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From: saddlebag on 11 Jun 2010 18:44
On Jun 10, 10:52 pm, "Tim M." <tomorrowaterolsdot...(a)yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Jun 10, 5:16 pm, saddlebag <saddle...(a)aol.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Jun 9, 10:23 pm, "Tim M." <tomorrowaterolsdot...(a)yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > > On Jun 9, 6:24 pm, saddlebag <saddle...(a)aol.com> wrote:
>
> > > > On Jun 8, 11:50 pm, "Tim M." <tomorrowaterolsdot...(a)yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > > > > On Jun 8, 1:15 pm, "?" <breoganmacbr...(a)yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > > > > > Has anybody ever been in a situation where they were tempted to
> > > > > > *reduce* air pressure in their tires for comfort during a ride?
>
> > > > > > The recommended minimum air pressure and suspension settings
> > > > > > in my Yamaha FZR1000 owner's manual don't work for me.
>
> > > > > > The area I live in has rather extreme temperature variations which I
> > > > > > doubt ever occur in Japan where the test riders must have
> > > > > > determined the recommended settings.
>
> > > > > > It can be 55 degrees in the morning here and I set my rear tire
> > > > > > pressure to the minimum 36 psi recommended by the manual.
>
> > > > > > I have the rear suspension preload backed off almost to the minimum.
> > > > > > Backing off any more will result in bottoming.
>
> > > > > > By midafternoon, the temperature is up around 100 degrees and the
> > > > > > pavement temperature has to be at least 120 degrees.
>
> > > > > > The rear tire pressure rises to 40 psi and the motorcycle becomes a
> > > > > > torture rack over the roughly paved county road that is the last 20
> > > > > > miles of my route.
>
> > > > > You do realize that you can reduce your tire pressure to 36psi after
> > > > > it has risen to 40psi, right?   You do know that different tire guages
> > > > > give different readings, right?   And you have checked yours to see
> > > > > that it is not reading 10 or 15% low, which is very common, and could
> > > > > mean that you are riding around with 44-46 psi in your rear tire once
> > > > > it comes up to operating temperature, right?
>
> > > > > I know an experienced rider like you, riding a liter sportbike, knows
> > > > > all this already.  I'm just mentioning it because you did not mention
> > > > > it in your whine^h^h^h^h^h post.
>
> > > > > > I was riding slowly along the bumpy back road yesterday when I saw the
> > > > > > lights of a bunch of Harley riders behind me, so I moved to the right
> > > > > > and let a dozen bikes pass me.
>
> > > > > > They were riding twice as fast as I could go,
>
> > > > > This is not a surprise in any way.
>
> > > > > > and I suspect that
> > > > > > their balloon tires and softtail suspensions made for a much more
> > > > > > comfortable ride than my sporty bike.
>
> > > > > Softtail suspension is notorious for its short travel, harsh spring
> > > > > rates, and poor damping.
>
> > > > Hmmm, that's a shame as I thought the suspension on the Road King was
> > > > pretty damn appropriate for its mission.  Guess one needs to ride them
> > > > all..
>
> > > The FLH touring bikes do not have Softtail suspension.
>
> > Hence my statement about needing to ride them all.
>
> Ah, gotcha.  I misunderstood the context of your statement.  Re-
> reading it, I see what you actually meant.   Thanks for the
> clarification.   Strike my comment.

It's alright if disappointing. I kinda like the Softail Deluxe, but
it does have a pretty crappy seat and less ground clearance than the
touring models. If there suspension sucks it is definitely off the
bucket list.

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