Tyre pressures

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furygan man · #16 Post by **furygan man** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 2:34 pm

Nooj wrote: I may have misheard, but I think Griff said the other day 32 front and 36 rear for a Falco, which seems a bit low to me. Will give it a go in a bit and see what it's like.

The guy at Hilltop Mortorcycles said the same thing when i took it in for it's MOT last year, i had them at 36/42 after the recomendations here, TBH i still pretty inexperienced in bike handling to have an opionion yet also the infrequent use of the bike doesn't help!

wayno · #17 Post by **wayno** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 2:39 pm

Ride with whatever makes you feel comfortable. I'f you're constantly thinking the back or front feels too soft or hard you'll end up forgetting about the corner and binning it anyway.

D-Rider · #18 Post by **D-Rider** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 5:32 pm

Nooj wrote: I may have misheard, but I think Griff said the other day 32 front and 36 rear for a Falco, which seems a bit low to me. Will give it a go in a bit and see what it's like.

Yep he advises the Aprilia manual settings ..... on his recommendation I tried them - for a couple of months so that I could get used to them.
They might suit some but for me they were hopeless.

Back to 2.5/2.9 bar and all was well again.

b_chiller · #19 Post by **b_chiller** » Fri Apr 01, 2011 3:01 pm

I had my BT21 replaced 2 weeks ago and although i did my 10 minute commute to work since then, the first real ride out was last Friday.

Now I know I should have checked pressure so I dont need telling but lets just say I was cursing my front suspension all the way round Lancashire until I checked the pressure of the rear tyre and it was in the mid 50s!!!

One gave oneself a darn good kicking!!!

D-Rider · #20 Post by **D-Rider** » Fri Apr 01, 2011 8:15 pm

Another point worth noting is that with the changing temperatures at this time of year, your pressures can vary considerably .... if you pumped them up a few weeks ago in the cold weather, they may well be too firm now.

Always worth checking ....

Falco Frank · #21 Post by **Falco Frank** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 11:55 am

Holy thread revival!

I know but there isnt a Tyre pressure stickie thread, so here we go...

I always used to run at 36/42 as well and thought all was well until I took my bike to a guru to have a suspension setup done.

The guy did 3 ride outs on my bike after changing tyre pressures then front suspension & then rear.

So I'm running my radial forks, Ohlins rear with std old Pirelli Diablo tyres - and he was happy with the end result.

The Pirelli recommendation for Diablo's is 36/42 (2.5/2.9 Bar)

But the Guru set the pressures @ 2.1 & 2.0 Bar! (30.5 Front & 29 psi rear)

Even he said to 'take it easy' until the tyres warm up - now, I was concentrating on the setup changes MORE than the tyres, so its early days, the bike feels 'loose' for the first few miles but feels good soon after...

Time will tell.

furygan man · #22 Post by **furygan man** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 12:03 pm

Still a hot topic then?

wayno · #23 Post by **wayno** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 12:24 pm

I think the tyre pressure debate will be going on until long after tyres have gone out of service.

D-Rider · #24 Post by **D-Rider** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 1:38 pm

For months I tried running the lower pressures that Griff recommended (though not as low as Frank has just mentioned).
I tried my hardest to get used to them but despite persevering it always felt crap - until I restored the 2.5/2.9 bar recommended by Pirelli and goodness was instantly restored.

I'm not saying other pressures won't suit other people (though 29 psi rear sounds a bit scary to me ... and likely to overheat the tyre).

Dalemac · #25 Post by **Dalemac** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 2:19 pm

Hmm. I should probably check my tyre pressures again.

wayno · #26 Post by **wayno** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 2:28 pm

I'm personally a 36 : 40 man, but this debate is like the brand of tyre debate, it'll never end.

I agree that 29 sounds far too low unless you are thrashing it hard constantly, then you might get the temperature and pressure up, but then I think the state of the roads and traffic will be your major problems :)

Aladinsaneuk · #27 Post by **Aladinsaneuk** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 4:49 pm

Obviously you have to consider the air used

USA air is different

Also, if you have an off, and are not running the advised pressures from the tyre manufacturers then the insurance company could use that to weasel....

On my conti road attacks I run 36/42

Hanna's maxxis run best at 35/40

HisNibbs · #28 Post by **HisNibbs** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 8:16 pm

wayno wrote:I'm personally a 36 : 40 man, but this debate is like the brand of tyre debate, it'll never end.

I agree that 29 sounds far too low unless you are thrashing it hard constantly, then you might get the temperature and pressure up, but then I think the state of the roads and traffic will be your major problems :)

Oh ok again...

If you are thrashing it hard you'll destroy the tire in a couple of hundred miles at those (29ps) pressures. My view is if you ride slow and and are don't work the tire hard enough to generate heat at normal pressures, then you'd be okay to drop them a few pounds. It seems that because race tires are designed to run at lower pressures, that statement is counter intuitive to many.

The basic principle is; the tire body flexing generates heat in the tire;
Low pressure allows the tire to flex more;
If you ride quickly it is usually heat that ultimately over comes the tire surface leading to separation and loss of grip.
QED.

If you ride hard on soft tires people looking at your tires might think you a hero because they look so fkd, but you'll be tearing up £10.00 notes and loosing "lap time" for that street cred.

There are complicating conditions from the above, such as cold tear which I think can happen if you start working the tire hard before the whole of it it has reached operating temperature. This being caused by the surface getting really hot when the body of the tire is still cold; but I think this is a unlikely condition for a road tire, on the road...

Rules for race tires requiring tire warmers etc. are different.

I run 36, 42 as specified by the manufacturer , I may see them drop a few ponds between checks. A couple of times I've looked at a tire and thought that is messed up, with the the surface scalloped ragged and wearing badly, and when I've checked the pressure it had dropped to 28/30 ish and I'd put on more than a 1000 miles wear on it in a couple of hundred hard, low pressure miles.

wayno · #29 Post by **wayno** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 2:57 pm

Just been looking for some new tyres as mine are squaring off a bit after Le Mans (and I don't really like them that much).

On the Michelin page they recommend 2.4 bar front and 2.5 bar rear for their tyres on a Falco (oddly enough the Daytona 955 which is similar dimensions has recommendations of 2.5 and 2.9 respectively).

D-Rider · #30 Post by **D-Rider** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 3:06 pm

Recently my bike has felt a bit "less than good".
I realised that the pressures were probably a bit low as a while back when it was hot I'd had to let air out to bring them down to pressure .... and now it's gone a lot cooler.

Anyway checked them and found much as I expected 2.1 bar / 2.55 bar.
Added "good quality air" restoring 2.5/2.9 bar and the ride to work today was back to what it should be. Even came the long way which was much more fun.

BTW Keith mentions race tyre pressures.
Of course these tyres are of somewhat different construction so as I think he was implying, race tyre pressures are not a good guide for road tyres (even when used in a more "race" environment)