[Desp]

I got baracuda 110/70/17 and 130/70/17's and it says max load blah blah
max tire PSI 40. Is that what I should keep my tires at? I finally rememberd to get a tire gauge and my tires are at 22 and 16 PSI back/front. I think thats a little low...

 

[gogs11uk]

No m8 dont put it to the max as it says on the tyre. In the manual it should give you a guide for pressures when one up or with a pillion etc.

Most seem to be around 28psi front and 28psi rear one up or 32psi two up. You should be safe enough at that but its always best to get the correct tyre pressures.

Remember to check them when they are cold m8 as when you run the bike and the tyres warm up, you wil get a false reading.

THe settings you are showing are a bit on the soft side.

hope this helps m8

 

[ZX-2R]

TIRE PRESSURE

I have a big beef with KAWASAKI Manuals...not being more specific with specifications. Just like your car/truck tire pressure depends upon several factors. Weight being one of them, performance being one of them, and surface being yet another... IF you are going long distance you blow your vehicle tires up on your car to max for the greatest fuel economy, yet on the track/autocross you want to adjust them for no scuffing/skipping so that you have all the tire surface on the ground. With weight in the car say two large people in the back seat and a trunk load of gear you need more presure or you will blow the tires because they wil be underinflated and get hot and eventually fail...Stock cars get to a point like oin NASCAR where less than a pound of pressure makes a difference in racing...same holds true when you have postage size contact patches on your bike tires. Are you heavy, light, carry lots of gear, ride with a passenger...are you riding high-speed, or slow speed around town, are the roads wet...how much tread do you have on yor tires, are they stock tires from the factory or are they crusier tires or a softer compound or perhaps a sport racing tire, softer? Myabe I'm not answering your question to the fullest, but you can understand the difficulty in trying to answer your question without all of the answers. Do you ride in sand, loose soil, gravel/clay/sand roads...What bike are you riding, and what are you using it for. If you weigh 180 and you have no gear other than riding gear, it would depend upon what bike you were riding and the tire compound and speeds that were common. Drawing several chalk marks across the entire tread front and rear will get you into a ball-park figure once the tires are warmed up. then find the cold pressure reading and use it. Depending upon where you live humidity (moisture in the air makes a lot of difference in tire pressure/expansion when the tire gets hot. Serious racers use Nitrogen in their tires to prevent such extremes in pressure changes as it is dry and is not affected by temperature changes as much as cheaper air from an air pump. Aircraft use nitrogen just for this reason. I hope that you find this interesting and not a lecture...understanding what you are riding and why it is so important is knowledge that can save your life...and the tires will last longer because ther isn't as much heat build up with Nitrogen...You must have an airport nearby an you must have some racing guru's that will tell you about how minor changes in tire pressure makes a big difference in racing. Wet weather on the highways you use a higher pressure to evacuate water from the tires...in the sand you may wish to reduce the pressure for a better grip in mud and snow or even rock climbing...) Tire pressure is VERY important when you have just such little between you and the road. Optimizing it is a must for your safety...knowledge of what/how to adjust it is necessary for a variety of conditions which Kawasaki dosen't feel necessary to convey in their manuals. I love Kawasaki products. I think that they have a slight edge in the market, but their documentation fo rthe consumer is severly lacking. You want to make matters worse...check your manual for weight to adjust your stock suspension...this is a point/area that is very out of date and needs proper attention. Adjustments like this, are rediculous, and I cannot see how Kawasaki can continue to do business without changing its recommendations, or face legal consequences, and costly court battles with messy class action settlements. I AM NOT an attorney...only an avid Kawasaki fan that loves and believes in a seperior product, that happens to be behind in its documentation...PLEASE excuse my long winded response. I am very concerned for my hobby, and the only Japanese company that still produces a 250 class bike, that is worth every penny asked for it.

 

[Desp]

Well... that makes sense... but how do i calculate all of that? ok, 10 or 1 PSI makes a difference, makes sense. now what? underneath the seat on a sticker it says front 32 psi rear tire 36 psi, so I might just put it at that. the tires themself say 44 max, right now they have 32 in them both.

 

[ZX-2R]

AIR ADJUSTMENT

Start with the seat recommendations...44 is what the tire will take with the maximum load on it...if you were to block the front tire up the same level as the scales and then look at the scale and had that much weight then you would want about that much air... take the front tire down by 2 pounds at a time until you start to feel the bike acting different...like sliding...then add a couple more pounds up to make it quit....then do the same with the rear tire, letting pressure out a couple pounds at a time till the bike starts to feel mushy in corners, then add a couple of pounds and try that as a base line....adding a pound or two to front and or back till it corners like it is on rails...anytime you change the load on your bike, like two-up riding or loading 35 pounds of college biooks to the rear seat it will make a difference and you will have to ad air to make it handle right, then remove the air when you remove the weight, or you will have to much air. It's btter to have a LITTLE to much than not enough. You get better fuel economy but to much air beyond that takes away from your tire patch (contact with the surface). Finding the optimum depends upon lots of things even on pure blacktop and concrete,,,that's why 1/2 pound air changes in NASCAR are made and they make a big difference between winning and losing ground. IF you go on a road trip with your car inflate the tires an extra 4PSI, you get a rougher ride, but the payoff is worth what little tread wear you might lose in the payoff with fuel saved! Most people run their tires underinflated anyway to get that cushy ride. IF you have more tread on the inside of your car tires than the outside you are running underinflated..to much wear on the inside and equal wear on both the out sides of the tire you are running over inflated. Motorcycle tires are baloon tires, so even if you take a baloon tire and never lean it over just drive long distances and very seldom use the sides of the tires like in corners they will wear flat in the center....or if you constantly do burnouts you will wear the centers out...so there are some differences...