Cobra Trike Tire

Couple months ago I had a Cobra Trike tire mounted in front of my GW Road Smith, question, I'm thinking of reducing the psi from 4l to 38 to reduce front end roughness. Anyone running that psi or less? Don't want to induce cupping or irregular wear.

cobra front tire

bikerbillone said:

Couple months ago I had a Cobra Trike tire mounted in front of my GW Road Smith, question, I'm thinking of reducing the psi from 4l to 38 to reduce front end roughness. Anyone running that psi or less? Don't want to induce cupping or irregular wear.

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I have not got a cobra trike tire yet but I do intend to. from what I have read on here is, for best mileage and help cupping you should put what is recommended on the tire 41 or 42 lbs. or what ever is on the tire it self.

When I contacted Avon they told me they recommended 40-42 psi.

If you want, try 38 psi for awhile and see how it works out for ya. Not like the world is going to come to a screeching halt. :qpnmt: You might suffer some tire longevity but if it improves the ride for you it might be worth it. I don't think 38 psi presents any safety issues.

Because we are heavy and ride two-up 90% of the time I stick with the 42 psi. YMMV

Trail Blazer said:

I have not got a cobra trike tire yet but I do intend to. from what I have read on here is, for best mileage and help cupping you should put what is recommended on the tire 41 or 42 lbs. or what ever is on the tire it self.

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The lbs. Stamped/Written on the sidewalls on all tires is the Maximum that they should be inflated to... Not necessarily the running pressure...
Very common misconception...
As a side note... Too much air will wear out the center treads first..
Too little air will wear out the outside treads first...

I run 40 solo and 41 two up which falls into Avons recommendations of 40 - 42 psi...

http://www.avonmoto.com/tech/tire-pressure-guidelines

ol' school said:

I run 40 solo and 41 two up which falls into Avons recommendations of 40 - 42 psi...

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I can't see 1 psi making any difference. Your guage will probably vary more than that. I check mine before the ride and the temp of my garage makes 2 or more lbs. difference.

Shimpy, I check it every time I ride before I pull out of the garage and I can feel the difference in the ride if I ride with 41 psi solo instead of the 40 psi (rougher ride).

Also less than 40 psi is squishy and causes more understeer in the twisties and 42 psi or more is too rough of a ride.

Just saying... I can feel the difference.

I can't say about wear or cupping although i'm sure it would increase but I had 38 in mine for a bit.It did seem to ride better and it seemed to change the handling characteristics completely.It stuck well but seemed to make all the turning be just cranking on the bars.I never did get the feel for it like that.Bumped it to 42 and it seems more like it used to but with the good you hear about the tire.Keep in mind I have 1500 w/Champion single axle.

I've got 40 in mine, dropped from 42. Doing good, wearing good, no cupping yet. I went down to 36 for the your reason, but decided on good handling and safety, so up to 40 and that's where I keep it.

40psi in mine on the Tri Glide. Handles grooved pavement very nicely. Steers very easily. Not squirrely on wet pavement. No abnormal wear to the tread blocks.

Shimpy said:

I can't see 1 psi making any difference. Your guage will probably vary more than that. I check mine before the ride and the temp of my garage makes 2 or more lbs. difference.

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This is just like another oil and oil filter thread. Nothing going to get solved but lots of opinions and thoughts. Shimpys post above is correct and that made me think. Many years ago all the rage was the dial type gauge with the bourdon tube. Seems if you were checking your tire pressures with anything but this type instrument you were running improperly inflated tires. Then a motorcycle magazine called Motorcycle Consumer News run test on the available gauges and found the most accurate gauge made at that time was a pencil type gauge made by the Syracuse Gauge Company. This gauge at that time could be distinguished by the head portion of the gauge which was completely different from all others.

Also on the pocket clip it was embossed with the name.

As time went on more and more of the unique heads started showing up on pencil type gauges without the name on the pocket clip. Where these knock offs or just cost saving decisions. Years passed and it's now 2012-13 and I am attending the Indy MotoGP races. I looking around in the vendors sections and I come across a display of tire gauges for sale. The sign made the statement about "accurate tire gauge". They are of the type described above so I mention to the man behind the counter about the article in MCN magazine. To my surprise he Identified himself as the one who wrote the article and introduced himself as Lee Parks After all these years he sells these gauges and they are guaranteed to be accurate within a given amount. I purchased one on the spot and I protect it and have used it to check my many other instruments against. I have found that if my Lee Parks pencil tester is accurate the most inaccurate device I have is the other one that was so highly recommended years ago with the bourdon tube that I also spoke about above.

Administrators and moderators, I hope I'm not violating any policies if so delete this post.

If you want to read about this pencil gauge you can go here. It is a store front.

I do not have anything to do with Mr Parks or his company other than my brief conversation on that day at the races. I post this because the topic of this thread is related to maintaining proper tire pressures and dealing with the variables in doing so.

http://leeparksdesign.com/accurate-tire-gauge/

Two bits says the gauge is made by Milton. One of the preeminent air pressure gauge makers. In fact, their high end ones can be sent back to the factory for service/calibration if needed. I can remember when Lee Parks wrote for one of the better known M/C rags.

MikeyTX said:

Two bits says the gauge is made by Milton. One of the preeminent air pressure gauge makers. In fact, their high end ones can be sent back to the factory for service/calibration if needed. I can remember when Lee Parks wrote for one of the better known M/C rags.

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I tried to check up on that but didn't have a lot of time, it appears the Syracuse Gauge Co at that facility closed it doors several years ago. I couldn't find out if they were still using the Syracuse name or not. I then dug a little deeper and it appears Syracuse Gauge is a Plews & Edelmann Co of Dixon Il. Now I don't know if it was a P&E company before it left Syracuse NY or was a company on it's own. I can find where the name Syracuse Gauge Co made gauges for the US during WWII.

You have got a point with Milton. Around here just about everything is a Milton or a re branded Chinese import.

Exactly. Only other option is to go off shore. Shame on Lee Parks if that is what was done. We're not talking Rolex ........

I put the new Cobra Trike tire on this early summer. Ride is great at 40psi. Still looks like new.