New to sidecars and have just purchased a 88 GL1500 with a Hannigan 2+2. Bike has Metzelers front and rear, and would to know what tire presures to run. On my 1990 SE running 40 psi front and 41 psi rear, should I run the same presure? What presure on the sidecar tire?
Thanks Rich
Welcome to the forum, I'm new here too...Hard to get a straight answer for this question with all the different variables..I run the front and sidecar tires at max pressure, and have never had a complaint, they wear and handle for me at an acceptable rate.. .I can't speak for others, but in my experience, with rear tires, with my set up, with Dunlaps, it depends on what I'm lookin for. If I'm hauling weight at higher speeds on interstate hwy"s, I would go with full pressure for best tire wear. But, if I had a pile of free tires in the back yard, and someone to change them for me for free, and I was just cuttin around town at minimum ballast weight and doin twisties and/or on gravel roads....I would run with a lower pressure, cause mine handles one hell of a lot easier and better and funner at about 27-32lbs.......I have worn out new rear tires at low pressure in as little as 1100 miles ( man, is it fun), and as much, at max, of 4000 miles at higher pressure. Admittedly, I Do drive aggressively when at minimum/moderate ballast weight...I have not tried any radials yet! And am interested in others experiences with them...Short answer, experiment for your particular driving style and requirements and budget. Others of course may disagree...... Enjoy.....
jrwdavis - 6/2/2011 11:46 PM
New to sidecars and have just purchased a 88 GL1500 with a Hannigan 2+2. Bike has Metzelers front and rear, and would to know what tire presures to run. On my 1990 SE running 40 psi front and 41 psi rear, should I run the same presure? What presure on the sidecar tire?
Thanks Rich
Hi Rich. I have a Nomad 1700 with a Hannigan Astro GT sidecar. Front tire is a Metzler 880, rear is a Firestone car tire. I run 30 psi in the front, 30 psi in the sidecar tire, and 36 psi in the rear tire. The Metzler 880 on the front is wearing well - it now has 7,000 miles on it and still has lots of tread left.
I used to wear out the rear tire after 2000 miles at 32 PSI no matter what tire I chose. I doubled the mileage by running the air between 40 and 45 PSI.
