GL1800Riders Forums banner

Falken tire question

2K views 22 replies 11 participants last post by  Rail32 
#1 ·
I use the Falken 912 and have a question. With 16K the tire has worn much, much, quicker in the center of the tread. Now, granted I ride more "slab" than anything but could this also indicate too much psi? I have ran 43 to 44 psi in as most seem to with this tire. I am beginning to wonder if I should have backed off on the pressure a couple of pounds.

Wondering what psi most use with this tire?
 
#2 ·
yes you are correct. I run it at 44 psi ,but I ride different than you and hate the slab. My suggestion is 40 psi till you hit twisties than 44 is a must for me .
 
#3 ·
Psi

:popcorn: This is my experience with the Falken and air pressure.

I started at 44# and went in 1/2 lb. increments up to 47# and as low as 40#.
I felt anything above 44.5# gave a harder feeling to the ride and observed that the contact patch was very small. Might as well use a m/t if the pressure is this high. In addition, with less contact area, I could manage to get the tire to slip in a hard turn at speed.
As I lowered the pressure, the handling went away pretty quick. The rearend wanted to squirm around in even a medium tight turn.This was probably due to sidewall flexing more with the lower pressure. The ride was smooth and soft feeling and the lower the pressure, the more contact area was observed.

I did this testing 1 week after mounting the tire. I choose the BRP for testing as it provided a good variety of curves and lean angles.In addition there are plenty of pull-offs to stop at and check tire pressures. I ran between the lodge at Mt. Pisgah Inn to Cherokee. Back and forth so many times it almost became boring. Air temps ranged from around 46* in the a.m. to 78* midday back down to 68* in the late evening. I started around 8am and tested until approx. 4pm.
I did this because I needed a road trip,just mounted a c/t and and and just because I could.:joke:

I make around 5-6 trips each year to this area. Sometimes solo with the guys. Other times are 2-up and pulling the Bushtec.

Bottom line for me is 44.5# all the time regardless of load and I average around 12000 miles before it's down to the wear bars.

Just my experiences. I'm sure others will reply with a different take on things.
 
#4 ·
That is how my tires wear, center first. You may want to try 38psi on the slab! That is where I've been running my Hankook for slab riding. I did run my Falken there too!:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
#5 ·
Chuck 211

Nicely worded Deputy Dawg!!!
Your right with my thinking as to wear I run mine , sadly I do not get that milage but love it at44psi . Chuck211 told me not to screw around and leave it at 44 and that is exactly what I did not do and found exact same thing you did. So I will :bow: to Chuck again for steering a few of us in the right direction :thumbup: Wish he would come around once and a while and say Hey ya all !!
 
#6 ·
I use the Falken 912 and have a question. With 16K the tire has worn much, much, quicker in the center of the tread. Now, granted I ride more "slab" than anything but could this also indicate too much psi? I have ran 43 to 44 psi in as most seem to with this tire. I am beginning to wonder if I should have backed off on the pressure a couple of pounds.

Wondering what psi most use with this tire?
Also as a Falken tire guy 44 is right on :yes1: You got 16,000 miles huh Not bad the best I ever did was 12,000 and it was bald LOL. Oh well ill keep buying them :thumbup:
 
#8 ·
That is because the Falken has such a thin sidewall. Very thin actually.
I mount tires all day and the difference in sidewall thickness is amazing on non-runflats. I am running a Bridgestone Ecopia EP100 because it has Really thick sidewalls and I can keep the air pressure around 34 psi and still have good handling and I push the bike pretty hard. I only get 9-10 thousand miles from my front tire too. So far I have 7500 miles on my rear tire and the wear is even all the way across the tire, and I have about 40% of the tire left. This tire will outlast every other tire I have tried so far because I have never had any tire last 10,000 miles yet.
This tire also has the best traction of any tire I have tried so far because it keeps so much of the tread on the ground in turns. Everyone that has followed me has commented on how the tread stays mostly on the ground in turns and the sidewall just compresses and extends instead.
I love this tire so far!
It is also a low rolling resistance tire and my gas mileage has actually improved about 4% with it on the bike over the Kuhmo I had before this tire.
 
