Punctures and tyre pressure?

[LBD]

Recently I fell victim to a sharp stone that pierced a near new Pirelli Scorpion in the rear of my MTS. Note that this is a more road orientated Scorpion than those found on most adventure bikes.

Anyway....I have been told that lowering the tire pressure for those sharp rock gravel sections, lowers the chance of a puncture.

Anyone have any thoughts on this they would care to share?

[buggsubique]

lower the pressure? Personally i go harder to avoid the pinch flats. Makes it more skittery but while lower pressure gives the grip a big rock hit will risk pinch flatting it. Go for hd tubes too. Extra weight but sooo good for piece of mind and resilience.

Sent from my LG-P500 using Tapatalk

[Monstaman]

From my 27 years or reasonably extreme 4x4 and 37 bikes experience I believe running them lower reduces the risk of rock intrusion due to be more flexi, this may increase the chance of a pinch but the incident of top puncture seems to be greater that pinchs in my experience.

BTW what oil do you use, what do you think is the best :shifty:

Sent from my office-chair with a wine in my hand

[LBD]

From my 27 years or reasonably extreme 4x4 and 37 bikes experience I believe running them lower reduces the risk of rock intrusion due to be more flexi.

Thats what I am told...I had the 34psi when a sharp stone went clean through the tread and was inside the tire when we removed it....just looking for more info before committing to the practice.

Castrol Power 1 GPS 10W40.... as it is the oil used at the shop where the bike is stored.....if doing it myself I would be using a 10W40 full synthetic, any one of a number available, but probably mobil 1 with a PAO base. I change oil and filters ahead of schedule. I could collect and analysis samples to determine the optimum intervals....but thats too much bother in my present circumstances.

[Hitcher]

Anyone have any thoughts on this they would care to share?

Yes. If your tyre is dead flat then it's unlikely to be overly troubled by a puncture.

[LBD]

Yes. If your tyre is dead flat then it's unlikely to be overly troubled by a puncture.

yes, but....she feels a bit wobbly scraping pegs when the tire is dead flat.

[sinfull]

Thats what I am told...I had the 34psi when a sharp stone went clean through the tread and was inside the tire when we removed it....just looking for more info before committing to the practice.

Castrol Power 1 GPS 10W40.... as it is the oil used at the shop where the bike is stored.....if doing it myself I would be using a 10W40 full synthetic, any one of a number available, but probably mobil 1 with a PAO base. I change oil and filters ahead of schedule. I could collect and analysis samples to determine the optimum intervals....but thats too much bother in my present circumstances.
Jesus man ! First post i'm thinking your a stress free vegan or sommit ! After reading that i'm going whoa you got to come to my party !

There's sommit going on wid my shit !

[LBD]

Jesus man ! First post i'm thinking your a stress free vegan or sommit ! After reading that i'm going whoa you got to come to my party !

There's sommit going on wid my shit !

Wot you smoking there Kledis?

[sinfull]

Wot you smoking there Kledis?Ya woodunt understant !

[LBD]

Ya woodunt understant !

I hate admitting....you lost me

[sinfull]

I hate admitting....you lost me Pump it up !

[JATZ]

Do you have tubes...... or are the tyres tubeless ?
Why synthetic oil ?

sent from my couch with a milo in my hand :eek:

[NordieBoy]

Can't remember what I ran in the Nordwest when I went through the Rainbow but nowadays basically I lower the pressures until it's not bouncing off rocks anymore.

Not sure what safe pressures you can use on a big bike before the handling is disrupted though.

[Crisis management]

Maybe not usefull as we don't get those friggin huge rocks you lot call gravel but 30 PSI in the rear is normal, 25 in the front for gravel & seal use on the 640, the trail bike I have run at 5 PSI over all sorts of crap and haven't had a flat (lighter bike tho).

I would have thought run as high a pressure as you can while maintaining traction or you run the risk of rapid tyre wear with lower pressures.

Oil? KTM's don't use oil, they operate on a higher plane.




Sent from the doghouse on a tin can and string extension.......

[ADVGD]

I had the 34psi when a sharp stone went clean through the tread and was inside the tire when we removed it....just looking for more info before committing to the practice.

We don't ride the same class of bike but it appears you were playing in the same playground, so for a little more info to the pot this is what I run on my bike fully laden with gear:

18psi Rear 16psi Front : All off road including gravel, dirt track, riverbed work, etc.

That may seem low to some but I fully agree with Monsterman about too much pressure attributing to top punctures, have experienced it myself, it can destroy a perfectly good (even new) tyre and can leave you in the crap in the middle of nowhere. I'd rather fix a simple puncture repair from too lower pressure than have to deal with a slashed casing from too much pressure.

[Monstaman]

That may seem low to some but I fully agree with Monsterman about too much pressure attributing to top punctures, have experienced it myself, it can destroy a perfectly good (even new) tyre and can leave you in the crap in the middle of nowhere. I'd rather fix a simple puncture repair from too lower pressure than have to deal with a slashed casing from too much pressure.

That is wot I was trying to say but the wine got in the way, shoulda had JATZs milo instead :laugh:

Sent from my office chair with no wine :confused:

[Oscar]

When I was riding enduro's the balancing act was having your pressures low enough to give good traction, but no too low so as to risk impact punctures or having the tyre move and rip the valve stem out.

So for mud, it was 5-12 psi in the rear, 10 -12 psi in the front. There were also tyres available with strenghtened sidewalls (Barum etc) that could be run at 0 psi if required. On rocky terrain (because despite views to the contrary here, off road motorcycles do puncture more frequently at lower pressures usually due to impacts) due to the risk of puncture these would go up 5 - 6 psi.

