Noob Q about Tire Temp

[HAWK]

Don't worry so much about side to side, The car guys need to worry about inside and outside for camber adjustment but as you realize left right is a function of the track. more rights more heat on the right side. Worry about the overall temp, is the hot side too hot? Starting to get greasy? not hot enough to work? The big thing though is don't change the pressure because it goes up when the tire gets hot, change it when something is not right.

[Super Dave]

Tire psi is a measure of internal pressure.  Catman, yeah, if it gets warmer out, the tire pressure will come up.  Then you need to reduce the pressure.  The pressure supports the tire along with how the carcass is manufactured.  You can go up and down in pressure to get the tire to "feel" like one wants.  But, honestly, I have seldom changed pressures much from recommended. 

Radial tires seldom get "hot".  If they do, it's a manufacturing problem or a specific problem related to the track and the bike.  The nice thing is that radials also work in colder temperature.  In the day of bias ply tires, tires didn't work in the cool, and they would over heat.  Tire pressure was a way to keep the tire carcass from moving around so much to reduce the tire's time from turning to junk.  Basically, the tire would be close to greasy all the time.

[catman]

Thanks all- I got out of this (other than previously acknowleged) that  if the day gets much warmer than starting temp,a small incremental lowering(if a there is a problem) is ok, and charting will help predict,better. I wonder if someone can recomend an air pressure gauge- I really appreciate ya helping out here Dave, Hawk etc. appreciate your time /response! John in Victory Gardens NJ

[benprobst]

My snap on / blue-point has been spot on for over 15 years, requiring only one adjustment following a ver hard drop and crush, wich actually only nocked it off by about a pound and a half.

[HAWK]

The actual accuracy of the gauge is not really that important as long as you always use the same gauge. If you were to walk through the pits and check your tires with everyones gauge you would be hard pressed to find 2 that read the same but if you always use the same one you know what you are running.

[catman]

thanks Paul,Ben- i look foward to next season as i,m sure we all do,and thanks to the guy who actually started the thread-John

[benprobst]

The actual accuracy of the gauge is not really that important as long as you always use the same gauge. If you were to walk through the pits and check your tires with everyones gauge you would be hard pressed to find 2 that read the same but if you always use the same one you know what you are running.

Not neccesarily. if your gauge reads incorectly in the first place then it is prone to changing. If the tire man says run 31 in your front tire, he means run 31 psi with a correct gauge, not whatever you drag to the track behind the truck. Sure you may think well its normally 3 over so ill put in 34, well like I said before, if your gauge is that far off in the first place then who is to say it wont be 1 lb of or maybe 4 lbs off when you go to use it next. getting good quality tools will pay off in the long run.

[catman]

Thanks Ben- i want to remove the variables and will look for snapon guy,or motionpro etc during the winter- i guess to check it out one could take a consensus of a couple of others and compare to know from the start if you have a good one - John

[HAWK]

Not neccesarily. if your gauge reads incorectly in the first place then it is prone to changing. If the tire man says run 31 in your front tire, he means run 31 psi with a correct gauge, not whatever you drag to the track behind the truck. Sure you may think well its normally 3 over so ill put in 34, well like I said before, if your gauge is that far off in the first place then who is to say it wont be 1 lb of or maybe 4 lbs off when you go to use it next. getting good quality tools will pay off in the long run.

Point well taken Ben, I don't by any means advocate using junk but getting the perfect gauge is also not necessary. I use one of the rather inexpensive electronic digital gauges that are easily  come by at any part store. The solid state strain gauges used in these gauges are rather reliable and, as long as the gauge manages to stay out from under the truck, will tend to be much more consistant than most of the mechanical bourdon tube type gauges.  

The point I was trying to make is that if I were to take your Snap-on gauge and measure my tire and then walk down the pits and find another Snap-on  gauge just like it I rather doubt that I would get the same reading. I see racers all the time using their buddies gauge, then next weekend using another buddies gauge. This is a very good way to have no idea whether you have more or less pressure in your tire than you did last week and therefore renders any notes you may have worthless.

BTW Catman, the gauge you want to check against is the tire mans. That's the one that counts.

[benprobst]

yup. re-read my post and kind of sounded like a jerk, didnt mean to, sorry. But yeah, if your going to use a cheap or cheaper gauge the two most important things to do (imho) would be to check it against the tire mans gauge at basically every weekend, and like you said hawk, use the same one over and over.

[catman]

Hawk -great point- i will compare the gauge with tire guys'gauge-  great point, but still appreciate ALL of you on this topic-John in Victory Gardens NJ

[K3 Chris Onwiler]

Yeek!  I don't trust digital gauges any more than I trust digital scales.  Either way, the gauge or scale at some point takes a "picture" of what it sees, and that is the number you see in the digital display.  Ever weigh yourself on a dial scale, and notice that your weight changes if you lean left or right?  What if the digital scale makes up it's mind while you're leaning to one side?  Now when you move back to center, the numbers on the digital scale don't adjust like the pointer on a dial scale.
The same holds true with a digital pressure gauge.  If you don't get the hose exactly set square on the valve stem first try, the digital gauge will read innacurately.  The dial gague will fluctuate until you have a good, solid seal, and then the needle will settle down.
The Lithium Motorsports team has a really neat gauge that they use at the track.  I think it's made by Mildon or Summit.  Obviously, it was made for drag racing.  The gague has 1/2 lb incriments.  I want one....