Air Down?

[Cigar Mike]

Do any of you air down your tires if you are going to ride much off road?

This is the first bike I have owned with tubeless tires that I plan on riding off road. My experience tells me lower pressures work better in the dirt.

How low can I go before the tire wants to come off the rim?

 

[Bert]

Good point this is currently the only motorcycle i have without tubes inside. I'd like to know that aswell! I don't really air them down. Since i don't go extreme off-road. I'd be comfortable myself with 1.5 bar front and 1.8 back aprox. Not as low as my other bikes would go.

 

[bamamate]

I air down to ~25lbs. From what I have read the suggestions have been to go no lower than ~20lbs on heavy bikes with tubeless tires.
I air back up if going more than ~10 miles on pavement.
If I'm doing mix of nice dirt/gravel roads and pavement then I don't air down. Airing down does seem to help but it isn't like a night and day difference.

We have a lot of rocky trails so even the tube tire guys on lighter bikes tend to stay around 15-20lbs.

 

[Old Can Ride]

The reason Rawhyde suggest 25 lbs for the NC is we do not have wheel locks. With wheel locks they suggest 20 lbs.

 

[Cigar Mike]

Tire pressure makes such a huge difference on the dirt and dual sport bikes. It made me wonder if pressures could be lowered enough on the NC to make a difference. It sounds like maybe not. Having a bit of give in the tire really helps prevent the front end from glancing off rocks and more control in sand. With the stock tires it may not matter. I have been leaning towards the MT60 for next year.

Thanks for the information.

 

[Fuzzy]

The reason Rawhyde suggest 25 lbs for the NC is we do not have wheel locks. With wheel locks they suggest 20 lbs.

Excuse my ignorance , what is a wheel lock in this context?



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Old Can Ride]

How motorcycle wheel rim locks work

[video=youtube;Ocg9b2elIMM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ocg9b2elIMM[/video]

 

[mwcogburn]

So, it is similar to a beadlock on a 4x4. Except it is a saddle clamp that pulls down from the center of the rim whereas on a 4x4 the clamps lock from the sides of the rim. I think that is a somewhat accurate summary if you don't want to watch the video.

Sent from my GT-P5113 using Tapatalk

 

[Old Can Ride]

Excuse my ignorance , what is a wheel lock in this context?



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Army folks know these kinds of earthy tire things! I guess "water folks" (Navy) have no earthy ideas.

 

[Cigar Mike]

Rim locks are used on tubed tires. What is used on tubeless?

 

[showkey]

Rim locks are used on tubed tires. What is used on tubeless?

My thought on a lower powered bike with tubeless tire, a rim lock is not needed. Even with no air in the tire tubeless tires are known to stay on the rim as the center of the tire self destructs. I would feel ok with 20-25 psi off road. Low pressure means more chance of rim damage or pinch flat from rocks. The concern with all bikes especially big bikes like the 1200 GS is getting the pressure back up when return to road use.

I believe a BMW 1200GS spoked tubeless tire does not use any rim locks.

For your reading pleasure:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=112813

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=397101

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=775150

http://www.dirtrider.com/features/protips/141_1010_how_to_make_an_adventure_touring_bike/

http://www.ridermagazine.com/road-tests/2007-ktm-990-adventure-road-test.htm/

 

[MZ5]

FWIW, I've run the tubeless tires on my pickup (Load Range E, with the 3/4-ton truck fully loaded) down well below 20 psi in order to get un-stuck in the super-coarse sand between fields I used to rent. I've run the tubeless tires on the semis down in that 20 - 25 psi range in the fields, too. I don't know how different a m/c tire might be, but the plain combo of tubeless + no rim lock doesn't necessarily spell disaster.

 

[HONDABIKEPRO]

I always run 16 to 20 off road, 16 for mud, 20 for off road, i just ran the colorado back country route, at 20 psi, at times on the fast dirt roads i run 80mph. My tkc tires work very well at this psi. At 20 psi on the pegs you can really feel what the tires are doing under you, and correct any problems before they start to slide. I have a few marks on the side of the rims, this is not from low psi, it is from touching the rims edge on rocks, because the rim width is to wide for the tire, for off road. Twice on some fast mounds, that i jumped, my handlebars rotated down on the hard landings, and i have ctx one inch upper clamp and protaper bars. Was really a fun ride. Dale

 

[The_Precious_Juice]

Greetings.

I have three questions I am interested in.

I was curious as to what wheel is more prone to being damaged, the front or rear?

While running stock air pressure, it seems like the front would be more prone to pot hole damage.
Is this because the travel is 5.4" and not 5.9"?


While keeping a 17" wheel rim, what would help you prevent your wheels from being damaged?


I would think a suspension upgrade would help absorb the energy.
Also having some thick 50/50 tyres would be good to absorb the energy.

I am impressed with the stock NC multi spoke cast aluminum rims. They look like they can protect the rim from being bent more so that most street MCs.

It looks like 10 spokes, from 5 branches. Does this seem like a good compromise?
Lighter and cheaper than spocked, but stronger than a super sport rim.

Thanks for reading.

 

[wildeone]

Do any of you air down your tires if you are going to ride much off road?

This is the first bike I have owned with tubeless tires that I plan on riding off road. My experience tells me lower pressures work better in the dirt.

How low can I go before the tire wants to come off the rim?

I ride a lot offroad, more then onroad actually and never bother with air down.
First I am too lazy to do this, second I didn't notice that much of a difference, third tyres with air down will not last long,
forth if you air down too much on sharp turn you can lose your tyre from the rim or/and damage the rim.
So unless you're racing Dakar I wouldn't bother.