Contact Patch: Recommended Motorcycle Tire Pressures are Wrong
Summary
TLDRThis script discusses the importance of tire pressure for motorcycles, emphasizing that it should be adjusted based on climate, rider weight, riding style, and tire type. It suggests starting with manufacturer recommendations but testing different pressures to find the optimal balance between grip and tire longevity. The speaker shares a real-world example of testing tire pressure on a 2007 Bandit 1250S with new Pirelli Rosso tires, highlighting the need for personalization and the impact of speed and climate on tire performance.
Takeaways
- 🌍 Tire pressure recommendations on motorcycles are universal but should be adapted to local climate conditions.
- 🏍️ For riders in colder climates like Iceland, tire pressure should be adjusted higher than for those in warmer climates like Doha.
- 🚦 Commuting and riding style (longevity vs. comfort) influence tire pressure settings, with different pressures for daily commuting versus weekend riding.
- 🏁 The weight of the bike and rider combination is a critical factor in determining the appropriate tire pressure.
- ⏱️ The duration of rides affects tire pressure; longer rides generate more heat, potentially requiring higher pressure.
- 🚦 Speed and cornering force impact tire pressure; faster speeds and more aggressive cornering may necessitate higher pressures.
- 🌡️ Climate plays a significant role in tire pressure; colder climates may require higher pressures, while warmer climates might need lower pressures.
- 🔍 It's important to question the source of tire pressure recommendations and consider if they apply to your specific riding conditions.
- 🛠️ Testing different tire pressures in real-world conditions is essential to find the optimal pressure for your motorcycle and riding style.
- 💡 The balance between tire longevity and grip is influenced by tire pressure, with higher pressures generally offering better longevity and lower pressures providing more grip.
Q & A
Why is tire pressure important for a motorcycle?
-Tire pressure is crucial for motorcycle performance, safety, and longevity. It affects handling, grip, and the lifespan of the tires.
How does climate affect tire pressure on a motorcycle?
-Climate influences tire pressure due to temperature changes. In colder climates, pressure may decrease, while in hotter climates, it can increase, affecting the tire's performance.
What should a rider consider when determining tire pressure for their motorcycle?
-Riders should consider factors like climate, weight of the bike and rider, type of riding (commuting or long rides), and the specific tire model being used.
Why might a motorcycle's recommended tire pressure differ from what's listed on the motorcycle or tire manufacturer's data?
-Recommended tire pressure can differ due to variations in climate, riding conditions, and the specific motorcycle and tire model being used. It's essential to adjust pressure to suit individual needs and conditions.
What is the significance of the tire pressure sticker on a motorcycle?
-The tire pressure sticker provides a starting point for tire pressure settings but should be adjusted based on the rider's specific conditions and preferences.
How can a rider determine the optimal tire pressure for their motorcycle?
-A rider can determine optimal tire pressure by testing different pressure settings during actual riding conditions, considering factors like speed, climate, and road type.
Why is it important to adjust tire pressure based on the length and speed of a motorcycle ride?
-The length and speed of a ride can generate heat in the tires, affecting pressure and performance. Adjusting pressure based on these factors ensures optimal handling and tire life.
What is the role of tire pressure in motorcycle safety?
-Proper tire pressure is essential for motorcycle safety as it affects braking, handling, and the overall stability of the bike, reducing the risk of accidents.
How can a rider test different tire pressures to find the best setting for their motorcycle?
-A rider can test different pressures by adjusting the pressure, riding the motorcycle under consistent conditions, and noting how the bike handles at each setting.
What is the trade-off between tire longevity and grip when adjusting tire pressure?
-Higher tire pressure may increase tire longevity but reduce grip, while lower pressure can improve grip but decrease tire life. Finding the right balance is key for optimal performance.
