Interstate Cruisin'/Air Pressure/Fuel Mileage

[skuuter]

Because of the obvious "3-Wheel Stability" of the Gold Wing Trike, Interstate Ridin' is a little less intimidating than on two wheels (I've seen 4 Bikers run over multiple times after layin' Bikes down on busy Interstates over the years, really bad thing to witness) and I've gone back to usin' them a little bit at times. My Trike seems to handle/ride best with 20 lbs of air in the rear tires, but playin' and experimentin' on I-24 around Manchester, I've made a small discovery. 30 lbs nets me about 1 mpg more at a steady 70 mph cruise speed, and almost 200 less RPM on the Tach for the same speed. Anyone else ever use more air for extended Touring on straight highway and/or Interstate ?

I know more air helps about punctures, tire life, and tire temps, so I may use this technique when gettin' where I'm goin', then let em' down when the FUN starts......:wtg:

 

[jim peacock]

At 30lbs. you may find you will be wearing the center of the tire out.
Remember trike tires were made for cars which weigh about three times what a trike does.
You may end up spending more money for new tires then you save on fuel.

 

[skuuter]

At 30lbs. you may find you will be wearing the center of the tire out.
Remember trike tires were made for cars which weigh about three times what a trike does.
You may end up spending more money for new tires then you save on fuel.

I thought about this, but the tire still seems fairly flat until about the 35 lbs mark, then from there it starts to cone out in the center.....they are "slightly" concave at the 20 lbs mark I normally run them at.....:wtg:

 

[Gorilla]

Skuuter how was the ride quality at 30 lbs?

 

[tfdeputydawg]

Wet down your paved driveway. Air up the rear tires to about 40#'s.
Move the trike thru the wet pavement repeatedly, letting air out until you see a full tire width, flat track on the wet pavement. Check the tire pressure! That's were you should run your rear tires!

 

[jim peacock]

You have to remember as the tire heats up the air pressure will increase causeing the tire to expand.
When my wife was alive and we were fully loaded and pulling a escapade trailer I would increase the tire pressure to 22lbs,but that was about it.

 

[skuuter]

Skuuter how was the ride quality at 30 lbs?

Out on relatively smooth I-24, not bad....very liveable.....now around 35 lbs when I was playin' around....might do "kidney damage" on joints, bridges, and cracks..........didn't really ever get over about a pound of air gain startin' the pressures above 25 lbs.....they gain about 2 to 3 lbs under 25 lbs.....:wtg:

 

[Saltywheels]

Skuuter: I've tried the same technique on my 03. But, I've upped air pressure slowly fm 22 psi to 32 psi. At that point Wifey threatened to walk, even though I was netting an additional1.5mpg! Ok, so we started backing it off. At 28 psi I had lost the extra gallon & my wife was ambivalent about the ride. So back to 22 & the Boss is happy. Trike rides best at 22/41. Even with the aux tank & range, we stop every 2 hrs anyway! So what the hey!!

 

[2fromTX]

If an extra 1 mpg were really a concern,I dont think I would have dropped $20k for a toy............Just sayin

 

[Gorilla]

2fromTX you are right but it's a lot of fun experimenting.

 

[skuuter]

2fromTX you are right but it's a lot of fun experimenting.

YEP....Ya' never know.....and I/We still prefer the Ride of 20 lbs in the Rears.......

 

[Saltywheels]

Naw! Didn't really care abt the 'economy'...just puttzing around on a long 3 day ride.....all in the name of science etc etc

 

[skuuter]

Naw! Didn't really care abt the 'economy'...just puttzing around on a long 3 day ride.....all in the name of science etc etc

......sounds 'bout right......:laugh: