how to determine proper tire inflation pressure for on-road rid

[* Deks*]

>What happened to looking on the tire for reading the tire pressure and >put it somewhere near that but not over it? >I have just entered the on/off road world, but thats what we did on >the >street. >My 2000 KLR650 manual says 21psi for front and 29 for rear. >The numbers below are higher than that. That would seem to me >to be dangerous, but just a dirt newbie, so excuse my ignorance.

If you refer to the max pressure written on the tire there are a few things to consider first. During hot summer days I go to a 10% lower pressure because sun expands air in tire. Meaning, for 80%road/20%off aggresive riding on street Dunlop Trailmaxes I usually put 25/25. If tires get sun heated + usual warmth during aggresive riding + asphalt gets hot from noon till 15:00 = I go down to 22/22. This still has good grip when I swich to grass/dirt when taking shortcuts. Also good grip on rails - not too much slipping. If I'd put 21F/29R on such occasions I couldn't control the rear of the bike well when swiching ground in curves or cornering across rails. And my rear tire is more than 24 months old: it isn't soft anymore. When the tire pressure is at the top limit, the tire wears more in the middle and not evenly. This would result in more kilometrage (mileage or miles per gallon) but less grip on the road. Instead of having a nice round profile it would soon be more like a square one. Tight cornering on such tire is very risky cause the rear might slide. On a road bike the weight is more on the front of the bike while on our KLRs the whole weight is almost on the rear tire in curves. That is why we have to pay much attention to our rear tire grip on roads. You are right when you say it seems dangerous. It's good to deflate the tire when riding on rocky, dirty, muddy and sandy grounds. Yes, the consumption is higher but the control is greater. And control is what we want on two wheels. Take care, Deks, Croatia _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com