Outlines
🏍️ Tire Pressure Considerations for Motorcycles
This paragraph discusses the importance of tire pressure for motorcycles, emphasizing that it should be adjusted according to the climate, rider's weight, type of riding, and the length of rides. It highlights the need to consider the local climate, such as in Iceland versus Doha, and the impact of commuting versus weekend riding. The paragraph also touches on the significance of the combined weight of the bike and rider, especially for lightweight bikes like the Yamaha R3, and how it influences tire pressure. It raises questions about the duration and speed of rides, suggesting that longer rides and higher speeds may require higher tire pressures due to increased heat generation. The paragraph concludes by encouraging riders to question the default tire pressure recommendations and to consider their specific riding conditions and preferences.
📏 Customizing Tire Pressure for Personal Riding Conditions
The second paragraph delves into the process of determining the optimal tire pressure for an individual's motorcycle, using the example of a 2007 Bandit 1250S with new Pirelli Rosso tires. It explains the need to consider the bike's weight, riding speed, and climate when setting tire pressure. The speaker shares their personal riding habits, such as average speed and the time of day they typically ride, to illustrate how these factors can influence tire pressure. The paragraph also describes a testing protocol to find the most comfortable and effective tire pressure by incrementally adjusting the pressure and riding to assess the feel and performance of the bike. The importance of consistency in testing conditions is emphasized to accurately determine the ideal tire pressure for a rider's specific circumstances.
🔍 Finding the Optimal Tire Pressure Through Testing
The final paragraph focuses on the testing process to determine the best tire pressure for a motorcycle. It explains the relationship between tire pressure and handling, where higher pressures maintain tire shape and lower pressures increase the contact patch for better grip. The speaker advocates for a methodical approach to testing different tire pressures to find the one that offers the best balance of longevity and grip for the rider's specific conditions. The paragraph also discusses the trade-offs between grip and tire life, and how different tire compounds and constructions can affect performance. The speaker plans to repeat the testing protocol with different tire brands and models to ensure the findings are consistent and applicable to a variety of tire options.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Tire Pressure
💡Climate
💡Longevity
💡Riding Style
💡Weight
💡Tire Compound
💡Ride Duration
💡Speed
💡Tire Deformation
💡Testing Protocol
💡Grip
Highlights
Tire pressure should reflect the climate where you live.
Commuting habits affect tire pressure, considering longevity and comfort.
The weight of the bike and rider is a critical factor in determining tire pressure.
Riding duration influences tire pressure due to heat generation during long rides.
Speed plays a role in tire pressure, especially when exceeding speed limits.
Tire pressure recommendations on the motorcycle should be adapted to local climate.
For slow riders, lower tire pressure can reduce stress on the tire.
Higher speeds may require higher tire pressure to handle cornering forces.
Tire pressure is a balance between longevity and grip.
The sticker's tire pressure is a starting point, not a universal recommendation.
Asking 'why' helps in understanding the context behind tire pressure recommendations.
Tire technology has advanced, making modern tires more reliable.
Manufacturers provide tire pressure recommendations based on specific tests and conditions.
It's important to test and find the optimal tire pressure for your specific riding conditions.
Higher tire pressure maintains tire shape, while lower pressure increases contact patch.
Consistency in testing will yield the best results for determining tire pressure.
Understanding the trade-off between grip and longevity helps in choosing the right tire pressure.
The process of finding the right tire pressure involves testing different pressures in real-world conditions.
