i think it was 2.25 bar (32.6psi !!) the book recommends 42psi in the rear,he dropped the front by a couple of psi,I'm not sure if those pressures would work with factory set suspension, although when i had sports bikes i used to drop the rear by a few psi and i seemed to have much more grip..i had to double check the pressures with him as i thought that was a huge difference,maybe they will wear a bit quicker but the grip i get is much better, and the front end seems very stable after all the adjustments.
Now I'm on the PC with my image drive, here are couple more. Honda Gold Wing loan bike on my 25th wedding anniversary tour, West Coast USA 2010 April 2005 dropping off my TT and collecting my RS. May 2007 at Thruxton. Jag owners jolly up
Dave i also did the west coast in 2010 stopping off at Monterey for the moto gp weekend at Laguna Seca, some fantastic roads there, The road up to Alices Restaurant in the Santa Cruz mountains was fantastic as was the road to the Rock store in the Santa Monica mountains,
Dougie, I only learnt of the Rock Store a few days ago on the Motorcycle Show on TV. P.C.H is amazing down from San Fran. The wife and I did 2677 miles in a big loop. You can still do it, I think, booked through H-C Travel in Overton. Self guided tour, quite scary to start with but soon settled into things. Oh, and those Gold Wings are heavy when you drop them Monterey, Pismo Beach, L.A. (called in to Foose Designs), Palm Springs, Kingman (Route 66), Grand Canyon, blah blah blah
I've been twice the first time was in 2008 with the wife, i think we must have done the same tour as you,i booked it through h-c travel also, it was called "wild west tour" and went to all the places you mention,it was great down PCH but the time i did it with my mates in 2010 it was rain,mist and cold so they didn't think much of it, apparently it's quite common for the weather to be like that on the coast, a bit of a change from the day we spent in death valley over 140 degrees..I've never felt heat like it
Seems a bit drastic to me to Dougie. Surely you are running the risk of excessive tyre wear in the centre and squaring off the tyre. It might be ok on the track but on the road your bike is upright probably 90% of the time.
that's what i thought Andy, but he did understand it was for the road and not the track, with the way it handles now I'm ok with say a 10/20% less in tyre wear so instead of getting say 6k if i only getting about 5k i still think that's pretty good.I'm going to phone him and see what sort of mileage i should expect to get compared with the recommended pressure and ask him if they will square off any quicker. i think if he had told me the pressures before i took it out for a test ride i might have been a bit apprehensive,i was out a run tonight and it is difficult to forget he has dropped the pressure by so much,he did say they would take a bit longer to heat up but once they are the grip i'm getting is better and with the adjustments he made to the front it feels really stable.i know he is going against everything you read about pressures but he has been in the game a long time and obviously he doesn't just follow the rest of the "sheep" and does what he believes is the best to improve the handling... time will tell i guess
Like you say time will tell and there's nowt wrong with trying it out. I'm just wondering though if you were going to do a long motorway/autoroute/autobahn stretch, would you "up" the pressures ?
yes 42,i know it seems a huge drop but the bike does have more grip. and he says there will be no extra wear,with the adjustments he did to the front end it now feels really stable. I'll keep an eye on the tyre wear as i would have thought it would wear more...but what do i know!
No so much a ride out, weather here too bad. Will have to be a ride in, while staring at Creg-ny-baa on the wall, and dreaming of 2017.
hi Dougie I was advised by a bike tech at 3x motorcycles earlier this yr to run my pressures on the road at 34 psi front and rear. I didn't feel comfortable with that but happy with 34 front and 36 rear which seems to work fine
Hi Lou,i think its just the initial thought of having 10psi lower than is recommended that plays with your mind a bit,but after speaking to Ed again he has reassured me, so i have confidence in the tyres again. have you booked your bike in to get the suspension set up?
