Tires, Tire Pressure
 

Stock came with Dunlop D204's and a reccommended pressure of 36 front and 42 rear.

I am currently running Michelin Pilot Powers, and I dropped my pressure a little bit, I am more around 34 front and 38 rear (cold).


What are you on?

Re: Tires, Tire Pressure
 

Bridgestone Battlax BT-014

Very sticky good tire but I've been told they don't last. I've got a friend on Dunlops and another on Pilots so I'll have a good idea where to go next then I need a new set if this turns out to be true.

I loved my 010's. Got 10,000 km's out of em

I run the pilot race soft compound . 29 psi front, 31 psi rear

Re: Tires, Tire Pressure
 

Superhawk: Michelin Pilot Powers 30 rear / 28 front
CBR 1000 F: Michelin Pilot Roads 32 rear / 30 front

Brian

Looks like I could spare to go down a bit more in the PSI's as well. I have been thinking they felt a bit hard.

You guys run some really low pressures. How did you arrive at these numbers?

Pilot Power - STREET tire should be run around 33/34 front and 36/37 rear

Pilot Power RACE tire - I've heard that Michelin recommend 22 rear !

There is a long-standing rule of thumb known as the 10% rule:
You want your tire pressure to go up 10% from the initial cold pressure when the tires are heated up to operating temp (as in not cold, a couple of miles of highway speed)

This works for street tires or race tires.
Also seems to work for automotive race tires.

Re: Tires, Tire Pressure
 

Very interesting post guys!

Since my last tire change, I've asked many advise from different peoples about the "ideal" tire pressure to use in order to avoid the "traditional" front tire cupping and the rear tire middle use.

I'm not the only one who have noticed this but many brand of front tire have a high tendency to make cupping around the middle of the tire life. And if some of you are doing a lot of highway as me, you should have noticed that the rear tire will wear very more quickly on is middle than on the side and NO it's not because I'm not pushing on turn, my pair of boots show the opposite!! :twisted:

So in order to "reduce" these effects, I was advised to put more pressure in the front tire 38psi instead of 36 and less pressure in the rear tire 36 instead of 42 :!:

I'm running like this for 2 weeks now and I've nothing bad to say about this pressure set-up but I would like nevertheless to know what you guys are thinking about this :?:

For additional information, I'm running a Pilot Road at rear and a BT014 in front. Oh! and also, I'm not doing track... not yet at least!! :wink:

thx

Re: Tires, Tire Pressure
 

I run the pressures I do beacuse they work for me.

On the SH (30 and 28 ) most of my riding is on the aggressive side, mostly Tail of the Dragon and other roads of similar ilk.
I remember reading a good article by a major dude in Australia who runs a very large track day or riding school program (don't remember the particulars) He said the number one mistake folks make is showing up with too much air pressure. He suggested 30 and 28 - or something near that - as a good starting point.
In my experience, there is no need to run tires near their maximum pressure. I want the tire to flex and get hot. Lower pressures allow that, and I'd assume a slightly larger contact patch as well.

Basicaly the same apples to the tires on the CBR 1000. Slightly higher pressures, heavier bike, but Pilot Roads.

As far as cupping and abnormal wear, My tires wear our "perfectly".
The Pilot Road on the back of the CBR has almost 5,000 miles on it! and that includes many serious hard drives out of turns, sometimes spinning the rear tire HARD. It just seems it is never going to wear out.
The front was worn out on the edges just after 4,000 miles, due to so many spirited runs, many of them 2-up with my son. Lots of hard breaking and aggressive runs through turns.

The tires did more than I could have asked of them, although somtimes I have asked too much, when the back end gets way out of whack, I have to remember the CBR has sport TOURING tires and I should treat them as such, lest they get angry and bite me!

On the SH, I have worn the Pilot Powers completely to the edge, scraped pegs, drug knees and they just stick like glue.
So, I guess I'll apply this philosophy to my tire pressures.......


If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Brian

I was told to run 28 rear / 30 front (cold pressure) by a racer friend on my first track day, running a pair of Dunlop D207 GP takeoffs, and that is where I've stayed. Tires have never been an issue.

I increase it to 30 and 32 on the street. I've never gotten any more scientific about it than that.

That's exactly what my racing buddy told me for my first track day and it works great for me. A little stckier but no real wobble, I have BTO14's.

I run around 35 both on the street and lower them to about 31 on the track (the two days I've done).

I would be reluctant to run low pressure on the street because of possibly damaging the rims on bumps.

Any feeling what I should run on a set of Diablos?
________
FORDSON TRACTOR PICTURE

There is no relationship between track advice and street advice because there is no relationship between track heating and street heating (even during sprited riding.)

If you wanted to knock 3-4 lbs off the recommendations that would be fine, but 15 lbs (even if you are a toothpick) seems excessive, especially for street use.

Air only expands so much under heat and you're really looking for the hot temp to be what you want by altering the cold temp.

Re: Tires, Tire Pressure
 

I've noticed with my Diablos that anything below 30 psi cold in front causes instability. I only ride on the street and try to keep with the rec'd 36/42 cold- it just feels more planted.

really? 42 in the rear? Boy, that is high. But as I'm not too hard on my tires, higher pressure is likely better.

I think my front tire is off a 929, but it should be in the ballpark.
________
INTERRACIAL MOVIE

Re: Tires, Tire Pressure
 

Ditto for me.

Also I, unfortunately, have lots of hot, straight roads around here and travel at high speeds. I need all the help in cooling I can get.

stock dunlops lasted 5500 miles.
now I'm running a set of Pirelli Dragon SuperCorsas with a 190/55 on the back. yes, it has a good profile and works on a 5.5" rim, it should, it's designed to. that's why it's a 55 aspect ratio tire. it also increases rear ride height and brings the speedo closer to being right.
anyway, I'm been running stock pressures and have been nicely impressed with comfort and compliance. I'll drop pressures a little, maybe 4psi per tire, and see how they work like that.