Tyre pressures

Fireplaces

New Member
Joined
Jan 15, 2020
Messages
9
Hi all just a bit confused about the recommend 34 front and 36 back psi ,all my bikes dl1000 Aprilla coponard run 36 front and 42 back apart from my st1300 pan runs 42 front and 42 back ,the super ten is nearly the same weight as the pan , I feel I will get uneven tyre wear at this low psi can anyone explain why such a heavy bike yamaha recommends low psi
 

bigbob

Well-Known Member
2014 Site Supporter
Joined
Sep 9, 2014
Messages
1,671
Location
Des Moines, IA
Hi all just a bit confused about the recommend 34 front and 36 back psi ,all my bikes dl1000 Aprilla coponard run 36 front and 42 back apart from my st1300 pan runs 42 front and 42 back ,the super ten is nearly the same weight as the pan , I feel I will get uneven tyre wear at this low psi can anyone explain why such a heavy bike yamaha recommends low psi
I run 40 on both. Get over 20k on a front E-07 Dakar while going through 2 rears.

And have never had any dry/wet loss of traction.
 
Last edited:
B

ballisticexchris

Guest
Fully loaded you can run 32 front and 36 rear on this bike for optimum traction and safety. I have been running this same pressure on all my street bikes for years.
 

Tenere man

Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2019
Messages
56
Location
Selby, Near York, England, UK.
My UK 2014 ES handbook states exactly word for word what Sierra 1 has quoted.

Myself as i'm around 6ft 4in & 280kgs weight mark, fully kitted up, i've run mine at the settings quoted in the book. So far i'm very happy with wear, grip, wet & dry.

Since i retired from work, where i used to ride all most every working day, subject to the weather, H&S crap happened, then it was in a car instead. We use to have to sign our lives away that we had checked the STATED Tyre pressures, Any thing more than a 5% drop on there gauge, and we had to get it checked out. Nothing else was allowed, Oil, Water, the same. We where even Audited on our own checks.

There where some cases that i was dealing with, where certain insurance claims where rejected, due to the car/bike Tyre pressures that where more than 20% down from the stated makers pressures settings.

Ride safe guys eh.
 

ord13

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 2, 2015
Messages
204
Location
Marseilles (France)
My current tires are Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR, I ride 2.3 bars (33 PSI) front and 2.8 bars (40 PSI) rear, most of the time without passenger and loaded or not, average pressures suitable for both tarmac and off-road use, and until today I have nothing to complain about :cool:
 

Jlq1969

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 5, 2018
Messages
1,749
Location
Argentina
That's the good thing about TPMS, which you can see as, as you drive, the temperature and pressure of the rear tire, begin to increase ... and continue to increase ... and continue .... until the pressure back it goes from 36 to 43. I imagine that if parts of 42, it will end about 50
 

Sierra1

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2016
Messages
14,812
Location
Joshua TX
Well.... I haven't been below 200lbs since the late 80's....so, 42lbs it is.....always. :oops: Oh....and as a B.T.W.. a decrease of even 2-4lbs in the front tire, causes my mileage to start dropping. That was the first indicator, that I didn't realize 'till later, that my front tire had been compromised.
 

EricV

Riding, farkling, riding...
2011 Site Supporter
2012 Site Supporter
2013 Site Supporter
2014 Site Supporter
Joined
May 22, 2011
Messages
8,227
Location
Tupelo, MS
It's very subjective. One riders "fully loaded" is a laughably light load to others. My fully loaded puts bike and rider over 1k lbs by a healthy margin. I ran 36F/42R and got tire life like BibBob with more on the rear. 17k miles to the wear bars on an E07 Dakar. Fronts almost always over 20k on bias ply tires.

Play with it and keep in mind that tire pressure is simply load dependent. If you're bigger and your load is bigger, you're going to need more pressure. I felt the 33F from the manual was waaaay too low. Excess tire wear resulted from that, for me. I got better mileage and tire life running the pressures listed above. I always ran fully loaded with panniers, fuel cell, gal of water, tank bag, etc. Some of these riders have no luggage at all and see 50 mpg US.
 

bigbob

Well-Known Member
2014 Site Supporter
Joined
Sep 9, 2014
Messages
1,671
Location
Des Moines, IA
I got better mileage and tire life running the pressures listed above. I always ran fully loaded with panniers, fuel cell, gal of water, tank bag, etc. Some of these riders have no luggage at all and see 50 mpg US.
Since I am BIGBob when I go for a day ride with nothing on the bike but jacket and helmet I am 300 lbs. taking a trip add 75-100 in clothes and stuff.

If I am meeting Limey add 5-10 pounds of scotch!
 

Shuckers

Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2019
Messages
33
Location
Folkestone UK
I’m 6ft3 17.5 stone and run at 36 front 42 rear, works well for me. Also have 1150GS which I run at same pressure as it also has the same size tyres as ST.
 