#11 ·
Like others I played with the air pressure and have settled on 44 all the time. I get around 12000 a tire and I do like playing in the twisties.:doorag:
 
#13 ·
Confused

That is because the Falken has such a thin sidewall. Very thin actually.
I mount tires all day and the difference in sidewall thickness is amazing on non-runflats. I am running a Bridgestone Ecopia EP100 because it has Really thick sidewalls and I can keep the air pressure around 34 psi and still have good handling and I push the bike pretty hard. I only get 9-10 thousand miles from my front tire too. So far I have 7500 miles on my rear tire and the wear is even all the way across the tire, and I have about 40% of the tire left. This tire will outlast every other tire I have tried so far because I have never had any tire last 10,000 miles yet.
This tire also has the best traction of any tire I have tried so far because it keeps so much of the tread on the ground in turns. Everyone that has followed me has commented on how the tread stays mostly on the ground in turns and the sidewall just compresses and extends instead.
I love this tire so far!
It is also a low rolling resistance tire and my gas mileage has actually improved about 4% with it on the bike over the Kuhmo I had before this tire.
I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with the compressing and extending sidewall long term. Sounds like a recipe for sidewall failure. I like the idea of a thicker/stiffer sidewall but I don't think it needs to flex much. That builds up heat which is an additional catalyst for tire failure. JMO!
 
#14 ·
I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with the compressing and extending sidewall long term. Sounds like a recipe for sidewall failure. I like the idea of a thicker/stiffer sidewall but I don't think it needs to flex much. That builds up heat which is an additional catalyst for tire failure. JMO!
Well there are a lot of us running the Falken on here and for lots of miles. There hasn't been 1 tire failure yet not one So you can get that thought out of your head and we really beat the crap out of the tire. I have not heard on this board since coming over and reading back along ways of a sing sidewall failure on a NRF or a RF.
 
#15 ·
not confused

With Safety being a must with me, I would reccomend a Falken 912 to anyone.

The other factors are also welcome benefits:
Ride
Quality
Performance
Price
Avalibility


Choose your Pressure:

35 = Super Smooth at lower speeds/ 1 up shorter trips just easing around type riding.

44-44.5= Serious Biz/ fully loaded 2 up/ aggressive peg scraping riding. :bow:

 
#16 ·
With Safety being a must with me, I would reccomend a Falken 912 to anyone.

The other factors are also welcome benefits:
Ride
Quality
Performance
Price
Avalibility


Choose your Pressure:

35 = Super Smooth at lower speeds/ 1 up shorter trips just easing around type riding.

44-44.5= Serious Biz/ fully loaded 2 up/ aggressive peg scraping riding. :bow:

:agree::thumbup: not that I ever scrap the pegs though :lol:
 
#18 ·
I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with the compressing and extending sidewall long term. Sounds like a recipe for sidewall failure. I like the idea of a thicker/stiffer sidewall but I don't think it needs to flex much. That builds up heat which is an additional catalyst for tire failure. JMO!
I have a TPMS system that does temp along with pressure. Even with the sidewall flexing this rear tire runs cooler than the front tire, it also runs cooler than the Kuhmo runflat that has no sidewall flex at all. Low rolling resistance tires are designed to flex easier especially in the tread area. This is how they get the gas mileage improvement and why it runs cooler in temperature.
 
