Tire Pressure?

[talldude]

Well, other than this he seems to know his stuff. Who knows...even people with lots of experience get it wrong from time to time. I'll watch what he says in the future and if anything else becomes suspect I'll probably need to consider going elsewhere.

[jonnythan]

Well, other than this he seems to know his stuff. Who knows...even people with lots of experience get it wrong from time to time. I'll watch what he says in the future and if anything else becomes suspect I'll probably need to consider going elsewhere.

See, the problem is that he's telling you stuff that you won't recognize as potential BS in the meantime.

If someone who claims to be a mechanic gets something that truly basic and widely-known totally wrong, I'd be automatically suspect of anything else he says.. and find another mechanic.

[rwp]

If the max pressure printed on the tire was lower than the manufacturer's recommendation, then you should not exceed the tire number. This may be what the mechanic was trying to say. However, in such a case the best solution would be to go to a different tire.

[Nalian]

Well, other than this he seems to know his stuff. Who knows...even people with lots of experience get it wrong from time to time. I'll watch what he says in the future and if anything else becomes suspect I'll probably need to consider going elsewhere.

See, the problem is that he's telling you stuff that you won't recognize as potential BS in the meantime.

If someone who claims to be a mechanic gets something that truly basic and widely-known totally wrong, I'd be automatically suspect of anything else he says.. and find another mechanic.

Err - what his mechanic said isn't necessarily wrong. From what I've seen - this seems to be like many things in the motorcycling world..in a huge debate. Some say the manual/bike, some say the tire.

The argument for the bike/manual always being right is that the manufacturer knows the bike and its needs better then the tire folks..but - the bike/manual is assuming that you're still using the same tires. Others say the tire manufacturer, because they know the tire better. Then the argument against the tire manufacturer won't necessarily know about the bike that particular tire is going on.

Duane: The tact I would take is to research/poll other people who own the same bike as you, and if I wasn't confident of what they said making sense, I'd verify it with a mechanic that knows your bike.

[jonnythan]

Err - what his mechanic said isn't necessarily wrong. From what I've seen - this seems to be like many things in the motorcycling world..in a huge debate. Some say the manual/bike, some say the tire.

There's no debate, except maybe those who don't know what's going on.

The PSI on the tire is the max PSI of the tire. You're not supposed to fill to that pressure unless the *vehicle* manufacturer recommends it. It's the same in the car and truck worlds, and it's absolutely common knowledge.

The tire manufacturers will tell you this. The vehicle manufacturers will tell you this. Certified mechanics will tell you this. Heck, the guys at Wal-Mart who change oil will tell you this.

Some tire manufacturers will give you the recommended pressure for *that application* on their web sites, but these recommended pressures are almost always what the vehicle manufacturer recommends, and they aren't the pressure that's printed on the side of the tire.

[Nalian]

Hey thanks for continuing to prove what I said.

I realize you don't think there is a debate here, but there absolutely is. A lot of it depends on application you're putting the bike to - some of it depends on comfort or other factors. This isn't a black & white situation.

For example, take a look at this link: http://www.sportrider.com/tech/tires/14 ... _pressure/ Yes - that's more specifically addressing track..and if you were into off-roading you'd see information more specific to that.

For street riding - it's very common for riders to adjust their tire pressure depending on load of the bike, or the way the bike handles/feels. It's very common in sportsters to find people running slightly higher than HD recommendations for ride comfort, for example.

I'm not saying "you're wrong" about the tire pressure - I do think it's pretty lame though to tell a guy his mechanic is wrong on something that isn't a cut and dry issue.

[jonnythan]

Hey thanks for continuing to prove what I said.

I realize you don't think there is a debate here, but there absolutely is. A lot of it depends on application you're putting the bike to - some of it depends on comfort or other factors. This isn't a black & white situation.

For example, take a look at this link: http://www.sportrider.com/tech/tires/14 ... _pressure/ Yes - that's more specifically addressing track..and if you were into off-roading you'd see information more specific to that.

For street riding - it's very common for riders to adjust their tire pressure depending on load of the bike, or the way the bike handles/feels. It's very common in sportsters to find people running slightly higher than HD recommendations for ride comfort, for example.

I'm not saying "you're wrong" about the tire pressure - I do think it's pretty lame though to tell a guy his mechanic is wrong on something that isn't a cut and dry issue.

All of what you say is true, but it's totally irrelevant.

The pressure printed on the side of the tire is, by definition, the maximum load pressure of the tire. It's not what anyone, including the tire manufacturer, recommends as the operating pressure of the tire.

There's no debate about "pressure printed on tire" vs anything else. There might be a debate about "pressure recommended by tire manufacturer" vs "pressure recommended by vehicle manufacturer."

[Nalian]

Ok, I didn't realize you were arguing literally over the number on the side of the tire only. I don't know if talldude's mechanic actually said "go by the number on the tire" or "go by the information given for your tire" or whatever. He may very well have given him wrong information..only talldude knows for sure.

The debate I outlined was "vehicle manufacturer" vs "tire manufacturer" - I was specific about the use of those terms in my posts. I wanted to add more information to the post and to give to the guy because all of the things I outlined come up when you're discussing tire pressure with people.

[jonnythan]

Ok, I didn't realize you were arguing literally over the number on the side of the tire only. I don't know if talldude's mechanic actually said "go by the number on the tire" or "go by the information given for your tire" or whatever. He may very well have given him wrong information..only talldude knows for sure.

The debate I outlined was "vehicle manufacturer" vs "tire manufacturer" - I was specific about the use of those terms in my posts. I wanted to add more information to the post and to give to the guy because all of the things I outlined come up when you're discussing tire pressure with people.

Most arguments start out as misunderstandings

[talldude]

Well, didn't this get lively for a bit! My mechanic actually did say something along the lines of: "Always use what is on the tire." Perhaps he actually meant "Always use the tire manufactures recommendation for the bike." But thats not what he said.

Hypothetically, if I were to inflate both tires to 40PSI (Kawasaki recommends 25) as he recommended, they would be just about at the max printed on the tire. Through some additional research, I found out that the PSI increases as the tires warm up. Therefore, it would be highly possible that they would be over-inflated past the max at some point on the way to work. I would think that could be quite dangerous.

Thanks for helping to clarify this guys!