Tire pressure - Metzeler Roadtec Z6

[lazbm]

Which is supposed to be followed - Yamaha or Metzeler's recommendation?

Even Metzeler has two different specs on the same website.

Yamaha

• Front: 39 psi
• Rear: 42 psi

Metzeler

Sport, Sport Touring (radial & bias)

Front Solo 2 Up Light 2 Up Heavy

80/90-3.25 32-34 32-34 34-36

100/80-3.50 32-34 34-35 35-36

110/70-120/90 34-36 36-38 38-40

130/60-150/80 34-36 36-38 40-42

Rear Solo 2 Up Light 2 Up Heavy

4.00-100/90 34-36 36-38 38-40

4.25-110/90 34-36 36-38 38-40

120/80-130/90 36-38 38-40 40-42

140/70-200/50 36-38 38-40 40-42

140/90-150/90 38-40 40-42 40-42

At another place (https://www.us.metzelermoto.com/web/fitment/metzeler/selectSearchTyresForm.do?mySelectActived=confirm&myEntryPoint=%2Ffitment%2Fmetzeler%2FhomeMotoFull&brandVehicle=4981&modelVehicle=110096&versionVehicle=217876&consent=Y#fitmentanchor) Metzeler recommends 32/36 psi.

 

[irishcurtis]

Metzeler built the tire to certain specs, their engineers (and lawyers) colaborated on a set of recommendations for pressures for that tire.

Yamaha spec'd the tire and their chassis and suspension engineers (and lawyers) colaborated on a set of recommendations for that tire ON THAT BIKE.

I have always looked first to the owner's manual pressure recommendations, as I feel it is a better representation of how the bike will feel and handle with most tires.

Changes to either set of recommendations is always at your own risk based on your riding style and your expectations. All of this changes on track day, but remember that neither set of recommendations is intended to cover all possibilities. I'm sure both Yammy and Metzeler wrote their recommendations with 98% of customers in mind.

 

[johnny80s]

40 front 42 rear

 

[El Cajone]

I ran mine with the Yamaha pressures, 39 front 42 rear. I put 12k miles on these tires and while tire pressure is not the only factor, it did seem to work well.

 

[Fred W]

Which is supposed to be followed - Yamaha or Metzeler's recommendation?
Even Metzeler has two different specs on the same website.

Yamaha

• Front: 39 psi
• Rear: 42 psi

Metzeler

Sport, Sport Touring (radial & bias)

Front Solo 2 Up Light 2 Up Heavy

80/90-3.25 32-34 32-34 34-36

100/80-3.50 32-34 34-35 35-36

110/70-120/90 34-36 36-38 38-40

130/60-150/80 34-36 36-38 40-42

Rear Solo 2 Up Light 2 Up Heavy

4.00-100/90 34-36 36-38 38-40

4.25-110/90 34-36 36-38 38-40

120/80-130/90 36-38 38-40 40-42

140/70-200/50 36-38 38-40 40-42

140/90-150/90 38-40 40-42 40-42

See, the tire manufacturer doesn't know what kind of bike you are slapping their hoops on.

There is no such thing as "Light" on an FJR.

If you just go with the 2-up Heavy recommendations all the time you'll be in fat bike city!!

 

[lazbm]

Thank you for the feedback. However, the link that I inserted earlier is not for any generic bike, but for FJR1300 in particular. Here's what that link at Metzeler indicates:

========================================================================

Fitment Chart

YAMAHA FJR1300 (2003-2008)

Front 32 PSI

Rear 36 PSI

========================================================================

That is a huge difference between the tire and bike companies' recommendations.

 

[Fred W]

Thank you for the feedback. However, the link that I inserted earlier is not for any generic bike, but for FJR1300 in particular. Here's what that link at Metzeler indicates:========================================================================

Fitment Chart

YAMAHA FJR1300 (2003-2008)

Front 32 PSI

Rear 36 PSI

========================================================================

That is a huge difference between the tire and bike companies' recommendations.

+1

Your bike would definitely handle like a pig with tires that soft.

 

[johnny80s]

Not to mention it would also wear the tires out extremely fast.

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

Your bike would definitely handle like a pig with tires that soft.

"Handling" (m/c handling) is a very personal/individualistic concept -- AFAIK, there's no objective test for it for motorcycles.

Car guys do skid-pads and timed slaloms -- but, motorcyclists can just offer opinions.

What's 'good' for someone may be totally 'un-acceptable' for someone else...? :huh:

 

[Harald]

Thank you for the feedback. However, the link that I inserted earlier is not for any generic bike, but for FJR1300 in particular. Here's what that link at Metzeler indicates:========================================================================

Fitment Chart

YAMAHA FJR1300 (2003-2008)

Front 32 PSI

Rear 36 PSI

========================================================================

That is a huge difference between the tire and bike companies' recommendations.

Those pressures seem awfuly low to me. My stock tires on the FJR would lose pressure over time and my impression is that lower pressures make for poor handling (yea, I don't always check pressure before each ride :nono: ). Like other's have already said, I'd go with the vehicle manufactures recommended pressures because the tire co. doesn't know what vehicle their hoops are going on.

But I wonder about Yamaha's pressures though. General tire theory states that increased loads or speeds require higher pressure, yet Yami has the same pressure for solo or max GVWR. Maybe it's like my pickup truck that has tire pressures on the door jamb label that are designed for operating the truck at the max axle rating. It would be stupid to run the truck at those pressures if you run around with no load because you'll have poor traction, uneven tire wear and a need to see the chiroprator due to the unnecesarily harsh ride. It's much better to get a tire inflation table and adjust your tire pressure based on your anticipated load. This, of course, requires you to know the empty and loaded weights (by axle) of the truck. I guess that's too much work for most people, so the manufacturer sets pressures to cover the worst case scenario. Maybe Yamaha is doing the same thing?