Tire pressure road noise drone?

[Bill Hilly]

I have been doing a little riding today , and have made two trips of about 10 miles round trip today. I gauged my tires, and both were at 20 lbs. I figured I would try 32 in each, and went for another ride, and if it wasn't just me getting more used to the bike, I thought it handled a little better, and even though the roads I was on weren't bumpy, it seemed like I could feel the imperfections in the road. The bike is so quiet, especially with my visor down. I noticed a very faint drone that was almost musical ,that I had not noticed before. Could the added air pressure in my tires be causing this faint drone?

[tknj99]

Probably.. ive heard my knobbies hum a bit at higher pressure. I felt 32psi to be too high and i was feeling every bump not in a good way. Currently at 26psi front and rear and it feels better.

[Midnyte Ryder]

Ya'll ride dirt bike knobbies on the street? I like my knees and elbows too much for that. Gotta be on an 80/20 or 70/30 tire.

[tknj99]

Yea surprisingly it's not that bad, although I plan to swap to a 50/50 once these wear out which probably will be within another 1k miles.. Looks like 2k max is all they'll go.

[Bill Hilly]

I should have mentioned that I have the Brozz 250 Sport with the 50/50 tires that came on it.

[Megadan]

Yes, the higher tire pressures can increase the drone, and also change the pitch. As the rubber tightens the frequency of the vibrations travel through the tire actually increases - think of it like twanging a rubber band. It is likely just reaching a tone that you can hear more easily.

As far as.knobbies on the street, it's not much of an issue as long as you ride it like it has knobbies, other than that, they just vibrate like mad and wear really fast due to block deformation.

[Spun_Zombie]

How different are the Brozz and the Hawk ? I have a stock exhaust 2020 Hawk DLX EFI and it's just about as loud as an old blown out XR250. I'm not sure I'd hear studs over my exhaust above 5k

[Bill Hilly]

Originally Posted by Spun_Zombie

How different are the Brozz and the Hawk ? I have a stock exhaust 2020 Hawk DLX EFI and it's just about as loud as an old blown out XR250. I'm not sure I'd hear studs over my exhaust above 5k

I can't speak for the Hawk, but the Brozz is very quiet, and probably pretty restricted, but for now I like it quiet. I have since adjusted my air pressure to 25 lbs in each tire, and don't notice the drone now, but I did it for ride .The noise wasn't bothering me. As I said earlier it is so quiet that you can't hardly hear it running in a full face helmet with the visor down. My wife has great hearing ( as do most women LOL), but I pulled in the driveway the other day, and she was on the back deck, and when I came through the gate she was surprised, because she didn't hear me.

[TxTaoRider]

I've got pretty aggressive DOT knobbys on mine, and honestly, I dont hear them over the wind noise on my helmet and exhaust sound.

I should probably mention my hearing isn't so good these days and I usually ride with ear plugs or plugfones in to keep my hearing from getting any worse.