Some to think about

[rubber2burn]

Well first let me start out by saying that the Dealership that I work at was doing a ladies night yesterday evening were one of the experience mechanic's does a little tech talk with the lady riders and gives them pointers on how to do simple maintence and how to better maintain their bikes. Well they came to a point were the mechanic asked the ladies if they had any question and allot of them had good questions. But this one question caught my attention and I thought it was really cool that she was able to ask that kind of a question what was even better was the Mechanic face when she asked should have been there. Her question was about filling motorcycle tires with nitrogen. Well as some of you know this is something that they do with race cars because the nitrogen does not expand or contract in high heat or cold. So if you put 38 psi of nitrogen in your tires no matter how hot or cold you get them you will have 38 psi. Now for my question to you guys is are there any of you guys running nitrogen filled tires on your busa and how do you like it and how long does it take before you have to add a little more nitrogen to your tire to keep it at the pressure you run?

 

[SnapAttack]

Interesting... I would think you needed the air inside to heat up in order maintain a constant otherwise your heating on one side and cooling on the other. What do i know... I just throw her to the side and hope she pulls back up...

 

[Commuta_Busa]

I've been running nitrogen for a few years now in my busa tires. There's a motorcycle dealer by me that fills them for me when mounting up new tires. There's a big difference as you stated between running air vs nitrogen. Tire expansion/contraction & tire psi vs surface temp are all almost not measureable when running nitrogen.

As far as loosing pressure... I might loose half a psi over a very loooong time (multiple months) with nitrogen filled tires.

The ride is different though. There's less "spring" in your tires with nitrogen which makes the ride more harsh.

 

[TIMMYDUCK]

I have been getting my tires filled with nitrogen from the Michelin tire dealer Moto-X for a couple of years now.

I haven't detected more than a 2 or 3 lb difference ever and the temperature swings in Vt are routinely 40-50 degrees any given day this time of year.

 

[rubber2burn]

I've been running nitrogen for a few years now in my busa tires. There's a motorcycle dealer by me that fills them for me when mounting up new tires. There's a big difference as you stated between running air vs nitrogen. Tire expansion/contraction & tire psi vs surface temp are all almost not measureable when running nitrogen.

As far as loosing pressure... I might loose half a psi over a very loooong time (multiple months) with nitrogen filled tires.

The ride is different though. There's less "spring" in your tires with nitrogen which makes the ride more harsh.

Thanks for your input Commuta_Busa I was hoping that someone was doing this. What are they charging you to fill them with the nitrogen if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Sloto200]

we have debated this subject before on here... its been a while but, it has been discussed. Being a Air Force plane mechanic, I can tell you that we fill our aircraft tires with nitrogen. You fill an aircraft tire up with alot more pressure than a car or motorcycle tire though. I've seen these new "nitrogen tire fill stations" popping up trying to sell to the public that this is safer and better for your car tires... its not and its more expensive too. Its bad enough that we have to pay for air at the gas station now isnt it... why pay even more for nitrogen? Racing and aviation is who benifits from this, not the avgerage joe on the street. IMO it is a waste of money. Good subject!

 

[rubber2burn]

we have debated this subject before on here... its been a while but, it has been discussed.  Being a Air Force plane mechanic, I can tell you that we fill our aircraft tires with nitrogen.  You fill an aircraft tire up with alot more pressure than a car or motorcycle tire though.  I've seen these new "nitrogen tire fill stations" popping up trying to sell to the public that this is safer and better for your car tires... its not and its more expensive too. Its bad enough that we have to pay for air at the gas station now isnt it... why pay even more for nitrogen? Racing and aviation is who benifits from this, not the avgerage joe on the street.  IMO it is a waste of money.  Good subject!  

Well man I was think because you know here in Texas the heat of the summer and cooling of that we have had the past week I have been checking the tire pressure on the tires and have been fluxuating and after she ask that question I thought to my sell hell yeah that would kick that problem right in the butt. As for paying for air I don't and I am sure I would not have to pay for the nitrogen eaither as I have a buddy that works at a dealer that fills tires with nitrogen.

 

[smitherscustoms]

We always run nitrogen in our promod dragbike bike tires. But I would think tire manufacturers consider the heating & expansion rate of regular air in streetbike tires and incorporate this into their design.For example,they recommend to check the pressure when cold.The engineers figure how hot that tire will get under extreem (riding not racing) conditions.They measure tire heat,air press increase,tire growth,wear rate,traction,and so on.They incorporate this into the design of a tire assuming that most people run regular air.
Running Nitrogen in your street tires may hold a constant air pressure for you,But is this what your tires were designed to do??
I have a nitrogen filling station at my shop(we use it for race tires & air shifters)
But,Iwill still run regular air in my streetbikes for the "expansion rate factor".I dont mind checking my air pressure frequently. just my 2 cents worth

 

[rubber2burn]

But is this what your tires were designed to do??

I would think so as the tire companies want you to run a certain psi in your tire and if you can keep that pressure in the tire for a longer period of time unlike air wouldn't you get better tire wear and reduce things like cupping or prolong getting that flat spot on your rear tire?  I thought this would be a great topic of discussion so keep the comments and thought coming.

 

[smitherscustoms]

But is this what your tires were designed to do??