Transcripts
one of the items that we'll find listed
somewhere on the motorcycle
the little data table with precious four
tires who's that for
exactly if that bike let's say a Yamaha
r3 is sold all over the world in every
climate imaginable open to every sized
human on the planet who can write it
what's that sticker mean first thing
about pressure for tires is climate if
you're living in Iceland and there are
some great motorcyclists in Iceland they
know because I've worked with a few it's
generally cold and in summer it gets
warmer but it doesn't get to
temperatures that you would see in Doha
at low sale circuit
tire pressure should reflect where you
live
do you commute if you commute all the
time then your tire pressures going to
be derived on the data point of
longevity it may not it may be derived
on the point of comfort and absorbing
all the expansion joints in the motorway
or freeway that you ride on so we've got
to figure out what type of writing you
do we also have to figure out the weight
of the bike in the rider and our three
doesn't weigh a whole lot and generally
the people that ride those bikes
generally don't weigh a whole lot either
if the combined weight is quite low type
of writing they do is fairly slow do
they need high tire pressure it's a good
question to ask how long you do ride for
do you ride thirty minutes to work every
day at 30 minutes home do you only ride
on the weekends and you ride in bursts
of about an hour do you ride on the
weekends and ride 200 miles let it go
what's the length of the ride because
the longer you ride the more heat you're
gonna generate in the tires then what's
the actual speed you go through the
cornice at so one of the questions often
asked in countries like Australia and
New Zealand is if you see a sign that
says 65
that's an hour for the corner what are
you going through that and don't lie to
me tell me the truth and no ego oh I'll
do it at 85 okay well if you're going 20
miles an hour over the posted limit how
much is the tire being crushed with
their extra cornering speed and
cornering force tire pressure need may
need to be higher because you're going
faster so if your average climate is 40
to 70 Fahrenheit that's pretty cool if
your average climate is 70 to 110
Fahrenheit that's going to be a totally
different tire pressure than this one if
you're a very slow rider then if you're
going slow you're not creating a lot of
duress on the tire so your pressure can
go down and be lower if you're faster
but your S on the tires is high so
you're gonna go higher so some very
simple common-sense or logical approach
to tire pressure because if you see that
listed on your bike the most important
part about that is who is it for what
climates what type of riding what's the
combo what bike was it tested on for
that data to be true how far did they
write on it and what was the speed they
were doing to come up with that if that
is a universal recommendation for every
human on the planet on most motorcycles
made does that make sense
it makes sense that you need somewhere
to start from but it doesn't make sense
if you're making your motorcycle your
own be the annoying seven-year-old why
why why why so when you get information
like this ask why is that number what if
your bike is a 2000
6r1 Yamaha if you are putting 2019 tires
on that bike is what's on the label for
that bike those tires are extinct
they might not exist anymore if you see
those numbers are they appropriate for a
2019 tire we are blessed with tires
these days and have been for about the
last 10 years ties have been amazing
there's also another historical
perspective here based on the bike that
you have and the tires that you are
purchasing for it because these are our
most consumed item right and maybe the
tires you are buying come with a front
and a rear recommendation oh really
why so at that point you can either
accept what's on the bike in the
documentation or on the sticker or you
can go you're buying new current tires
you can read up on that tire and see
what the given pressure and pressure
range from the manufacturers before you
buy the tire and put it on the bike so
at that point we've got a much clearer
picture about the tire pressure that we
might start with let's use a real world
example of this and take all that
ethereal stuff and bring it to here so
my bike is a 2007 bandit 1250s I'm going
to install new tires on that motorcycle
and they are going to be Pirelli Rosso
two tires it's gonna be a 120 70 front
and it's gonna be a 190 55 rear that's
what I'm choosing now the sticker on my
bike has 36 front 42 rear the tires that
that bike came with don't exist anymore
so I am going to start over so my first
thing about this is well
what pressures do I want first question
is bike plus rider weight it's a lot
it's big heavy bike it's got three
luggage boxes on it and I'm not like so
it's carrying a ton of weight how do I
ride I ride relatively slow on the roads
so I will do 60 to 75 mph on average
that's my comfort zone in which I can
relax and enjoy what I'm doing next
thing what is the climate well at this
point we're getting into summer and
we're starting to see higher temps and
