Tyre Pressures

[KermitLeFrog]

More idle curiosity. Honda suggest 38F 42R. This seems rather high to me. I read elsewhere people running around the 30 mark (psi y'know). Any comments on this?

[Miztaziggy]

Depends on the tyre, conditions, temperature and use.

I would go for a baseline 42r / 36f on road.

On track with road tyres I use 32f and 30r.

On track with diablo supercorsa SC I use 30f and 28r set after theyve been in the warmers for 40 mins as suggested on Pirelli site. Works out at around 28f and 25r cold.

Dont have your tyres too soft on the road, for 3 reasons.

1. They'll get hotter and possibly overheat or wear badly.

2. They'll be less stable in a straight line at speed and under braking.

3. They will compress and deform, thus narrowing the tread pattern and they won't displace water properly.

I would think on the road you're better a little too hard than too soft.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

[8541Hawk]

I am a bigger lad but I run 36\42 and have for many years now on the street and have no issues, and yes I do ride rater "briskly" from time to time

[8541Hawk]

There is also a way to "set" your tire pressure.

You are looking for a 10% rise in pressure between cold and hot.

So if you start at 30psi, you want to see 33psi when hot.
If you see a higher pressure, then your starting pressure is too low and the tire is getting too hot.

If you see a lower pressure, then your starting pressure is too low and the tire is not fully warming up.

It can be a bit of a pain but it is the way to find the tire pressure for your set up, unless you have become old and lazy like me and run, like I said 36\42 and will be bothered with it when I get a slide from hard tires.

[fabiostar]

Road use i run 30f 32r and on a track day 26f 28r all taken when cold.

[thunderbolt]

Like Hawk I run 36F 42R and find it suits me the best. Drops into corners really well, holds the correct line without any movement coming out the other side where I ought to be (not too close to centre line or shoulder of the tar). I am running Michelin PP3s.

Slightly off topic; some of you know I have a Teknik front end, different springs, shims, etc. and Saachs rear suspension. Honda CBR954RR front brake setup. The bike has been handling really well, no soft end probs as standard. Any way I took it out yesterday for a run through the National Park and it was bouncing around a bit. A lot of jolts coming through both the front and rear suspension. I couldn't work out what the problem was. I wondered why the suspension would stiffen up like that. It was like everything was set on the firmest settings. The bike has been off the road for a few (quite a few) months doing up the front and rear brakes.

Then when I was almost home after about 4 hrs riding it occurred to me - I'd lost 1½ stone in weight and I reckon my lighter weight wasn't making the suspension work as it should. So now will have to start mucking around with adjustments on both front and rear suspension. I HATE THAT.