Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Hey folks, haven't posted in a little while(and when I do it seems to be just to pick at everyones brains ) and I have a question with regards to the proper air pressure for my motorcycle tires. Now what is listed in the owners manual as well as the frame sticker is 28/32 psi front and rear respectively; no distinction is given to whether its cold-tire air pressure or warm-tire air pressure. Should I account for this and if so, add 1 or 2 psi to those figures when the tires are hot or is the cold/warm pressure really irrelevant here (as opposed to automobiles). Thanks guys.

That's cold tire pressure . If you don't have the means to air them up at home , go to the nearest station and check your pressure and I would fill them to the recommended specs . Unless of course you live 50 miles or more from the filling station .......
Regards, Wizzard

hey wizzard. I have been putting air in the tires already but I only wanted to be precise. I actually might look into getting something to fill them up at home because I check the pressure every week or two and it does go down significantly in a short space of time.

TheImp wrote:hey wizzard. I have been putting air in the tires already but I only wanted to be precise. I actually might look into getting something to fill them up at home because I check the pressure every week or two and it does go down significantly in a short space of time.

Wiz is correct...that would be cold PSI. I recall reading some time ago if you can make it to a station with air within two miles, at low speeds, your tires will not heat up enough to cause a bad reading. Someone can correct me on this. Otherwise, you can purchase a small affordable air compressor and use it to fill the tires. Make sure it puts out at least 50psi or more to provide the proper pressure for the tires. Also, if your tires are losing significant air every week or two, somethings wrong. Check the rim seals as well as the tires themselves. You should lose that much air in such a short time. The drastic changes usually come during the major changes of the season when the air temp changes fast. My tires maintain their pressure all summer long and even in the winter, but I keep them off the ground during storage which helps.

I fill my tires at home with a bicycle pump. That way I don't have to worry about the difference between cold/hot pressures if I waited until I got to a gas station to fill them.

Filling a motorcycle tire, even a fat rear tire, with a bicycle pump is a piece of cake.

XM23 wrote:I fill my tires at home with a bicycle pump. That way I don't have to worry about the difference between cold/hot pressures if I waited until I got to a gas station to fill them.

Filling a motorcycle tire, even a fat rear tire, with a bicycle pump is a piece of cake.

Really! How long does it take you to do that?

I've got a foot operated pump I bought from a biglots. It's got a built in pressure guage and cost me about $3. It only took a minuete or two of pumping to top off my tires. I got it after I found that riding 1/4 mile to the gas station heated my tires up too much to get reliable pressure.

Andrew13 wrote: I got it after I found that riding 1/4 mile to the gas station heated my tires up too much to get reliable pressure.

Where did you obtain that info? I highly doubt tires will be heated too much to make a difference after a 1/4 mile trip, unless you are smoking them.

I obtained that info by taking the tire pressure, riding to the gas station, and taking the pressure again. It's a direct empirical observation. *shrug* Maybe I just had soft rubber in my tires, but that's what I found to happen.

Those little electric pumps take forever regardless of whether it says 200psi, it will take an hour to get up to it. Get a big heavy duty one.