Michelin City Grip: Tire pressure

[TroutBum]

Tomorrow I am scheduled to have new tires put on my Like. I was going to get Hidenau, but decided to get the more grippy Michelins. For those who have the City Grip what tire pressure (front and rear) are you using for one-up riding? I've been going with the mfg recommended pressures for the OEMs.

[vespbretta]

Depends on a few personal factors also.

On the front something from 26,11 to 29,01 psi (1,8 - 2,0 bar)
and 33,36 to 36,26 psi (2,3 - 2,5 bar) should be fine.

I prefer to stay on the softer side on the front, because the suspension is (too) hard anyway.
Best do the test yourself. You will soon find out.

But why do you think that the michelin has better grip than the heidenau? Or where did you get that info from?
The Heidenau K61 won several awards in dry and wet conditions. Also the Heidenau K58 mod. is a very popular good tyre and well recommended in scooter tyre test magazines.

[TroutBum]

One of my dealer techie loves the twisty and through trial and error found for the best lean traction the City Grip outperformed the Hidenau. Since I do a fair amount of riding through the mountains I wanted the tire that would give me the best lean traction.

[Stig / Major Tom]

One of my dealer techie loves the twisty and through trial and error found for the best lean traction the City Grip outperformed the Hidenau. Since I do a fair amount of riding through the mountains I wanted the tire that would give me the best lean traction.

Please!....you ride a lot in the SoCal moutains? we do NOT want to see you and your LIKE200i on one of those Mulholland Drive motorcycle crash youtube videos! Easy does it....but if you do have too much coffee and decide to go up there - try not to go through/under the guard rail without your scooter. Oh, and wear socks with your flip-flops.

Stig

[TroutBum]

Lol Stig, but I'm a NorCal resident. San Jose to be exact. I ride the Santa Cruz mountain range. It's the roads less traveled. Mainly locals, cyclists and a few PTWs. Lots of wildlife, trees, mountain streams and lakes. Even folklore of albino mountain community and haunted asylum.

[Siggy Javotnik]

When I bought my Like, the dealer volunteered, with a world-weary tone, "30 psi up front, 32 in the back." I got the feeling he said those words for every modern scoot he sold. I thought my steering bearings were shot, the front end bounced so much at anything over 30 mph! Backing front psi to 26 fixed it.

I've been running the rear at 32 psi, but after reading this thread I might bump it up a few pounds. I've found myself switching the rear shocks between full preload (as taut as the suspension gets) and the middle, second setting. One is too tight, the other is slightly too loose. Sometimes I forget the tires are part of the suspension too.

[Stig / Major Tom]

I agree with keeping the PSI at factory settings, front & rear, for the best ride.
It is a short, light, scooter so the ride is never going to be as good as a long, heavy scooter - but increasing the PSI above the recommended 25/F - 29-32/R serves no purpose for daily riding....just beats you and the scoot up.
An old tire tech at my parts counter pointed out that increasing the PSI also reduces the contact patch - which is already pretty small at recommended pressures on any two-wheeler....so "go with the manual", he said.
Good enough for me - tried it all, back to 25 and 30 for many miles. Shock pre-loads as well...
Best thing I did to massively improve the 'ride' on my LIKE200i was to buy a used LIKE50cc seat and rebuild & recover it. I quit looking for new shocks after the seat rebuild....and it also let me move back and get my knees away from the bar ends.
It was a 20-40 minute seat until the rebuild....now I never think about the ride on most roads.
Stig

[vespbretta]

With 26  up front and 32 in the rear you will have quiet a good and comfortable well balanced compromise to start with. If your riding style should change to "sporty" one day, you might want to go a little bit up front and/or rear. But there is no unique and generally valid tire pressure value. You need to feel it and try it out while riding.

The usual suspect for the frontend bouncing is also the kenda factory tire which is unbalanced and out of round (mounted). Same thing on the rear.

[Siggy Javotnik]

The usual suspect for the frontend bouncing is also the kenda factory tire which is unbalanced and out of round (mounted). Same thing on the rear.

Holy smokes, I had no idea. Thanks, Vespbretta!