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Motorcycle Forum / General / Sportbikes / October 2004Tyre Pressures
Hi All, I've recently picked up a 1997 Ducati 750SS. It's got a pair of Michellin 'Macalans' on there. Can someone please give me the rundown on what tyre pressures I should be using? Should I change pressures between the wet and dry? Also - has anyone ever used these? http://www.thetyrepressuremonitor.com/ Comments? Good? Bad? Indifferent? Thanks in Advance, Damien Sawyer >From: "Damien Sawyer" damien@nospam.com >Can someone please give me therundown on what tyre pressures I should be using? Try 34 to 36 psi front and 36 to 38 rear... # * 0 * # ^ >>From: "Damien Sawyer" damien@nospam.com > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Try 34 to 36 psi front and 36 to 38 rear... Seems high. Is that because of bias-ply tires? >> Try 34 to 36 psi front and 36 to 38 rear... >From: ppointer@nospamindspring.com >Seems high. Is that because of bias-ply tires? If you run low air pressure in a hard-ridden bias-ply tire that has a heavy carcass, the tire will scallop badly in a short time and it will wiggle for that reason... Bias-ply tires typically have a rather rigid carcass and don't need as much air to support the tire, and motorcycle radials have a very stiff sidewall built into them. The engineers are depending upon the flexibility of that sidewall to act like a rubber "spring" while the case is allowed to move around sideways and the belts keep the tire from growing radially... Sprint racers might run rather low pressures in order to get their tires to heat up quickly before a race, run those tire for a race weekend, and then sell their "race take-offs" to impecunious street riders trying to save a buck, but... The OP never said *anything* about using his "Macalan" tires on the race track, and tire pressures used for high speed sport touring and general back road friskiness wouldn't be much lower than what I recommended ( 34 to 36 psi front and 36 to 38 rear )... Many years ago, when the tire manufacturers were still making a Iot of sizes of bias-ply race compound tires (just try to find bias-ply race tires now!) I would run about 28 or 29 PSI in the front and about 32 PSI in the rear, and I was having handling problems, specifically speed weaves and wobbles at ~100 mph... The K-291 Dunlop back tire sure heated up quickly on Willow, with over 100 horsepower going through it to the pavement and 32 PSI inside... Rear tire traction was overpowering the front tire's ability to stabilize the chassis... Some racer (who is now editor of some nationally-known sportbike magazine) recommended 34 PSI, up 5 PSI from the 29 PSI I had been running... 34 PSI in the front tire (Michelin Hi-Sport or Dunlop K-291)helped a bit, but I finally solved the speed weave problem by pulling the forks up through the triple clamps a whole inch to make the tire bite... # * 0 * # ^ > Hi All, > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Comments? Good? Bad? Indifferent? I haven't used them, but why not just use a regular dial or digital pressure gauge? I think I'd rather go with the tried and true (and still inexpensive) tool instead of the red-yellow-green gizmo that may or may not work like it should. As for pressures, mid-30s psi is a good place to start. Experiment a bit. Keep notes. I generally run 34-36 psi front and rear on the street, but those are different tires on a different bike. I'll add a few psi to both tires if I'm doing a long drone on the interstates or carrying additional luggage. I don't change pressures for rain, but I certainly check them frequently and make sure they're always where I want them, especially this time of year when ambient temperatures are dropping.  SignatureJamin Kortegard 2002 YZF-R1 / 2003 WRX "Hokey 600s and trackday usability are no match for a good literbike at your side, kid." - Michael Hmmm... good point about the guages. About tyre pressure, I think that I remember running 32-34 on my old Ducati (that was 4 years ago... ) However I'll go with popular opinion and give 34-36 a whirl and see how they fare... Thanks guys. DS > I haven't used them, but why not just use a regular dial or digital > pressure [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > frequently and make sure they're always where I want them, especially this > time of year when ambient temperatures are dropping. > About tyre pressure, I think that I remember running 32-34 on my old Ducati > (that was 4 years ago... ) However I'll go with popular opinion and give > 34-36 a whirl and see how they fare... 32 psi is closer to a track day pressure, in my opinion. I don't think my tires are going to reach the kind of temperatures on the street to bring them up to proper operating pressure from a 32 psi starting point. Hence the slightly higher base pressures. SignatureJamin Kortegard 2002 YZF-R1 / 2003 WRX "Hokey 600s and trackday usability are no match for a good literbike at your side, kid." - Michael > Hi All, > > I've recently picked up a 1997 Ducati 750SS. It's got a pair of Michellin > 'Macalans' on there. Can someone please give me the > rundown on what tyre pressures I should be using? Should I change pressures > between the wet and dry? I set the pressure at 32lbs for the front and 34lbs in the back--this is the most common recommendation that I've seen for my Monster (should be similar to the SS)on the various lists. At one time Bruce at BMC Motosports ( high end Ducati shop in New Hampshire) recommended the Macadams for Monsters. The Macadam's are a sport turing tire that I never felt a great deal of confidence in although they never really let me down. I used a set for awhile but do prefer either the Bridgestone BT-010's or Metzeler Sportec M1's. BTW on a tire thread a few months ago (club Desmo site) a track tire specialist who sells and mounts tires to racers and track day folk claimed that you should set the pressure on the Pirelli Diablo or Diablo Supercorsa's (the subject of the thread) at 33lbs front and rear on all Ducati's for street riding, and as a base line setting for the track.... > Also - has anyone ever used these? > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Damien Sawyer |
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