Tire Pressure XL1200C

[fin_676]

Hoop,

The Max on the side wall is the max. Not the amount the tire must be inflated to. The bike/manufacturer stipulates the specs of the inflation requirement for the handling and load rating characteristics. It's perfectly safe and fine to have the tires inflated to less than what the side wall indicates.

Also, you don't need to equipe your bike with the exact OEM tires, you can put on any tire that meets or exceeds the OEM specs for the bike. But, don't let the tire dictate the required pressure. It's the bike/MoCo engineers that do that after extensive testing and R&D for each and every bike.

The only exception is for bikes that are riden off road. Street, stunt, dirt. You can adjust tire pressure for the conditions required.

Do what you like but, you're not helping your ride by over inflating.

I think you missed the point here hoople quoted the metzler recommended tyre presure for his bike with the tyres fitted
the moco quotes the recommended presure for the oem tyre not for every tyre brand that will fit the bike a good tyre manufacturer will have tested their product on many different bikes and quote their reccomended pressure if you are in any way unsure use the 4 psi differential rule i posted erlier that will give a good indication of a fair pressure for your bike with your load the moco does not test the tyre pressures on the bike with every conceivable after market add on fitted its for the stock bike with stock tyres and an average weight rider of i think 160 lbs

Brian

 

[Hoople]

Hoop,

But, don't let the tire dictate the required pressure. It's the bike/MoCo engineers that do that after extensive testing and R&D for each and every bike.

Nakkers, As much as I would like to, I can not agree. I am not quoting MAX pressure,, see chart below. The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster is a prime example of what happens when you ask the project engineers (NASA) instead of the Component Engineers (Morton-Thiokol) which is correct way to use a particular component.
The project or shuttle in this case is the completed Bike. The tires (a vendor component) needs to be looked at as the "O" ring and it's design. I am sure you can agree that NASA has some of the most brilliant minds out there but they still always consult with the manufacture of the individual components.

The MoCo also has some Great design people and I am sure their R&D is extensive. But I would bet the MoCo states a tires pressure based on the brand/make/model of TIRE and not frame design or ride comfort.

Take a look at the Metzeler chart below. I also spoke to a Factory rep during Daytona Bike week and hammer him with this question. The owners manual that came with my bike states 36 psi rear pressure with 1 up and 40 PSI with 2 up. Metzeler who makes my current tires states a Minimum of 44 PSI and Max of 50 PSI. Minimum to me would mean 1 up cold pressure. If I followed the owners manual, I would be 8 psi under inflated (44-36=8). The factory rep also told me the same thing. Don't go by the owners manual. Go by the tire manufacturer.

So now your stepping aboard the Shuttle for a flight into space. It's 34 degrees outside. The "o" ring company says we have not tested this "o" ring design below 58 degrees. NASA say "No problem all systems Go" Who's word would YOU trust. The people who made the Shuttle or the people who designed the "O" ring.

 

[Hoople]

I think you missed the point here hoople quoted the metzler recommended tyre presure for his bike with the tyres fitted
the moco quotes the recommended presure for the oem tyre not for every tyre brand that will fit the bike a good tyre manufacturer will have tested their product on many different bikes and quote their reccomended pressure if you are in any way unsure use the 4 psi differential rule i posted erlier that will give a good indication of a fair pressure for your bike with your load the moco does not test the tyre pressures on the bike with every conceivable after market add on fitted its for the stock bike with stock tyres and an average weight rider of i think 160 lbs

Brian

Brian,
I was quoting the inflate pressure. Here is what I mean. This info is right out of Metzeler's catalog. This is the tire I now have on my rear wheel.

160/70B17 TL 79V Load Capacity 963 MINIMUM Tire Pressure 44 lbs and Maximum Tire pressure 50 lbs. The above chart shows my tire marked in red ink. Would you read that chart and inflate the tire to 36psi?

The Dunlop rear that came on the bike was 36 solo PSI.

