Has anybody ever been in a situation where they were tempted to
*reduce* air pressure in their tires for comfort during a ride?

The recommended minimum air pressure and suspension settings
in my Yamaha FZR1000 owner's manual don't work for me.

The area I live in has rather extreme temperature variations which I
doubt ever occur in Japan where the test riders must have
determined the recommended settings.

It can be 55 degrees in the morning here and I set my rear tire
pressure to the minimum 36 psi recommended by the manual.

I have the rear suspension preload backed off almost to the minimum.
Backing off any more will result in bottoming.

By midafternoon, the temperature is up around 100 degrees and the
pavement temperature has to be at least 120 degrees.

The rear tire pressure rises to 40 psi and the motorcycle becomes a
torture rack over the roughly paved county road that is the last 20
miles of my route.

I was riding slowly along the bumpy back road yesterday when I saw the
lights of a bunch of Harley riders behind me, so I moved to the right
and let a dozen bikes pass me.

They were riding twice as fast as I could go, and I suspect that
their balloon tires and softtail suspensions made for a much more
comfortable ride than my sporty bike.

I wonder how much air pressure Texas Harley riders use in their back
tires, during hot weather.

? <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> The area I live in has rather extreme temperature variations which I
> doubt ever occur in Japan where the test riders must have
> determined the recommended settings.

Wrong.

Try different tyres.


--
BMW K1100LT Ducati 750SS Honda CB400F Triumph Street Triple
Suzuki TS250ER GN250 Damn, back to six bikes!
Try Googling before asking a damn silly question.
chateau dot murray at idnet dot com

"?" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:2b0e071a-8b25-4e51-b841-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Has anybody ever been in a situation where they were tempted to
> *reduce* air pressure in their tires for comfort during a ride?
>
> The recommended minimum air pressure and suspension settings
> in my Yamaha FZR1000 owner's manual don't work for me.
>
> The area I live in has rather extreme temperature variations which I
> doubt ever occur in Japan where the test riders must have
> determined the recommended settings.
>
> It can be 55 degrees in the morning here and I set my rear tire
> pressure to the minimum 36 psi recommended by the manual.
>
> I have the rear suspension preload backed off almost to the minimum.
> Backing off any more will result in bottoming.
>
> By midafternoon, the temperature is up around 100 degrees and the
> pavement temperature has to be at least 120 degrees.
>
> The rear tire pressure rises to 40 psi and the motorcycle becomes a
> torture rack over the roughly paved county road that is the last 20
> miles of my route.
>
> I was riding slowly along the bumpy back road yesterday when I saw the
> lights of a bunch of Harley riders behind me, so I moved to the right
> and let a dozen bikes pass me.
>
> They were riding twice as fast as I could go, and I suspect that
> their balloon tires and softtail suspensions made for a much more
> comfortable ride than my sporty bike.
>
> I wonder how much air pressure Texas Harley riders use in their back
> tires, during hot weather.

Instead of just backing off preload, adjust compression and rebound too.
Or buy some good suspension bits...it is amazing how much better the good
aftermarket rear shocks are.

--
Andrew

On Jun 8, 12:51*pm, "Andrew" <yogig.nos...@hotmail.no.spam.m.com>
wrote:
> Instead of just backing off preload, adjust compression and rebound too.

Not adjustable.

> Or buy some good suspension bits...it is amazing how much better the good
> aftermarket rear shocks are.

That's not in the budget for this fiscal lifetime...

On Jun 8, 1:15*pm, "?" <breoganmacbr...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Has anybody ever been in a situation where they were tempted to
> *reduce* air pressure in their tires for comfort during a ride?
>
> The recommended minimum air pressure and suspension settings
> in my Yamaha FZR1000 owner's manual don't work for me.
>
> The area I live in has rather extreme temperature variations which I
> doubt ever occur in Japan where the test riders must have
> determined the recommended settings.
>
> It can be 55 degrees in the morning here and I set my rear tire
> pressure to the minimum 36 psi recommended by the manual.
>
> I have the rear suspension preload backed off almost to the minimum.
> Backing off any more will result in bottoming.
>
> By midafternoon, the temperature is up around 100 degrees and the
> pavement temperature has to be at least 120 degrees.
>
> The rear tire pressure rises to 40 psi and the motorcycle becomes a
> torture rack over the roughly paved county road that is the last 20
> miles of my route.

You do realize that you can reduce your tire pressure to 36psi after
it has risen to 40psi, right? You do know that different tire guages
give different readings, right? And you have checked yours to see
that it is not reading 10 or 15% low, which is very common, and could
mean that you are riding around with 44-46 psi in your rear tire once
it comes up to operating temperature, right?

I know an experienced rider like you, riding a liter sportbike, knows
all this already. I'm just mentioning it because you did not mention
it in your whine^h^h^h^h^h post.
>
> I was riding slowly along the bumpy back road yesterday when I saw the
> lights of a bunch of Harley riders behind me, so I moved to the right
> and let a dozen bikes pass me.
>
> They were riding twice as fast as I could go,

This is not a surprise in any way.

> and I suspect that
> their balloon tires and softtail suspensions made for a much more
> comfortable ride than my sporty bike.

Softtail suspension is notorious for its short travel, harsh spring
rates, and poor damping. I suspect that they simply are much more
accomplished, capable, comfortable riders than you are.
>
> I wonder how much air pressure Texas Harley riders use in their back
> tires, during hot weather.

Why would you wonder that? It has nothing to do with your problems at
all.

On Jun 8, 5:19*pm, "?" <breoganmacbra...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Jun 8, 12:51*pm, "Andrew" <yogig.nos...@hotmail.no.spam.m.com>

> > Or buy some good suspension bits...it is amazing how much better the good
> > aftermarket rear shocks are.
>
> That's not in the budget for this fiscal lifetime...

Then get a real job.

Tim M. <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> You do realize that you can reduce your tire pressure to 36psi after
> it has risen to 40psi, right? You do know that different tire guages
> give different readings, right? And you have checked yours to see
> that it is not reading 10 or 15% low, which is very common, and could
> mean that you are riding around with 44-46 psi in your rear tire once
> it comes up to operating temperature, right?

There's also a reason why tyre and bike manufacturers recommend checking
tyre pressures when cold. It's because they *know* that the pressure
increases as the tyres warm up, and factor that it.



--
BMW K1100LT Ducati 750SS Honda CB400F Triumph Street Triple
Suzuki TS250ER GN250 Damn, back to six bikes!
Try Googling before asking a damn silly question.
chateau dot murray at idnet dot com

Road Glidin' Don <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> On Jun 8, 5:19 pm, "?" <breoganmacbra...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Jun 8, 12:51 pm, "Andrew" <yogig.nos...@hotmail.no.spam.m.com>
>
> > > Or buy some good suspension bits...it is amazing how much better the good
> > > aftermarket rear shocks are.
> >
> > That's not in the budget for this fiscal lifetime...
>
> Then get a real job.

Or any job ;-)


--
BMW K1100LT Ducati 750SS Honda CB400F Triumph Street Triple
Suzuki TS250ER GN250 Damn, back to six bikes!
Try Googling before asking a damn silly question.
chateau dot murray at idnet dot com

On 08/06/2010 18:15, ? wrote:
> Has anybody ever been in a situation where they were tempted to
> *reduce* air pressure in their tires for comfort during a ride?
>
> The recommended minimum air pressure and suspension settings
> in my Yamaha FZR1000 owner's manual don't work for me.
>
> The area I live in has rather extreme temperature variations which I
> doubt ever occur in Japan where the test riders must have
> determined the recommended settings.
>
> It can be 55 degrees in the morning here and I set my rear tire
> pressure to the minimum 36 psi recommended by the manual.
>
> I have the rear suspension preload backed off almost to the minimum.
> Backing off any more will result in bottoming.
>
> By midafternoon, the temperature is up around 100 degrees and the
> pavement temperature has to be at least 120 degrees.
>
> The rear tire pressure rises to 40 psi and the motorcycle becomes a
> torture rack over the roughly paved county road that is the last 20
> miles of my route.

Fill your tyres with nitrogen.
The pressure will not increase so much as they heat up.
Not that it will make any difference....

--
Eiron.
Alazzurra (1985)
GSXR1100L (1990)
XL883L (2008)

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, (E-Mail Removed) says...
> Fill your tyres with nitrogen.
> The pressure will not increase so much as they heat up.
> Not that it will make any difference....

It's a little late now, but I always stock up on spring air. Rides
better than the dead, overly humid summer air. Winter air you have to
be careful with since it freezes easily. Use fall air and you'll come
out one day to see it's come off the side stand.

If they're running hot, try using freon. Just be careful to put it in
on the low pressure side or the can will burst!