Tire pressure

[moondog]

My K1100RS tires say 42 psi fully loaded on the sidewall. I am not often at fully loaded. I had been running them at 42 and recently lowered it to 38psi and the bike is squirrely. The K-bike is kind of top heavy anyway.

What do most riders run at, what is on the tire or what the bike manufacturer says? And do you run it at max or have some of you found a happy medium?

[deilenberger]

The "Max" shown on the side of the tire is the maximum pressure the tire manufacturer has rated the tire at. It is NOT the recommended pressure.

I'd suggest starting with the tire pressures listed on the label under your seat by BMW. You might also check at the tire manufacturer's website - they sometimes list tire pressures by bike model.

[PGlaves]

What Don said.

The number on the sidewall means 2 things.

It is a part of a statement that the maximum load the tire should carry is xxx lbs when inflated to that maximum pressure; and,

that is the maximum safe pressure recommended by the tire manufacturer.

These are not the same thing as the pressure recommended in that tire for your bike - which is usually lower - but not always very much lower.

[moondog]

I kind of thought so but I also heard use what the tire says. Well when I get home to my baby I'll have deflate them a little and see how that feels. I think the K-bike said 36psi.

[zoridog]

I don't know about the 1100 tires so this info may be useless. My K100 seems to like 32 psi front and 37 psi rear.