B

ballisticexchris

Guest
It's very subjective. One riders "fully loaded" is a laughably light load to others. My fully loaded puts bike and rider over 1k lbs by a healthy margin. I ran 36F/42R and got tire life like BibBob with more on the rear. 17k miles to the wear bars on an E07 Dakar. Fronts almost always over 20k on bias ply tires.
Actually my bike is well in the proper weight rating range. I'm between 800lbs and 900lbs GVWR when fully loaded. If you are over 1K that is close maxing out the safe GVWR of the bike.

When I weighed in at the scales I think I remember just being shy of 900lbs ready to ride. This is not a laughably light load. I'm fully self contained for a multi day ride including water. 32/36 cold and great traction with no excessive heat buildup. OEM 33/42 is safer for those who want to "set it and forget it". I'm always checking my pressure and tire condition at every stop I get off the bike.

Pretty standard load right here:
803AEC53-36AD-4DF8-9A7B-326743D9FF09.jpeg
Maximum GVWR of the Super Tenere is 1,036lbs. Anything over that is very unsafe. You are risking the chance of unstable handling, overcoming the brakes (increased stopping distance), suspension and tire failure. Also running cheap bias ply hard compound tires down to the wear bar is as a recipe for catastrophic blow out.
 

EricV

Riding, farkling, riding...
2011 Site Supporter
2012 Site Supporter
2013 Site Supporter
2014 Site Supporter
Joined
May 22, 2011
Messages
8,227
Location
Tupelo, MS
My bike was set up for my load. Ohlins 30mm kit in the forks and Touratech shock, sprung for my weight. You're idea of very unsafe is different from mine, as is our experiences. Few tires are cheap. Don't take it personally Chris, you'll never be a contender here in the world of big bikes. You do what seems best for you and we will do the same for ourselves.
 

Checkswrecks

Ungenear to broked stuff
Staff member
Global Moderator
2011 Site Supporter
Joined
Mar 7, 2011
Messages
11,489
Location
Damascus, MD
No worries Fireplaces. Tires are designed to a target amount of sidewall flex, which is dependent primarily upon the load but also other conditions. The numbers given in the owners manual are suggestions and approximate. Take them as a starting point to see what works for you and how you ride. The pressure you use if you are in the dirt a lot will make the bike squirm when on pavement and playing street racer. The optimum pavement pressure for fast corners will give you less traction off road. The three bikes you cited are all more of a street sport touring flavor than the Tenere so those manufacturers probably estimated that the higher numbers would be a good starting point for those owners.

As Sierra noted, the 34 number will wear a touch faster than 36 or 38 but not horribly so. Play with the pressures to see what makes you most comfortable. On a somewhat related note, look up some of the threads about setting suspension sag and damping too. ;)

Actually my bike is well in the proper weight rating range. I'm between 800lbs and 900lbs GVWR when fully loaded. If you are over 1K that is close maxing out the safe GVWR of the bike.
. . .
Maximum GVWR of the Super Tenere is 1,036lbs. Anything over that is very unsafe. You are risking the chance of unstable handling, overcoming the brakes (increased stopping distance), suspension and tire failure. Also running cheap bias ply hard compound tires down to the wear bar is as a recipe for catastrophic blow out.
Chris -
The max GVWR as a number was set at a combination of factors and "Anything over that is [NOT] very unsafe." Over that weight typically means that the rider is beyond one particular test vehicles' performance which met NHTSA FMVSS 122. I'm going to guess that not one of us are going to try to stop a max GVWR Super Tenere, from the specified speeds, after burnishing the set of pads from 120 mph, in 6 max performance stops, without letting the brakes cool, in both wet and dry, while noting that the hand lever pressure does not exceed 250 Newtons.

I'm not suggesting that anybody exceed the placarded GVWR, I'm just stating that it's a bit like Chicken Little ("the sky is falling") to say that being heavier than the GVWR means "Anything over that is very unsafe."

As for going beyond tire wear bars, that's just dragging in a totally separate subject.
 

Tenman

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2013
Messages
2,102
Location
Natchez Ms USA
I have had a bunch of front tires wear uneven at factory pressure. When I went to higher pressures my wearing problems went away. I run 40 front and 42 rear.
 

squarebore

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2013
Messages
887
Location
Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
I did some rider training with the police a few years ago and we did max braking effort from 100km/hr. This was also videoed. It was amazing how much the front tyre flattened out. Must have increased the traction area by 3 times. That was at 33psi front. I don't think 40 psi front would be good in that situation. Ill try and find the video.

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk
 

Tenman

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2013
Messages
2,102
Location
Natchez Ms USA
I can turn off my abs and lift my back tire off the ground with 40lbs and I weigh 230lbs. 33 lbs is probably best for stopping and in general though. I did some unofficial Brake test and I could stop a little faster everytime with abs off. However I do always run abs unless I'm doing something kinda technical offroad. I forgot to turn it back on the other day and had to brake hard on a wet road and skidded sideways. Left a skid mark in my Hanes too.
 
Top