AMTRA.com.au

Hi guys, Can anyone help me with the best tyre pressure to use at Cobaw. I went on the ride in August and feel I had them to hard and I want to come on saturday but unsure what to have them at. any help will be great.
Darren
KLX450R

I run 10-12 in the back and 12 in the front. But you will need super heavy duty tubes when you run lower pressures particularly at Cobaw with the rocks.

It all depends...on terrain, wetness and brand of tyre.

12 to 13 PSI is a good starting point. The only time I go above this is in the High Country where it can get a bit rocky. Then I run around 14 to 15 PSI. If it is very muddy and slippery and there are no rocky sections 10 PSI with some tyre brands is OK. It can depend a lot on side wall stiffness. Dunlops for instance have fairly stiff side walls and can be run at low pressures. Michelins can be a bit different - 12 to 14 PSI everywhere seems to work well.

I always leave home with tyres checked cold at 12 to 13 PSI. Then I adjust to the conditions.

Note also that it can be usefull to let the rear down substantially to get up a slippery hill, even to zero and then just pump it up again at the top.

Dennis Dorman

Its true the higher pressure is better with rocks the trade off is the handling can be skittish which you get used to and is better than a flat. On clay/rocks in winter I have run 8PSI on Dunlops with HD tubes no issues. I suppose the other thing to think about are how heavy the bike and rider are?

Hey Darren, my nick name is indicative of my size so keep this in mind when I tell u what I run. michelin tyres with 4mm michelin ultra heavy duty tubes. I run as low as 8psi with out problems. I just checked my bike tonight as I got it ready for cowbaw and both front and rear are at 11psi which should be fine for the conditions I expect for saturday. What I do do is pull the tubes out every 4 to 5 rides and check for pinching and i clean out the balls off rubber which forms inside the tyre and the outside of the tubes at the same time and touch wood i have not had any problems yet. if you are going to run less than 16psi you need to make sure you got the tubes I mentioned. regards from Will

Thought id add this comment about the super heavy duty tubes
a few years ago i put a second had tyre on my bike it was on the rear, we were day 3 on the merton 1000 and my tyre was shaged there was a old dunlop or something at abbeyard
put it on in a hurry. about 800km and a few rides later i got a flat on the way to marrysville from kinglake i was running about 14psi as i normally do but when i pulled the tyre off i pumped up the tube to find that i have has it under the rim lock for the 800km ..
the tube was extreamly out of shape but it lasted 800km under the rim lock i wouldnt have thought it would have done 20km, so i would recomend them to anyone

Thanks heaps guys, it seem to be what works for you may not be for someone else. Not sure what tubes are in the tyres but i may go with 14 psi and see how it goes. Thanks again and will see some of you tomorrow.
Darren
KLX450R