much stress on the tire carcass and could lead to failure of the tire.

2. You will never get proper grip or ride quality from the tire for several reasons: a) the tire cannot flex because it's rock-hard, thus it can't conform to the road surface; b) the contact patch is greatly reduced in size because of the high tire pressure; c) the tire will never warm up to the proper operating temperature, it will always be "cold" and will not be able to deliver the grip, handling, and performance you need in an emergency where hard braking/cornering are needed.

Moreover, it is incorrect that most of the weight of the motorcycle is on the front tire. Most of the weight, especially for cruisers, is absolutely on the rear tire. Even sportbikes, which are normally well-balanced, usually run about a 51/49 percent ratio, front/rear, without rider. That's one of the reasons the rear tire is larger and requires more pressure than the front tire. The [url=http://sarikurnia980.wordpress.com/2013/03/15/honda-cb1100-klasik-tapi-modern/]actual weight distribution for a road-ready, but unladen CB1100 ABS is 264 lbs. on the front tire, and 282 lbs. on the rear tire. Now sit on it, and imagine how that changes. The weight is going to be much more biased toward the rear; add a passenger and luggage and guess what happens.

36 PSI in the front and 42 PSI in the rear are the maximum recommended pressures for the maximum rated gross vehicle weight for this bike. Less than maximum means that lower, not higher, pressures than recommended are acceptable, but the manufacturer will never tell you to do this, at least not any more. Why? Because a lot of guys never even check their tire pressure, so if they are set high, they are less likely to run too low before it's discovered by another check.

On my bike, I run 34 psi front, 36 psi rear. I'm 160 pounds road-ready. Those pressures are within spec for me and the type of riding I do.

Bear in mind that under hard or moderate braking the contact patch on the front tire can increase by 50 percent or more, as it should, giving plenty of traction. That's only if the tire is run in the proper pressure range. Same for cornering, you want maximum contact patch, optimum temperature, so set the pressure correctly.

Same goes for the rear, the contact patch grows under acceleration, usually not quite as much as the front on a bike like this one.

[Tortuga_imp]

sorry ferret no typo, most of the weight of the bike is on the front, so the tire can handle it plus i'm hoping to get it to last as the rear, then I can change both at same time. I haven't notice any weird going ons with the extra 10 pounds.

You can do as you wish, of course, but with that kind of excessive pressure, you are asking for trouble.

For anyone contemplating following this lead to save wear on the front tire, here are the down sides (pun fully intended):

1. 10 psi over the maximum pressure recommended by the tire manufacturer is going to put too much stress on the tire carcass and could lead to failure of the tire.

2. You will never get proper grip or ride quality from the tire for several reasons: a) the tire cannot flex because it's rock-hard, thus it can't conform to the road surface; b) the contact patch is greatly reduced in size because of the high tire pressure; c) the tire will never warm up to the proper operating temperature, it will always be "cold" and will not be able to deliver the grip, handling, and performance you need in an emergency where hard braking/cornering are needed.

Moreover, it is incorrect that most of the weight of the motorcycle is on the front tire. Most of the weight, especially for cruisers, is absolutely on the rear tire. Even sportbikes, which are normally well-balanced, usually run about a 51/49 percent ratio, front/rear, without rider. That's one of the reasons the rear tire is larger and requires more pressure than the front tire. The [url=http://sarikurnia980.wordpress.com/2013/03/15/honda-cb1100-klasik-tapi-modern/]actual weight distribution for a road-ready, but unladen CB1100 ABS is 264 lbs. on the front tire, and 282 lbs. on the rear tire. Now sit on it, and imagine how that changes. The weight is going to be much more biased toward the rear; add a passenger and luggage and guess what happens.

36 PSI in the front and 42 PSI in the rear are the maximum recommended pressures for the maximum rated gross vehicle weight for this bike. Less than maximum means that lower, not higher, pressures than recommended are acceptable, but the manufacturer will never tell you to do this, at least not any more. Why? Because a lot of guys never even check their tire pressure, so if they are set high, they are less likely to run too low before it's discovered by another check.

