TA tyres
 

Ok, standard Transalp 600 rear tyre pressure for riding two-up is 33psi.

On the run down to Ripley last week, loaded up with camping gear and in lovely hot weather I thought it best to run a slightly higher pressure so we set off with 38psi.

I would expect about 10% of a difference between cold and hot pressures so around 44psi. I checked them at our first stop and was horrified to see 51psi on the gauge.

We'd been cruising at about 115-120 kph and as I said it was warm and we were loaded, but not overly heavy. I dropped the speed to 100kph which helped, but only by a little, 48psi.

The tyre is a Michelin Anakee 130/17 65 S, tube type, a little over half worn and rated at 45psi max..!

Am I right to be worried about this..? Do I need to start looking for a GS...??? :innocent:

Doesn't sound like a problem to me. The "max pressure" on the side of the tyre is a cold tyre pressure that should be used if you're running at the tyre's maximum permitted load. Running laden at high speed in warm ambient conditions is the hottest your rear tyre will get. Tubed tyres get hotter than tubeless. An Anakee is a semi-knobbly pattern which flexes around more than a slick and that gets things even warmer.

Hot pressures are difficult to generalise on, and a tyre with a low cold pressure will rise more than the same tyre in the same conditions with a higher cold pressure. A far better indicator is the condition of the tyre - did it look like it was overheating? Chances are it looked fine and if you'd not checked the hot pressure you'd not have thought twice about it :)

Hi dj,

Thanks for your thoughts, all good points.

You're right in that the tyre showed no outward signs of overheating and it was well within it's max load (290kg at 45psi).

It's funny how soon as the GF gets on the back I pay more attention to this sort of thing..!

Speaking of load ratings, although the tyre was within it's limit, the bike itself was well over. Max load is a mere 180kg's. Now neither of us is particularly large, but with my gear on, I'm over 100kg's so two up we're already fully loaded-with no luggage..! Not much I can do about that, but it's never seemed to mind much, just shakes it's head if you take your hands off the bars....so I don't..!