Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

Ek sou se^ die optimale banddruk op teer is die druk wat die vervaardiger aandui vir daardie betrokke band. En verder kan jy as eienaar eksperimenteer met bietjie harder of sagter. Ek herhaal uit 'n vorige thread van Annie: The tyre pressure is a compromise between Traction, Wear and Heat build-up. The pressures recommended by the manufacturer was established by them trying to offer the general user with an optimum balance between good wear vs good grip. You as intelligent rider should adjust the recommendation to suit your own detail needs. The softer tyre gives larger footprint ---- better grip on dirt, but greater heat build-up on tarmac (leading to quick wear). Harder tyre = smaller footprint, less grip on dirt, good grip on tar, reasonable heat build-up, reasonable wear In order to get the best life out of your tyres, one have to accurately control the tyre pressure. It is much more sensitive to pressure than you can imagine. I once took a good 50% worn tyre to replacement within 500km of fast tarmac riding at (much too low) 1.3bar. And only afterwards realised how lucky I was, not suffering a blow-out! The recent track day was a revelation to me, regarding the behaviour of the tyres. How they heat up and feel/handle early and late in as few as 3 laps. By the way, for the track riding they recommended 2.5 front and 1.8 back. I used 2.5 front and 2bar back. The softness at the back was to create more grip through heat build-up. ''What would happen when you use "2 up" pressures for normal "1 up" commuting?'' Ek sou se^ jou band gaan effens koeler loop, daarom effens minder greep he^, ook kleiner footprint he^ (dus ook minder grip).... so, ek sou bly by die vervaardiger se syfer en klein bietjie aanpas na jou eie gewig. (as jyself so swaar is soos 1 1/2 mens, dan is harder-as-aanbeveel bande nodig. As jy baie lig is, laer druk is reg) Ongelukkig is "Performance" en "Life" twee teenwerkende eienskappe. Wat jy wen by die een, gaan jy verloor by die ander.

I have heard of people getting almost 20 000 km out of a set of tyres. Not sure if this is an urband legend. My last set did only 11 000 km - granted 7 000 km of that was touring, 2 up and loaded paniers. I must also admit I did not check the tyre pressures regularly enough - the typical garage fitting does not fit into the rim. While we are on that topic, where can one get a 90 degree fitting to make these garage gauges fit onto a bike?

Bought myself one from www.motorworks.co.uk, cost about 3.85 pounds [R53.00]and works like a dream Very quick and easy to import..also buy all my servicing stuff from them

Padlangs, On my RT I got up to 22 000 on the rear tyre and 25 000 on the front. I kept my tyres at 2.4 front and 2.5 rear using the same gauge always. I also tried my hardest but often failed to avoid fast or power pullaways. These bikes have tremendous power and it is so lekker feeling them surge forward. When I bought my 1st 1150Rt with ABS, Andrew at Atlantic phoned me while it was in for service to say he could see I was loving my ABS- and warned me that I should be more conservative unless I had deep pockets for regular tyre replacement. I took that advice and even now I'm carefull about putting the power down and 'using' that exciting advantage ABS gives you to brake hard and late. Andyman Yup that's me. Standing up in the traffic on the 1150GSA.