#20 ·
Oh goodness, I didn't think any DS-R's would FIB about rubber coated pegs LOL

I wonder if anyone had tryed coating the under side of the pegs with Teflon or something similer? FB
I thought about RailRoad spikes welded on though;) get Rail Road or would it Rail Rode :lol:
 
#21 ·
#22 ·
I think 36 lbs. is about the maximum inflation you'll ever need in a CT on the rear of a GL1800. Why? (I'm glad you asked) Lets say hypothetically that a tire is rated at 1356 lbs maximum load at a maximum inflation pressure of 51 PSI. Then 1356/51= 26.6 pounds of load per pound of inflation at maximum load and inflation. I am assuming the footprint of the tire at max load/max inflation is a footprint that will keep sidewall flex within allowable standards. In other words this is the manufacturers recommendation and the tire should be safe to run, not over inflated (smaller footprint) or under inflated (larger footprint). Next, figure the actual load on your rear tire. I weighed the rear of my bike with me sitting on it to get a real world figure for rear tire loading one-up. At my local recycling center I parked the rear wheel of my bike on their scale and while balancing “tippy toe” found that I had 730 pounds on my rear tire. You could also use 500 lbs plus your rider and passenger weight and you would be close enough for a GL1800. So, 730 divided by 27 (26.6 rounded up) equals 27.03 PSI inflation. Using that formula (with the correct numbers plugged in for each tire) I have found that for most of the tires we use it ends up in the 26-36 PSI range, depending on rider weight and passenger load. In the above example if you add a passenger of 150 lbs then 150/27=5.55PSI additional inflation for the passenger making your inflation for our hypothetical tire 27+5.5 or 32.5PSI two up.

I have found this method a good way to figure a starting point for inflation. Monitor your tread wear and handling properties and adjust from there. After starting at 27PSI for my Continental I eventually increased my pressure to 30 while riding one-up and 33 while pulling a trailer or (rarely) carrying passenger. I replaced that tire at 18,500 miles with more wear in the center tread (just nearing the wear indicator bars) than on the side tread.
In another 1500 or 2000 miles it would have been at the wear bars. I believe that had I kept the pressure in the 27-30PSI range I could have easily gone 25,000 miles on this tire with more even wear across the tread.

That is why I think that 36 PSI is about the most you’ll ever need to run in a CT.
MM
 
#23 ·
Hummnn

Oh my:confused:
I think 36 lbs. is about the maximum inflation you'll ever need in a CT on the rear of a GL1800. Why? (I'm glad you asked) Lets say hypothetically that a tire is rated at 1356 lbs maximum load at a maximum inflation pressure of 51 PSI. Then 1356/51= 26.6 pounds of load per pound of inflation at maximum load and inflation. I am assuming the footprint of the tire at max load/max inflation is a footprint that will keep sidewall flex within allowable standards. In other words this is the manufacturers recommendation and the tire should be safe to run, not over inflated (smaller footprint) or under inflated (larger footprint). Next, figure the actual load on your rear tire. I weighed the rear of my bike with me sitting on it to get a real world figure for rear tire loading one-up. At my local recycling center I parked the rear wheel of my bike on their scale and while balancing “tippy toe” found that I had 730 pounds on my rear tire. You could also use 500 lbs plus your rider and passenger weight and you would be close enough for a GL1800. So, 730 divided by 27 (26.6 rounded up) equals 27.03 PSI inflation. Using that formula (with the correct numbers plugged in for each tire) I have found that for most of the tires we use it ends up in the 26-36 PSI range, depending on rider weight and passenger load. In the above example if you add a passenger of 150 lbs then 150/27=5.55PSI additional inflation for the passenger making your inflation for our hypothetical tire 27+5.5 or 32.5PSI two up.

I have found this method a good way to figure a starting point for inflation. Monitor your tread wear and handling properties and adjust from there. After starting at 27PSI for my Continental I eventually increased my pressure to 30 while riding one-up and 33 while pulling a trailer or (rarely) carrying passenger. I replaced that tire at 18,500 miles with more wear the center tread (just nearing the wear indicator bars) than on the side tread.
In another 1500 or 2000 miles it would have been at the wear bars. I believe that had I kept the pressure in the 27-30PSI range I could have easily gone 25,000 miles on this tire with more even wear across the tread.

That is why I think that 36 PSI is about the most you’ll ever need to run in a CT.
MM
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top