When you run a tire that isn't designed for the Spyder what kind of pressure do you inflate to?
I am thinking a tire not specifically designed for the low pressures we run would be problematic....wouldn't it?
There is
A LOT of info already on the Forum discussing tire pressures, so a bit of searching and some time spent reading that is probably worth your while.
Still, at the risk of going off topic for a (relatively
) short while....
It's the OEM Kenda tires that
NEED the
higher pressures as stated on the Spyder/Ryker Tire placards, which IIRC are something like 18+ psi up front & 28 psi in the rear.
While they are really just another 'auto tire' designed to be run on normal 'car type rims with standard 'J' type auto bead profiles (rather than the bead profiles mandated for Motorcycle tires & rims in order to keep said Motorcycle tires on the Motorcycle rims they're fitted to while leaning at far greater angles than are even
possible in a car!
) they
NEED this higher level of pressure because the OEM Kenda tires have such lightweight construction - not only less 'rubber' but also thinner/lighter denier 'thread' in the plies.... Apparently, as part of the design brief these pressures & the 'lighter auto tires' were specified in order to be sufficient to carry the significantly lighter load of a Spyder while bringing the Spyder's 'normal operating tire pressure' closer to that most people generally recognize as 'usual tire pressures' for their car, a vehicle that's possibly up to 3 times heavier than your Spyder/Ryker :shocked: And that's not even mentioning/considering the poorer quality control & increased incidence of construction issues/out of round problems etc. in the Kendas either! :sour: So it's
pretty important that you run the OEM Kendas at or near the Tire Placard Pressures! :lecturef_smilie:
However, 'normal' auto tires are constructed somewhat stronger/heavier than the Kendas are, in order to be capable of carrying the heavier load of most cars/auto's at the sorts of pressures indicated; but that doesn't mean they aren't capable of carrying a lighter load, they just don't need/want as much air pressure in them to do so safely -
in fact, by International Agreement & supporting legislation in most countries around the World, they are REQUIRED to be able to safely carry lighter loads at lower pressures than their specified max load/max pressure! :lecturef_smilie: And if you fit a 'normal' auto tire onto your Spyder/Ryker and then run it at the same sort of pressure as that specified for the lightweight Kendas,
then your 'normal' car tire will be GROSSLY OVER-inflated for use on the Spyder/Ryker and you'll be compromising your tire's wear, traction, safety, and a bunch of other things besides!! :shocked:
All of which boils down to mean that
if you run a 'normal' (stronger/heavier constructed) car tire on your Spyder/Ryker, especially on the rear, then
because that car tire's been constructed strongly enough to be capable of carrying anything UP TO a much higher load, it simply does not need to run at 28 psi to carry a load 1/2 or maybe even 1/3 of that! The car tire is stronger, has heavier/thicker tread/sidewalls, & even at lower pressure it will be more rigid than the Kenda; so unless you want to experience a tooth rattling ride thru running an over-inflated steel hard tire that's simply waaay over-inflated for the load it's carrying & far too hard for optimum traction et al, then a car tire on a Spyder/Ryker
needs to run at a somewhat LOWER pressure than that necessary in the Kendas to carry the lighter load of your Spyder/Ryker; and that lower pressure needs to be low enough that it will allow the tire to flex sufficiently in order to generate the heat required to bring the tread up to its ideal operating temperature and so provide optimal traction, ride, handling, puncture resistance, and more!!:lecturef_smilie:
It's the Kendas that NEED the HIGH pressure; normal car tires fitted to a Spyder/Ryker NEED to run somewhat LOWER pressures to carry the lighter load than their maximum design capability -
but they are designed and constructed to do just that!! So unless you are very heavy/your Spyder/Ryker is always loaded in excess of its recommended max load, then about 16-18 psi all round is a good place to start for most; while riding 2-up, carrying heavy loads, long runs, high speed riding, &/or high ambient temperatures might possibly warrant adding
maybe as much as 2psi more; and riding solo, lighter loads, shorter runs, slower riding, &/or colder ambient temperatures might possibly warrant running maybe juuust a little lower! :thumbup:
Nb: Personally, in the normal course of events, I wouldn't ever intentionally ride
too far with anything much less than 14 psi in any of my Spyder's tires - but there
might be the odd occasion where, for a short while, a lower pressure becomes appropriate if not necessary in order to provide sufficient flotation/traction on the surface being ridden on.
Now, let's get back to the topic of
THIS thread - Brake Rod Lengths :thumbup:
pps:
