What are the best tyre pressures for dual sport and adventure motorbikes?
There is a lot of debate about this, especially on the best air pressure for road and dirt roads.
Lets look at three options.
First, you can just use the air pressures that are common with three broad groups of motorbikes.
Twin cylinder adventure motorbikes.
These typically weigh 200 - 270kg.
Air pressures will vary between 30 and 40psi for road and dirt roads.
Your larger single cylinder motorbikes weigh between 160 to 200kg.
Air pressures will usually vary from 20 to 30psi.
And finally you have the smaller single cylinder motorbikes, weighing from 125kg to 160kg.
Their air pressures run mostly between 20 and 25psi.
These are just very broad guidelines.
A second option is to run with the manufacturer's recommendation.
At the very least they will give an air pressure for road riding which is usually quite accurate.
Remember to check the maximum pressures shown on the side of your tyres.
Usually there will be no conflict.
Sometimes the motorbike manufacturer give you a figure for offroad riding.
If they don't, you need to work out the best off road pressure yourself.
And that leads to the third method, working it yourself.
Deciding to work out the best tyre pressure can be a tricky business.
We suggest using the manufacturer's recommendation as a baseline and go from there.
Try increasing or decreasing pressure in 5psi increments.
When you feel you are getting close, try some fine tuning.
Why go to all the hassle of working it out for yourself?
There are lots of variables.
Your motorbike's weight.
Your weight.
A pillion passenger.
Any luggage?
The profile, sidewall, and rubber compound of your tyres.
How fast or aggressively do you ride?
What sort of terrain?
Do you have cast or spoked wheels?
How hot is the climate?
How hot is the ground?
Is it worth experimenting to work your own custom pressures?
We will leave that up to you.
Why is air pressure important?
Once you are off-road, traction becomes critical.
You get a bigger contact patch on the ground as you lower the air pressure.
But if the pressure is too low you can cause problems. Increased wear.
Strange wear patterns.
Higher tyre temperature.
Cracking of the rubber.
Dented or cracked rims.
Increased chance of punctures.
Poor handling.
You might 'unseat' a tubeless tyre and lose all your pressure.
And with tubes your tyre might move on the rim and rip the valve stem out of the tube.
And of course too much air pressure isn't good either.
How long can you go?
There are situations you may want to run very low pressures to avoid trouble.
Very soft sand.
Slippery mud.
A steep climb.
We have reports of adventure riders, on big heavy twins,
temporarily running as low as 12psi just to get traction in difficult spots.
Then they immediately pump the tyres up again.
On single cylinder motorbikes, you could probably run as low at 6psi just for tricky situations.
But if you use tubes, please ensure your motorbike has rim locks
to avoid the tyre moving and ripping your valve stem out of the tube.
If you don't have rim locks, 10psi is probably safer.
Remember you greatly increase your chances of problems with very low pressures.
It is just for difficult situations.
Extra tips?
Carry your own tyre gauge.
Remember air pumps at service stations can be up to 20% inaccurate.
If you use tubes, don't tighten the nut on your valve stem.
If your tyre moves, you can see the valve stem leaning and fix it before you rip the valve stem.
Carry a pump with you.
If weight is an issue, little pumps like this are tiny and weigh nothing.
Consider using a tyre sealant.
This can plug up small punctures.
If you run tubes, some say it reduces the chances of pinch punctures.
If your motorbike has narrow rims in 18, 19 or 21 inch sizes,
you can use the TUbliss system to effectively convert your wheels to TUbliss.
You can run quite low air pressures safely and just plug punctures in around two minutes.
Do you have any further tips?
Interesting experiences?
Let me know in the comments.
I hope this video is useful.
If you are new to adventure riding, don't stress too much about getting your air pressures exact.
Follow the manufacturer's guidelines and you can't go too far wrong.
Safe riding!