Just curious, What do you guys run for tire pressure? I commute everyday 80+ miles round trip all high way. I noticed that the center contact patch on my rear tire wears significantly more than everywhere else. I am sure this is becuase of the constant highway riding. I was thinking of deflating my rear tire some to make it wear evenly? I dont know....what do you guys run?

 

Deflating your tire a little might get more even wear but that doesn't mean that you would get more miles out of the tire, and your fuel economy would probably suffer also.
What is the max pressure listed on the tire? I pretty much always run the max.

 

thats true, I run the max psi as well...im not 100% what is actually on the tire. I need to get another bike for strictly commuting...

 

Deflating will make it worse. Your contact patch will get larger and just widen the wear down the middle. People usually run lower pressures to increase the contact patch for better traction when doing track and canyon riding.

If you want to maximize longevity, run higher pressures. You'll always have the center wearing out faster if you are not running curves and mostly straight line ride. There's no real way around it. Reducing weight will help but isn't a huge game changer unless you're dropping like a few hundred pounds.


Personally I never run max, the bike feels like garbage in the twisties. I'm used to track riding and running as low as 28psi tires. For my Hog, a good balance I find is 32-36 PSI. Keep in mind, your PSI does jump up a couple PSI after you warm up your tires. 40+psi just takes out some joy out of the handling of the bike in my opinion, you gotta pay to play.

 

Running lower pressures have a tendency to cause cupping and feathering. The bike will ride worse and the tire will wear out sooner. Try the American elite that has harder compound in the center and softer on the outside, for cornering. And they are a very smooth ride. I love mine.

 

What tires are you running? A lot of people report great wear with Michelin Commander II's. I bought some and am quite happy with them but don't ride enough to comment on their long term mileage.

 

Go by the psi recommended in the owners manual, not the max psi on the tire sidewall. That's just an indication of what is the safe maximum pressure for the tire, not what's appropriate for the particular bike. I think modern Dynas are 30 front, 36 rear for 1-up riding, but don't quote me on that.

 

Per the owners manual for my Low Rider, the COLD tire pressures are 30 front and 40 rear...I like to run with 30-32 front and 38 rear. I ride solo 100% of the time.

 

Yes to don't run max psi


No to owners manual...
This is just a baseline. If you want maximize performance, you adjust your PSI accordingly to your riding style. If you have no clue what you are doing, go by owners manual, this is a safe benchmark.


If you want to start tweaking from this, it's perfectly fine, cause the perfect match is different compared to your roads , style of riding , and what you want to get out of tire. Tire pressure is a bit of a science. You'll only realize how important this is if you track or have ridden a lot to realize what you prefer. It's like baking...you go by the recipe, but if you want your pie sweeter, you add more sugar. The owners manual is just a start.

 

Per Metzeler directly to me when I visited their booth in Daytona: Run max PSI as dictated on the sidewall.