On my bike, I run 34 psi front, 36 psi rear. I'm 160 pounds road-ready. Those pressures are within spec for me and the type of riding I do.

Bear in mind that under hard or moderate braking the contact patch on the front tire can increase by 50 percent or more, as it should, giving plenty of traction. That's only if the tire is run in the proper pressure range. Same for cornering, you want maximum contact patch, optimum temperature, so set the pressure correctly.

Same goes for the rear, the contact patch grows under acceleration, usually not quite as much as the front on a bike like this one.

You can do as you wish, of course, but with that kind of excessive pressure, you are asking for trouble.

For anyone contemplating following this lead to save wear on the front tire, here are the down sides (pun fully intended):

1. 10 psi over the maximum pressure recommended by the tire manufacturer is going to put too much stress on the tire carcass and could lead to failure of the tire.

2. You will never get proper grip or ride quality from the tire for several reasons: a) the tire cannot flex because it's rock-hard, thus it can't conform to the road surface; b) the contact patch is greatly reduced in size because of the high tire pressure; c) the tire will never warm up to the proper operating temperature, it will always be "cold" and will not be able to deliver the grip, handling, and performance you need in an emergency where hard braking/cornering are needed.

Moreover, it is incorrect that most of the weight of the motorcycle is on the front tire. Most of the weight, especially for cruisers, is absolutely on the rear tire. Even sportbikes, which are normally well-balanced, usually run about a 51/49 percent ratio, front/rear, without rider. That's one of the reasons the rear tire is larger and requires more pressure than the front tire. The [url=http://sarikurnia980.wordpress.com/2013/03/15/honda-cb1100-klasik-tapi-modern/]actual weight distribution for a road-ready, but unladen CB1100 ABS is 264 lbs. on the front tire, and 282 lbs. on the rear tire. Now sit on it, and imagine how that changes. The weight is going to be much more biased toward the rear; add a passenger and luggage and guess what happens.

36 PSI in the front and 42 PSI in the rear are the maximum recommended pressures for the maximum rated gross vehicle weight for this bike. Less than maximum means that lower, not higher, pressures than recommended are acceptable, but the manufacturer will never tell you to do this, at least not any more. Why? Because a lot of guys never even check their tire pressure, so if they are set high, they are less likely to run too low before it's discovered by another check.

On my bike, I run 34 psi front, 36 psi rear. I'm 160 pounds road-ready. Those pressures are within spec for me and the type of riding I do.

Bear in mind that under hard or moderate braking the contact patch on the front tire can increase by 50 percent or more, as it should, giving plenty of traction. That's only if the tire is run in the proper pressure range. Same for cornering, you want maximum contact patch, optimum temperature, so set the pressure correctly.

Same goes for the rear, the contact patch grows under acceleration, usually not quite as much as the front on a bike like this one. What he said.

[Red Mist_imp]

I was going to mention also that I check my tire pressures before every ride, even if it's only been overnight. We can pick up a nail or staple or some other puncture that's not noticed and ride off on a seriously underinflated tire, and never know it until there's a problem on the road. A loss of pressure will alert us to the problem beforehand.

Sometimes a valve stem will leak after a new tire's been installed, or a rim will not properly seal. Air seeps out past the bead. It happens.

[Pauley]

Nice info ferret. Thanks for that.

I too check my pressure with an accurate gage before every ride. Set to 36 front 42 rear. I also check the tires all around for nails or other damage before each ride.


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[emptysea]

35/40 because I'm a little lighter than the max load and because those numbers are easier to read on my tire gauge without having to fumble for my readers.

[Lord Popgun]

Red Mist,

Thank you for all the technical info you post, It is very educational and appreciated.

[CIP57_imp]

sorry ferret no typo, most of the weight of the bike is on the front, so the tire can handle it plus i'm hoping to get it to last as the rear, then I can change both at same time. I haven't notice any weird going ons with the extra 10 pounds.

Wayne,

You may have the first CB snowmobile. In all seriousness take that pressure out before you have a problem. Better off running a couple pounds under than over. Usually front tires at about 5000mi are cupped with peaks and trailing edges. Run your hand across the tire and you can feel them, this is time to change them regardless of wear.