Lowest tire pressure you would allow when starting out for a ride

[vito1943]

I normally keep the tires at 20 in front, 30 in rear, 2 pounds over the recommended level. That pressure just seems to work well for me. But while I don't mind checking and adding air if needed in the front tires, the rear tire is a real PITA for me. With my bad shoulders and prosthetic knees, laying flat on the ground to get to the tire valve stem on the rear tire and not easy for me. So when I see the pressure down a bit I may or may not go through adding add pressure for just a few pounds. For me, if the front tires get to 15 or lower I won't ride until I add air. For the rear tire, no lower than 24. Anyone think that these numbers are too low and that I am taking undue risks? I have been riding for decades but do not claim any expertise about tires and air pressures.

[Peter Aawen]

If you're still running OE Spec Kendas or their clones, then those 20fr/30Rear starting pressures are a bit high, but basically fine; and you could probably even afford to let them drop as low as 16-17ish up front & maybe 26 psi in the rear without causing any real issues for the tires themselves, altho you might find you notice some changes in ride & handling because you've become used to the feel you've been getting running them over-inflated.... running for too long at anything lower than that in the OE Spec tires or their clones will be compromising their integrity & capability to work safely, risking over-heating and destroying the tire - even without considering their poor quality control & significant failure rate, due to their much lighter construction than 'normal' car tires, they REALLY NEED their specified air pressures in order to safely carry the load of your Spyder/Ryker!

BUT, if you are running non-OE Spec a/mkt tires, ie. auto tires that can carry much higher loads than your Spyder/Ryker at those 20 fr/30 rear pressures instead of a max of about 18/20 psi fr/rear, then you're seriously kidding yourself if you think that running them grossly over-inflated like that is doing anything good for you except most likely lightening your wallet a lot quicker than you need to and definitely making you a potential danger to any other road user travelling near/around you!

Running pressures THAT HIGH in auto tires under a Spyder/Ryker is sorta like you choosing to run 50+psi in your car tires cos it 'feels' that you get more direct steering & you might even get better fuel economy.... And you might, but you'll also be wearing the centre of the tread rapidly; tip-toeing around on a narrow strip of tread in the middle the tread width; then lifting most of that tiny little strip of tread off the road surface during cornering &/or braking besides; risking dangerous loss of traction with any change of direction &/or speed; risking catastrophic tire failure due to the tire rupturing if you hit any obstacles/hazards/debris on the road, or even just if you add a little more load whenever you hit a bump; and a bunch more besides!!

Even just a little Over-inflation of your tires is actually less forgiving than a little under-inflation in most circumstances - you can see this for yourself by using a party balloon to represent your tires. Get a couple of party balloons and blow one up to a reasonable size without any risk of it exploding; blow the other up as tight as you can get it to just before it explodes. Then press the first balloon fairly firmly against the wall & slide it along the wall - you'll see/feel that the balloon grips the wall but deforms enough to let it slide along without risking explosion - you can usually even poke it fairly firmly with a finger & it won't explode. Now try doing the same with the second over-inflated balloon - if you are pressing it against the wall just as firmly as you pressed the first, chances are that it'll either skip along the wall without gripping &/or deforming at all, or it'll simply explode! And if you poke it with a finger just as hard as you poked the less inflated balloon, then it's extremely likely that the over-inflated balloon will pop!

Now get another two balloons & blow one of them up juuust a little less than the first balloon, and the other a juuust little more than the second balloon and try the wall slide/finger poke again. The less inflated balloon likely doesn't make too much difference at all; while if the more inflated balloon doesn't explode during the inflation phase, it almost certainly will during the wall slide/poke test. And THAT is just a small part of what you risk running over-inflated tires; there's also the extra tread wear in the centre; the lack of it's ability to effectively clear water & resist hydroplaning; the damage you'll be doing to your suspension by removing any ability of the tire to absorb any of the shock loads; the risk of it exploding if it gets poked by anything on the road surface; and more! But if you've been running over-inflated tires for a while, it might 'feel' nice or even right to you, simply because you've trained yourself over time to erroneously expect that sort of feel!

For a/mkt auto tires under your Spyder/Ryker, you need to aim for a pressure increase (& corresponding temperature increase) of about 4psi after an hour or so's riding - LESS than something close to 4psi means your cold starting pressure was too HIGH; MORE than something close to 4psi means your cold starting pressure was too LOW!!

