I can't find anyone who really KNOWS the story on tire pressure when installing a hack. One guy showed me an older Factory Manual from long ago that had tire pressures lowered from thirty to 15 pounds. He tried it on his rig and the woobles disappeared. Other"experts" say no, you need lots of pressure.
The search mode didn't bring me any useable answers either. The only reply to my question has been "Buy a book". That's what the forums supposed to take care of. ... so! Q What pressure do I use for a middle weight rig??TomJ
This is one of those subjects where you will get lots of opinions. My rig has car tires on all three wheels. I run 25 pounds of pressure in each. The advice I got - for car tires - was that the tire will never warm up to operating temperature at "normal" tire inflation levels as the weight of the rig is so much less than for an automobile.
I don't have any experience with motorcycle tire pressure on sidecars, but, wait for it, others will chime in without doubt. So sift and filter and decide what works for you.
Well this one I know about my bike. Motorcycle tires all around and I run 32 pounds in all three. Works fine for me.
This is so subjective on tire size, brand, load, driving habits, speed, etc. I started mine at the reccomended inflation on the tire, then dropped it a couple pounds at a time until I found what felt right and wore the tires evenly. Right now, my front tire and sidecar are both at 35 pounds, and back tire(car tire) at 30.
Yup, what they said. The only thing I know for sure is that anyone who tries to convince you there is a single correct answer to that question is wrong (even if they are talking about the same rig). I received many & varied answers to the same question when I bought my first rig - most erred on the side of high pressures. I eventually settled on 28 front, 34 rear and 30 in the sidecar tyre when on a standard ride with my regular passenger. Any more in the front and it got skatey, any more in the rear and you could almost see the tyre disappearing and any more in the sidecar and my poor little passenger got jiggled to bits 🙂
Of course, when I took my wife away for the weekend with luggage, kitchen sink, etc, it all changed quite a bit.
Sorry to disappoint, but you'll have to find what works for you. Don't be afraid to try lower pressures than you might normally consider, but I think 15psi is a bit of a stretch - unless your rig is for moto-trials work 🙂
Stout
'77 R100 + California II
'81 XS1100 + HRD Grand Rally 1.5
"Older Factory Manual". What bike/sidecar combo?
For instance here's recent Harley Specs with Stock tires and a factory sidecar:
Tire pressures are in PSI:
Solo bike: No passenger; Fr. 36# Rr. 36#
Solo bike: & passenger; Fr. 36# Rr. 40#
W/Sidecar: No passenger; Fr. 36# Rr. 36# Sidecar, 28#
W/sidecar: & 1 passenger; Fr. 36# Rr. 40# Sidecar, 28#
W/sidecar: & passenger on bike & in sidecar; Fr. 36# Rr. 40# Sidecar, 28#
Lonnie
Used to run 42 lbs in both Metz's and 32 in the hack tire. Now run 42 in the front Metz, 38 in the rear car tire and 32 in the hack. Seems to work and the 42 in the Metz's came from the BMW dealer where I bought te bike new. (Daytona BMW) Tire wear has been excellent with 13.7K on the rear Metz before changing it and it still had a couple of K's left, and now have 14K on the front Metz with plenty of K's left. The sidecar tire is a 13" automotive type tire and it shows no wear at all. Tread depth the same as it was new. It has 13+K on it. Very happy all the way around.
Uber
Someone at a rally last week told me this and it made some sense. Anyhow..he said that the difference in air pressure between checking it at rest and after running it should be about 4 pounds...or whatever the tire specs say if there is any. So, with this in mind he said he will pump up a tire to what he feels is right and run it..then see how much the pressure changed when hot. If it is more than the 4 pounds then he adds air..if less he drops the air pressure a little and tries again.
Food for thought.