Hoople

 

[fin_676]

Hoople i understand exactly your point in that your tyre manufacturer reccomends a compleatley different set of pressures than that which is reccomended in the factory manual and id certainley go with the tyre manufacturer
however i tend to adjust pressure to suit me and the state of my bikes and with stock tyres i find that the pressure is a wee bit soft and prefer to find my own best working pressure but ive never been close to max pressure as on the side of the tyre

Brian

 

[Hoople]

Brian,
Yes I understand. I will tell you those tire pressures Metzeler quotes are almost spooky to me. I could not believe what I was reading. We are talking almost 10 psi difference. I hammered that Metzeler rep but he insisted to run those high pressures. I sure hope he is right because if I vanish 1 day without any word, this may be the reason why.

I am going to cross check those numbers with Metzeler once again and see if they repeat what they told me back in February. I could see 40psi, but 44 to 50 just seems so high to me.

I wish there were some other Metzeler Marathon 880 uses out there that have already been in this loop. Seems like I am blazing a new trail.

 

[fin_676]

Ive just changed the tyres on the dyna and the softail is next was looking at the me 880 as a possible but not made my mind up yet as i dont really do much in the way of spirited riding anymore and if i wanted to the softail isnt really up to it
did notice a bit of a weave starting when softail pushed hard in a bend sort of 85 plus but front tyre is getting low on tread but i do have a strange set of tyres on the bike with a d401 on the rear and some strange metzler on the front but i usually ride at 70 ish but sometimes you just have to show the sport bike riders that a harley isnt dead

Brian

 

[nakkers]

Hoop/Fin. My apologies. Thought going with the side wall, not the inflation ratings provided by the tire manufacturer itself on a separate chart.

Question to Hoop, does the Metz tires have the min and max pressures stamped on the sidewall? Not sure how many owners of upgraded tires would know there is chart to refer to.

Cheers fellas.

 

[fin_676]

As tyres have many applications then they are not marked with any specific numbers only the max pressure applicable to the tyre
usually you can get a fitment/pressure chart from the website but many are difficult to navigate and find the required info
so i tend to do my own testing of any tyre to get it correct for my ride and the difference of 4 psi from cold to hot just seems to be right for me

Brian

 

[NEWHD74FAN]

Brian,
Yes I understand. I will tell you those tire pressures Metzler quotes are almost spooky to me. I could not believe what I was reading. We are talking almost 10 psi difference. I hammered that Metzler rep but he insisted to run those high pressures. I sure hope he is right because if I vanish 1 day without any word, this may be the reason why.

I am going to cross check those numbers with Metzler once again and see if they repeat what they told me back in February. I could see 40psi, but 44 to 50 just seems so high to me.

I wish there were some other Metzler Marathon 880 uses out there that have already been in this loop. Seems like I am blazing a new trail.

Hoop, actually as a user of the Metzelers Marathon 880 I "started" with the standard 30/36 recommended setting on my XL1200R, but DID find them too "soft" and ended up with 34/42 'til they were done. Why?, as the tires wore, the wear pattern on the tread and handling in hard sweepers...couple that with 2-Up riding made it a necessity. Yeah only took about 2 years to wear both front and rear out...so the good and bad news, Metzlers ran great, just did not get near mileage one would have expected...don't think I am nearly as "radical" as Hobbit, but I am back on the Dunlops, armed with the knowledge of how the Metzlers performed. :bigsmiley30:

 

[Hoople]

Hoop/Fin. My apologies. Thought going with the side wall, not the inflation ratings provided by the tire manufacturer itself on a separate chart.

Nakkers, No apology necessary. That is what this Forum is all about. To have a dialog and brainstorm new & fresh ideas with other members. The best is when we group our experiences together and smoke out the lies and weed out the junk the Manufactures are telling and selling us!! That's the ultimate for me. The internet finally gives the small voice some power.

But back to the issue at hand. I went out and looked at the side of my rear tire. It says maximum tire pressure 50 PSI COLD with a max load capacity of 963 @ 50 psi. So in my eyes that would mean maybe 53-54psi when Hot (maybe?). That's high but I guess it's OK....I mean how else can we look at it.

Because those numbers (44-50 psi) do seem high to me also, I have actually been running my rear at like 42 cold. But I have to say, these tires do have grip. I have not been caught in the wet with these new tires yet so I don't know what to expect. The Dunlops were scary in the wet and I am actually looking forward to seeing how these perform.