I would think so as the tire companies want you to run a certain psi in your tire and if you can keep that pressure in the tire for a longer period of time unlike air would you get better tire wear and recude things like cupping or prolong the getting that flat spot on your rear tire?  I thought this would be a great topic of discussion so keep the comments and thought coming.

Who Knows? Maby someday you will see a nitrogen tire filling station at your local gas station?

 

[x2cstang]

We always run nitrogen in our promod dragbike bike tires. But I would think tire manufacturers consider the heating & expansion rate of regular air in streetbike tires and incorporate this into their design.For example,they recommend to check the pressure when cold.The engineers figure how hot that tire will get under extreem (riding not racing) conditions.They measure tire heat,air press increase,tire growth,wear rate,traction,and so on.They incorporate this into the design of a tire assuming that most people run regular air.
Running Nitrogen in your street tires may hold a constant air pressure for you,But is this what your tires were designed to do??
I have a nitrogen filling station at my shop(we use it for race tires & air shifters)
But,Iwill still run regular air in my streetbikes for the "expansion rate factor".I dont mind checking my air pressure frequently. just my 2 cents worth  

I see your logic in what your saying about the street tires and how they were meant to perform.

Interesting topic. I wonder if you see an increased life span of "normal riding" with nitro vs air. And what the overall longterm use benefits would be.

As for not losing air pressure, I guess that doesn't bother me. I check my tires once a week. It's just something I do everytime I wash my bike, which is almost every Saturday. I see it as checking the oil, just a normal safety and maintaince thing

 

[busajack2]

Just a big rip off.If you can get It for free OK.but If you pay for It your getting ripped..Tell me how you get all the air out first???Just another racket..Jack

 

[Cerberus]

Interesting. I have thought about switching to nitrogen just due to the consistent psi compared to air. Please carry on..

BTW...the reason nitrogen filled items..ie tires, tanks, ect, maintain psi longer is that nitrogen molecules are larger then normal "air" molecules. At least that is the way I remember it explained to me.

 

[bitabur]

Nitrogen expands at pretty much the same rate as regular air as a result of temperature change. In chemistry when you are calculating the volume of a gas, you use what's called a universal gas law which applies to all gasses.

There are two major factors that come into play here. The first is moisture. If you have moisture inside the tire, the water vapor pressure changes when the tire heats up, and the pressure increases. The second is leakage. Nitrogen leaks through tires at a slower rate, meaning the pressure inside your tires won't change as much over time.

If you're a responsible rider and you check your pressures regularly, you don't need nitrogen.

Another issue that (very rarely, particularly with motorcycles) comes into play is that oxygen eats away at the tire carcass. This takes a long, long time. If you replace your tires more than once every 5 years (probably even longer really) it's really a non-issue. But using nitrogen does slow this down.

 

[Professor]

Tell me how you get all the air out first???

Air the tire with Nitrogen, release the Nitrogen and air it back up.

I never felt the need to run it on the street or in my bikes. Ran it in the sprint cars for a while. We found it works, still expands but about 70-80% less than air. Sometime it was desirable to build pressure as we raced. If a track was going to rut out due to being over watered we might want the Right rear to build pressure to loosen it up. If it was going to go dry slick, we might run air in the left rear to build more pressure. This would take some of the stager out of it.

In later years we didn't worry about it (nitrogen) as tire pressure bleaders improved and became very reliable in bleeding excess pressure.

 

[bowwow]

Why don't we just fill our tires with helium? That would make the bike lighter. Wow, this sounds like a million dollar idea!

 

[HeloMech74]

I have been running nitrogen in all my vehicles tires for as long as I can remember. I get bottle delivered to the house when I need them. Less PSI fluctuation, less moisture in the tire (less corrosion on the wheel). I started using it in my Jeep tires when I used to have it. My Jeep wheels would corrode pretty bad from moisture, the nitrogen kept that from continuing. I just stuck with it after that.

 

[chrisr]

I am running nitrogen in both of my cars right now...At the dealership I work at we are selling it, it is not really that exspensive at all.. The cost is $19.95 and it comes with a road hazzard warranty to cover flats, etc. It does ride different, a tad on the harsh side. Some guys swear that there gas mileage improved, if you have any type of a rim leak, it wont seal it.. It is dry air and is supposed to have alot of benefits for the tires. I am going to try it in my bike when it ride it to work again...

 

[bitabur]

It's not the lack of water that stops corrosion, but the lack of oxygen.

If you notice any difference in pressure fluctuation it's because of moisture in the air.

Here's a quote stolen from a post on another forum I'm a member of that discussed this recently:

<div class="iF-Passage"><div class="QUOTEHEAD">Quote:[/Quote]<div class="QUOTE clearfix"><span class="quoteBegin"> </span>
I emailed michelin about what their motogp racers use because i was curious, and of course had no clue. So, this is what Isabelle, the motogp press officer in France emailed me back.
"The MotoGP tyres are filled with "normal" air but the air has to be very dry. It goes in an air-dryer to remove the humidity before inflation."[/quote]

 

[MPH 200]

Just a big rip off.If you can get It for free OK.but If you pay for It your getting ripped..Tell me how you get all the air out first???Just another racket..Jack

Just like Satellite radio

Lexus does not recommend it yet, but some dealers are using it, yes it does keep those damn low tire lts. from coming on.