Just Sayin'

[Pirate]

I check tire pressure before every ride out which is usually once a week. Factory tires are at 18 front 28 rear.

[Realtor]

If you're still running OE Spec Kendas or their clones, then those 20fr/30Rear starting pressures are a bit high, but basically fine; and you could probably even afford to let them drop as low as 16-17ish up front & maybe 26 psi in the rear without causing any real issues for the tires themselves, altho you might find you notice some changes in ride & handling because you've become used to the feel you've been getting running them over-inflated.... running for too long at anything lower than that in the OE Spec tires or their clones will be compromising their integrity & capability to work safely, risking over-heating and destroying the tire - even without considering their poor quality control & significant failure rate, due to their much lighter construction than 'normal' car tires, they REALLY NEED their specified air pressures in order to safely carry the load of your Spyder/Ryker!

BUT, if you are running non-OE Spec a/mkt tires, ie. auto tires that can carry much higher loads than your Spyder/Ryker at those 20 fr/30 rear pressures instead of a max of about 18/20 psi fr/rear, then you're seriously kidding yourself if you think that running them grossly over-inflated like that is doing anything good for you except most likely lightening your wallet a lot quicker than you need to and definitely making you a potential danger to any other road user travelling near/around you!

Running pressures THAT HIGH in auto tires under a Spyder/Ryker is sorta like you choosing to run 50+psi in your car tires cos it 'feels' that you get more direct steering & you might even get better fuel economy.... And you might, but you'll also be wearing the centre of the tread rapidly; tip-toeing around on a narrow strip of tread in the middle the tread width; then lifting most of that tiny little strip of tread off the road surface during cornering &/or braking besides; risking dangerous loss of traction with any change of direction &/or speed; risking catastrophic tire failure due to the tire rupturing if you hit any obstacles/hazards/debris on the road, or even just if you add a little more load whenever you hit a bump; and a bunch more besides!!

Even just a little Over-inflation of your tires is actually less forgiving than a little under-inflation in most circumstances - you can see this for yourself by using a party balloon to represent your tires. Get a couple of party balloons and blow one up to a reasonable size without any risk of it exploding; blow the other up as tight as you can get it to just before it explodes. Then press the first balloon fairly firmly against the wall & slide it along the wall - you'll see/feel that the balloon grips the wall but deforms enough to let it slide along without risking explosion - you can usually even poke it fairly firmly with a finger & it won't explode. Now try doing the same with the second over-inflated balloon - if you are pressing it against the wall just as firmly as you pressed the first, chances are that it'll either skip along the wall without gripping &/or deforming at all, or it'll simply explode! And if you poke it with a finger just as hard as you poked the less inflated balloon, then it's extremely likely that the over-inflated balloon will pop!

Now get another two balloons & blow one of them up juuust a little less than the first balloon, and the other a juuust little more than the second balloon and try the wall slide/finger poke again. The less inflated balloon likely doesn't make too much difference at all; while if the more inflated balloon doesn't explode during the inflation phase, it almost certainly will during the wall slide/poke test. And THAT is just a small part of what you risk running over-inflated tires; there's also the extra tread wear in the centre; the lack of it's ability to effectively clear water & resist hydroplaning; the damage you'll be doing to your suspension by removing any ability of the tire to absorb any of the shock loads; the risk of it exploding if it gets poked by anything on the road surface; and more! But if you've been running over-inflated tires for a while, it might 'feel' nice or even right to you, simply because you've trained yourself over time to erroneously expect that sort of feel!

For a/mkt auto tires under your Spyder/Ryker, you need to aim for a pressure increase (& corresponding temperature increase) of about 4psi after an hour or so's riding - LESS than something close to 4psi means your cold starting pressure was too HIGH; MORE than something close to 4psi means your cold starting pressure was too LOW!!

Just Sayin'

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[peterparker]

I check tire pressure before every ride out which is usually once a week. Factory tires are at 18 front 28 rear.

+1
Same for me

[Jane1330]

May want to look at a TPM (Tire Pressure Monitor) system, some simply screw onto your valve stem, easy peasy. Have one for our RV

[Peteoz]

So Vito, you say “when I see the pressure down a bit”. That means you have to get down low to check. It sounds like a FOBO should be on your priority list to remove the getting down to check process. You then only have to get down with your pump when your front and rear tyre pressures reach an unacceptable level ��

Pete.