The problem with tubed tyres is having the rear move at low pressures and rip the valve stem out. Rim locks or pins usually took care of this or you could get side valve tubes where the valve exited through the sidewall (I still have one in the shed somewhere).

I always wanted to try a mousse but due the horrendous cost and the fact that they only last five minutes, I couldn't afford it.

[LBD]

Do you have tubes...... or are the tyres tubeless

Tubeless....they are the pirelli Scorpions developed for the MTS



I would have thought run as high a pressure as you can while maintaining traction or you run the risk of rapid tyre wear with lower pressures.

This seems to be what some are saying for gravel and stony rides.




We don't ride the same class of bike but it appears you were playing in the same playground, so for a little more info to the pot this is what I run on my bike fully laden with gear:

18psi Rear 16psi Front : All off road including gravel, dirt track, riverbed work, etc.

That may seem low to some but I fully agree with Monsterman about too much pressure attributing to top punctures, have experienced it myself, it can destroy a perfectly good (even new) tyre and can leave you in the crap in the middle of nowhere. I'd rather fix a simple puncture repair from too lower pressure than have to deal with a slashed casing from too much pressure.

For me that is the trade of....maintaining enough pressure for good road handling and tire life while minimizing the chance for a puncture on those coarse gravel sections.

Of course, one flat does not make a trend so I may have just been unlucky on one rare occasion.

I will find some info I have on POA Synthetic oils and post in a new thread....Essentially PAO oils are better at maintaining an oil film over a greater load and temp range while also having lower (internal) friction.

[Waihou Thumper]

Umm...does one feel that this is a piss take? :) :)
be gentle guys......
I await with baited breath for the NEW oil thread......:shit:

[Hitcher]

Wot you smoking there Kledis?

Kledis? Is that like Kronic?

[dino3310]

i run the recomended psi on my tires, i dont bother with mucking round with pressures any more if i get a flat so be it.....
shit happens:D

[LBD]

245013245014
Umm...does one feel that this is a piss take? :) :)
be gentle guys......
I await with baited breath for the NEW oil thread......:shit:

Nope....no piss take...why would you think that?

Puncture was up at Lake Mahinerangi 2 weeks back The mechanic at M and V mentioned running lower pressures over sharp Gravel to minimise punctures.....so I was posting on here looking for more experience.

M and V were great help BTW

[LBD]

Kledis? Is that like Kronic?

Kledis...I probably spelt it wrong....insulting nick name for somw one who may not be all there, bit like Earl.....sorry Sinful

[JATZ]

245013245014

Nope....no piss take...why would you think that?

Puncture was up at Lake Mahinerangi 2 weeks back The mechanic at M and V mentioned running lower pressures over sharp Gravel to minimise punctures.....so I was posting on here looking for more experience.

M and V were great help BTW

Just curious what pressure you were running at the time ?
I used to have about 36-38 when I had a road bike with tubless tyres.
How low in pressure can you go with tubeless tyres ? Someone else will probley have more of an idea than me.
I generally use what ever is in the tyre at the time and find it works o.k. Never had a pinch flat, ever

[LBD]

Just curious what pressure you were running at the time ?
I used to have about 36-38 when I had a road bike with tubless tyres.
How low in pressure can you go with tubeless tyres ? Someone else will probley have more of an idea than me.
I generally use what ever is in the tyre at the time and find it works o.k. Never had a pinch flat, ever

Was running 34 and 34....how low can you go would be good to know....just hoping to learn from someone who knows

[Monstaman]

how low can you go would be good to know....just hoping to learn from someone who knows

On my SMR when riding through the Lewis and Arthurs passes on ice and grit I dropped both ends to 25 PSI.

The 120 70 17 front wasn't too bad but the 180 55 17 felt quite sloppy but lets face it I was not hanging it out on the ice either, still sat at 100 - 120 once out of the ice bits oh.

I would say with a 180 55 17 you would not want to go much below 22 PSI and that would be depending on how much luggage you have on board.

My fronts starts feeling heavy to steer below 20 PSI, down to that was ok but not for sports mode, I rode from Greymouth to Westport on 16 PSI hot on the front on one trip as I got a leak from a loose valve, at sports pace I knew something was wrong but it still got me there.

Sent from my chair while thinking about oil :no:

[LBD]

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/141172-Synthetics-vs-Mineral-oils?p=1130134023#post1130134023

[bart]

As long as it looks like there's as much air in the bottom of the tyre as the top, I ride. :laugh:

sent from my tappity tappity black thing in the lounge, (with a handle of 'bart's brew' in my right hand).

[NordieBoy]

Shane had the DR rear down to 8psi with no rim locks in the snow today.
Didn't stop him pulling wheelies on the seal either.

[XF650]

245013245014

Nope....no piss take...why would you think that?

Puncture was up at Lake Mahinerangi 2 weeks back The mechanic at M and V mentioned running lower pressures over sharp Gravel to minimise punctures.....so I was posting on here looking for more experience.

M and V were great help BTW

Ya got to watch out for the gravel they sometimes use in that area - it's the size of railway ballast, sharp & pointy. Tyres aside, you wouldn't want to fall on it.

[LBD]

Ya got to watch out for the gravel they sometimes use in that area - it's the size of railway ballast, sharp & pointy. Tyres aside, you wouldn't want to fall on it.

yes that was the stuff...real angry, large and sharp.

[Oscar]

yes that was the stuff...real angry, large and sharp.

Sounds like my Mother-in-law...:no:

[Crim]

Sounds like my Mother-in-law...:no:

If she is anything like mine - would be worth a puncture :laugh:

did I say that or was I thinking aloud:confused: