Flat track racing taught me something about tire pressure I ignored for years

I spent last season running 18 PSI on my dirt tracker because some older guys at the track in Tulare swore by it, but my lap times stayed mid-pack until I dropped it to 12 PSI on a whim. The bike hooked up way better in the corners and I shaved 2 seconds off my best time in one night. Has anyone else found that going against the old-timer advice actually worked out better?

2 comments

2 Comments

lisa_jones2110d ago

And yeah @sage_perry totally nailed it with that "butt dyno" thing, because my bike felt like a brick on the old tire pressure until I stopped listening to everyone else. I probably looked like an idiot sitting in the pits changing air in the dark while those guys shook their heads, but hey, at least I wasn't the guy still running 18 PSI and wondering why I kept sliding out on the last lap. Sometimes the best setup advice is the one that makes you laugh at yourself for not trying it sooner.

sage_perry10d ago

Yeah, that "old timer advice is gospel" thing runs DEEP in dirt track culture. I had a similar experience with rebound clickers on my CRF450. One of the guys who's been racing since the 70s told me to run it cranked almost all the way in to keep the rear planted on exit. I followed that for like two years. Finally got fed up and backed it out 4 clicks on a whim and suddenly the bike would actually DIG in the corners instead of just bouncing off the berm. It's like those guys got set in their ways back when suspension was basically a pogo stick and never bothered to update their thinking. Sometimes you just gotta trust your own butt dyno over some dude's memory of what worked on a 1985 Yamaha.