What Tire pressure should I use in my new auto tires????

[Arion]

Bicycle tires? Not sure I understand that comment. Regardless, there are lots of posts regarding tire pressures, depending on whether the tires are OEM or car tires that you can review. However, you should, at least as a starting point, accept the manufacturer's recommended pressures. Different tire profiles and different sidewall construction than those on your Kawasaki account, at least in part, for pressure differences. Not to mention weight being carried by three wheels rather than two.

BRP would be in a legal bind if they recommended tire pressures that weren't safe for their thousands and thousands of customers. MY Spyder wears Vrederstein auto tires on the front and the OEM tire on the rear. Front pressure on mine is 15 - 16 PSI and rear is 26-28 PSI and has proven acceptable over many miles.

 

[Albec]

The short answer is that they are not running a typical motorcycle tire, even the stock Kenda's.

I understand that my question is why? Why use a tire with such low pressure? This has to reduce tire life significantly.

 

[Hekarwi]

Not sure why they recommend the low tire pressures, but I run the OEM recommended pressure in my 21 Limited... I got about 12,000 miles on my original tires and got new OEM tires on my return trip to Alaska last year which were some really rough roads. There were not a lot of options available in Canada when I needed to new ones so I just stuck to OEM which is all I could find. Most on the forum swap to car tires and there are several discussions here if you do a search. They also give their recommended brands and tire sizes. I'll probable do the same next time.

 

[RayBJ]

There are expert tire guys here and will do a better job than I but here's my take.
The OEM (Kenda) tires are very soft and balloon in the center at speed so the sides will last very long but the center will go bald. Higher psi will cause that wear sooner and make the ride harsh. The Spyder is relatively light and doesn't stress the tires much. The car tires are stiffer construction and can/should be run at lower psi for best handling and comfort.

 

[Albec]

Bicycle tires? Not sure I understand that comment. Regardless, there are lots of posts regarding tire pressures, depending on whether the tires are OEM or car tires that you can review. However, you should, at least as a starting point, accept the manufacturer's recommended pressures. Different tire profiles and different sidewall construction than those on your Kawasaki account, at least in part, for pressure differences. Not to mention weight being carried by three wheels rather than two.

BRP would be in a legal bind if they recommended tire pressures that weren't safe for their thousands and thousands of customers. MY Spyder wears Vrederstein auto tires on the front and the OEM tire on the rear. Front pressure on mine is 15 - 16 PSI and rear is 26-28 PSI and has proven acceptable over many miles.

We have 4 bicycles in our garage, my wife and me. All 4 have Kenda tires and innertubes. My only experience with Kenda is with bicycles and I had no idea that they also made Powersports tires. Thus, my comment.

I plan on using the manufacture's recs on the tire pressures, I didn't mean to imply that I wasn't.

"Different tire profiles and different sidewall construction than those on your Kawasaki account, at least in part, for pressure differences"

I understand this, I know that they are different tires and have different requirements and that the weights of the two vehicles are different. ~700lbs for the Kaw and ~1klbs for the Spyder. Not that much though.

I guess that my question is, why would the engineers design the Spyder to use such low-pressure tires instead of a more standard tire with more conventional tire pressures? It just seems odd to me is all.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

We have 4 bicycles in our garage, my wife and me. All 4 have Kenda tires and innertubes. My only experience with Kenda is with bicycles and I had no idea that they also made Powersports tires. Thus, my comment.

I plan on using the manufacture's recs on the tire pressures, I didn't mean to imply that I wasn't.

"Different tire profiles and different sidewall construction than those on your Kawasaki account, at least in part, for pressure differences"

I understand this, I know that they are different tires and have different requirements and that the weights of the two vehicles are different. ~700lbs for the Kaw and ~1klbs for the Spyder. Not that much though.

I guess that my question is, why would the engineers design the Spyder to use such low-pressure tires instead of a more standard tire with more conventional tire pressures? It just seems odd to me is all.

I'm considered a Tire Expert .... The BRP engineers were told by the BRP BEAN counters that the Spyder was going to be using the KENDA brand tire. The engineers gave input about the Spyder to the engineers at KENDA . Kenda decided how to create the tire ie. carcass, material compounds, tread etc..... One can't really compare Kenda Spyder tires with what is used to create an Auto tire. .... Apples to Oranges so to speak ... The Kenda tire only meets the MINIMUM standards for the weight of a Spyder. An Auto tire as created will carry triple the weight of a Spyder. .... So you might ask why can you ( and 10's of thousands of members here ) use an Auto tire on a Spyder.... Because Peter Aawen & I, have figured out the Science for using LOWER PSI's in AUTO tires that will allow those tires to achieve better performance numbers than the OEM Kenda's. ( PS -Peter is also a tire Expert ) ... Because the tires are so different I recommend what BRP advises for PSI's in the Kenda tires. If/ when you decide to switch to Auto tires I recommend different PSI's .....Hope this helps you with your issue ...Mike :thumbup:

 

[Albec]

I'm considered a Tire Expert .... The BRP engineers were told by the BRP BEAN counters that the Spyder was going to be using the KENDA brand tire. The engineers gave input about the Spyder to the engineers at KENDA . Kenda decided how to create the tire ie. carcass, material compounds, tread etc..... One can't really compare Kenda Spyder tires with what is used to create an Auto tire. .... Apples to Oranges so to speak ... The Kenda tire only meets the MINIMUM standards for the weight of a Spyder. An Auto tire as created will carry triple the weight of a Spyder. .... So you might ask why can you ( and 10's of thousands of members here ) use an Auto tire on a Spyder.... Because Peter Aawen & I, have figured out the Science for using LOWER PSI's in AUTO tires that will allow those tires to achieve better performance numbers than the OEM Kenda's. ( PS -Peter is also a tire Expert ) ... Because the tires are so different I recommend what BRP advises for PSI's in the Kenda tires. If/ when you decide to switch to Auto tires I recommend different PSI's .....Hope this helps you with your issue ...Mike :thumbup:

Thanks for the reply! All of this makes sense to me, the bean counters rule the roost.

As I said, I plan on following BRP's recs on the pressures. Once I wear these tires out, I'll most likely look at what others here have done with car tires and follow their lead.

 

[old Timer]

Thanks for the reply! All of this makes sense to me, the bean counters rule the roost.

As I said, I plan on following BRP's recs on the pressures. Once I wear these tires out, I'll most likely look at what others here have done with car tires and follow their lead.

An enlightened and wise reply.

 

[Escorial]

I have the above with around 3k miles and was wondering if anyone is using anything different than 20lb front and 28lb rear on their bike?

As noticed, I do not ride much, I have noticed a very slight vibration on the right floorboard and really nothing at the handlebars.

It seems to go away after riding a bit, don't know if it's tire pressure, road, or if the issue could be what was used for tire balancing.

Perhaps if the balance beads are used and the bike sits a lot, they take a while to do the job.

Bike has had the 3k service, my thoughts are road conditions or the beads if used.

Last would be tire pressure which is at factory specs...

 

[Peter Aawen]

Have a read thru the earlier posts in this thread Escorial - just like almost all other car tires, 18 psi all round is a good start for those tires when fitted to a Spyder!

Once you fit proper car tires instead of the OEM Kendas, it doesn't really make a great deal of difference in what the brand of tire you're running, it's more that the pressures you are currently running are only necessary for the lightly constructed OEM Kendas; but in car tires on a Spyder, those pressures are significantly TOO HIGH because you're running a stronger, better constructed car tire that's capable of carrying about three times the weight of a Spyder at those pressures!! :banghead:

Btw, before starting a new thread - please do a search and some reading first! It always pays to search first, there's not too much that you can ask about Spyders that hasn't already been asked and answered on the Forum already! :thumbup:

 

[Dasmoetorhead]

I took the advice from the riders on here that have tried and tested the tire pressures and followed suit.
18 psi all 3 tires.
I'm showing no wear after 1800 miles, and the ride is very comfortable and the handling is good.
I ride solo 100% of the time, so if you ride 2 up you might bump the psi up a bit.

 

[Escorial]

Just got back from a ride, all is fine, it is the crud streets here in Chicago.

Went out to the burbs and it rides as it should.

Thanks