generally where I will ride the bike
the average temp in summer is going to
be 70 Fahrenheit to 105 Fahrenheit so
it's gonna be hot and generally my
writing is gonna be between 10 a.m. to 4
p.m. if I choose to go right that's my
window of writing we figured out all the
variables we need to know now about
getting that detached picture with this
brand and that compound tires because
they're being put on the bike now
precious I'm not gonna go off what the
manual says and I'm not going to go off
what the recommended pressure is by the
manufacturer I am going to test I'm
gonna figure out what I want how does
that work I'm gonna start at 42 cold
front and rear
[Music]
it's hot
a cold pressure when by Nyame it's 70
degrees Fahrenheit isn't a cold pressure
it is a summer pressure versus a winter
or spring pressure whereas significantly
colder maybe by 40 degrees so I'm going
to start here with the cold pressure and
then I'm gonna go ride for about 40
minutes that guess the suspension and
the tires completely heated up a nice
and hot so everything's at optimum
temperature now you might find if you
check your pressure again when you've
arrived at this place depending on the
temperature in the pastry road that you
gained 3 so all of a sudden now we are
at 45 45 hot that's perfectly normal
because the long you ride the more you
heat up the air and the tire in the
water vapor allows pressure to gain so
that's fine so once I know this number
now I'm gonna run a test protocol and I
am going to run 43 43 41 41 39 39 and 37
37 same road same speed and I'm going to
provide the greatest level of
consistency I can so I'm testing here
are these hot pressures and I'm gonna
find on the roads I ride the speed I
ride at the bike I own with these tires
that are brand new to me
that I have not ridden on this bike
before which pressure did I enjoy the
most so what does enjoy mean which
pressure made me feel the most
comfortable on my bike or which pressure
gave me lots of information so I could
be comfortable or which pressure took
away a lot of the bumps in the road so I
realize
or which pressure made the bike flick
sites aside really easy but afterwards
made it really hard to move it from out
side to side so it's too much work
there's lots of ways in which you can
figure out what fun enjoyment means by
doing this testing to find the pressure
you need the other side of that is once
you figure out you know I kinda liked
lights the bike best when it was there
okay so for your next ride you can go
ahead and set it at forty to forty to
arrive reset at forty three and then
just drop it to forty one and now you've
got a very close test now maybe you do
it over two to three miles so you can
really get a very good understanding of
what the bike's doing and how it feels
before you make the pressure lower being
consistent will get you great results
getting the tire pressure right there's
a couple of things so the higher
pressure makes the tire keep its shape
better under load the more you lower the
pressure the bigger the contact patch
gets so if you want the bike to move
side to side and you ride on roads where
you're really agile then how your
pressure will give you more shape and
the by could be more flickable if you
want more contact patch because you're
on the side of the tire and you have
long sweeping bends where you live well
maybe this type of deformation of the
tire and a lot more grip is better for
you
I don't know but if you go through the
testing protocol you'll figure out with
that tire in your environment with your
speed being consistent what pressure
will work for you given the season and
the temperatures that you're in because
we have such a huge array of single
compound to compound three compound
tires all different heights
circumference is a profiles the simplest
thing we can do is actually find the
pressure that works for us and in the
end what that pressure does is put us on
a continuum that is longevity and grip
and somewhere on that continuum your
credit card your debit card or your cash
sits what do you want higher pressure
better longevity lower pressure more
grip with a little bit of testing you
can figure out exactly how the make the
tires work best for your bike and then
once you've figured that out based on
the pressure and where you're at then
there's an expectation about why those
tires will only last as long as they did
because paying for grip is the price of
speed race tires last a hundred and
fifty miles maybe maybe on a good day
how long do on your road tires to last
3,000 miles 8,000 kilometers what do you
need well part of that is centered here
so take the time to do the testing to
find the pressure that works for you
when answering the questions I posed
earlier to give you that level of
information this is an example for the
bar the tires that are going onto my
bike now I am going to use a different
brand next time and a different model
because I can and in doing that I am
going to go through this test protocol
and do exactly the same test
irrespective of the brand of tire the
model of tire the size of the tire I am
going to run this test
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