Tyre pressure by discipline and condition (reference)

Every numeric pressure below is traced to a named web source (a tyre maker or a vehicle manufacturer). Where a number could not be validated from such a source, only a direction is given and it is marked as a principle. Values are cold-set unless stated. bar is the only unit used; psi is no longer given.

How to read this

• Cold vs hot. Off-road and road pressures are cold-set. Track race tyres are specified to a HOT target; you cold-set below it and let the tyre climb into its window. On track expect roughly +0.2 to +0.4 bar as the tyre heats.
• Rear vs front. On race slicks the rear runs LOWER than the front (opposite of road habit). Off-road the two ends are close.
• Tube vs mousse. Below roughly 0.8 bar with a standard tube you risk pinch flats; a mousse or insert makes low pressure safe (see the enduro section).

Motocross / off-road (knobbly, cold)

Tyre / source	Front	Rear	Note
OEM standard (Kawasaki KX450F service manual)	1.0 bar	1.0 bar	Manufacturer "standard" both ends
Michelin Starcross 6 (Michelin off-road page)	0.9 bar	0.9 bar	Min 0.8 bar each end
Dunlop Geomax MX34 (MXA / Keefer tests)	~0.93 bar	~0.90 bar	Tester race baseline, not a Dunlop-published figure
Dunlop Geomax MX33 (Dirt Bike / MXA tests)	~0.86 bar	~0.83 bar	Tester race baseline
Pirelli Scorpion MX32 (Keefer guide)	~0.97 bar	0.90-1.0 bar	Tester baseline; soft carcass

The MX band is narrow: 0.1 bar is a felt change. Kawasaki's own "standard" (1.0 bar) and Michelin's recommended (0.9 bar) bracket the typical intermediate window.

How conditions shift it (direction; exact deltas are tuning, not manufacturer figures):

• Sand: stay near or slightly below the standard for flotation and drive. Michelin's minimum for the Starcross class is 0.8 bar - a validated floor with a tube. Michelin publishes a dedicated Starcross 6 Sand pattern rather than a lower number, so the change here is pattern first, pressure second. Exact "sand pressure" numbers below the Michelin minimum were not verifiable from a maker and are left as principle.
• Mud: similar to sand - keep to the lower recommended end for a bigger contact patch; do not drop below the tube/mousse floor.
• Hardpack / blue-groove: go up slightly for carcass stability and square-edge protection. Tester sources (Keefer, MXA) run about 0.05 bar more here; the exact hardpack figure is a tuning delta, not a manufacturer value, so it is stated as a direction.

Enduro (mousse and tubes)

Setup / source	Front	Rear
Michelin Enduro Medium, tube (Michelin off-road page)	1.0 bar rec, min 0.8 bar	1.0 bar rec, min 0.6 bar
Michelin Bib Mousse "pressure equivalent" (Michelin)	0.8-1.0 bar	0.8-1.0 bar

Mousse vs tube. A Bib Mousse behaves like a fixed ~0.8-1.0 bar (Michelin's stated equivalence) and that "pressure" is not adjustable - it also softens as the mousse ages, so treat the number as informational, not a knob you set. With a tube you CAN run low (Michelin allows down to 0.6 bar rear), but that is where pinch-flat risk lives, which is exactly why competition enduro runs mousse. Very low sub-0.6 bar "grip" pressures sometimes quoted by riders were not validated from a maker and are omitted.

Supermoto (tarmac slick / DOT, cold, plus the dirt drop)

Tyre / source	Front	Rear	State
Michelin Power Supermoto Slick (Michelin track page)	1.8 bar	1.6 bar	Cold minimum
Michelin Power Supermoto Slick, hot target after 6 laps (Michelin)	2.0 bar	1.9 bar	Hot
Bridgestone supermoto slicks R02Z / BM01 / BM02Z (Bridgestone track-day PDF)	~2.28 bar class	1.86 bar cold -> ~2.2 bar hot	Cold / hot

Supermoto pressure differs a lot by maker (Michelin front 1.8 bar cold vs Bridgestone front ~2.3 bar), so keep a per-tyre base and treat any LAISA delta as relative.

Dirt section. Coming off tarmac onto a loam section, dirt at road pressure has almost no grip, so riders drop pressure for the off-road part. A specific supermoto dirt-section number from a tyre maker was not verifiable - Michelin instead builds its supermoto slick compound to self-clean after dirt rather than publishing a dirt pressure. So the dirt drop is stated as a principle: lower for the dirt part, within the tyre's stated cold minimum, and accept the tarmac compromise.

Superbike / track (slick and treaded race tyres)

Race tyres are set to a HOT target; cold-set below it. All figures below are the makers' own.

Tyre / source	Cold set (F / R)	Hot target (F / R)
Michelin Power Performance Cup (Michelin track page)	2.1 / 1.3 bar	2.3-2.5 / 1.6-1.8 bar
Michelin Power GP & Power Cup Evo (Michelin)	2.1 / 1.5 bar	2.4 / 1.7 bar
Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa, road-racing chart (Pirelli)	2.0-2.2 / 1.6-1.8 bar	2.1-2.4 / 1.7-1.9 bar with warmers 40-50 min
Bridgestone Battlax Racing R11, grooved race (Bridgestone track-day PDF)	see hot range	Front 120/70 ~2.28 bar, range 2.1-2.35 bar; rear 190/55 ~1.72 bar, range 1.72-1.93 bar
Bridgestone V02/V01 slicks (Bridgestone PDF)	-	Rear 1000cc ~1.83 bar, range 1.76-1.90 bar

Cold vs hot on track. With tyre warmers (Pirelli: 40-50 min) set the pressure ON the warmer at temperature - that is your real number, and it stays the SAME target regardless of the weather, because the warmer (not the ambient) sets the tyre temperature. Without warmers, cold-set at the maker's cold figure and treat the first 2-3 laps as scrub-in; on a cold day drop cold pressure about 0.1 bar so the carcass flexes itself warm. On a HOT day (hot track and air) go the other way and add roughly 0.1 bar of cold pressure - the heat already pushes tyre temperature up, and a little more pressure limits how much the carcass flexes and overheats. If a tyre is genuinely running too hot you can drop the pressure slightly - but carefully, because lower pressure means MORE flex, which makes the tyre run even hotter, so it can backfire. Watch tyre temperatures and wear, and move in small steps.

Rain tyres do NOT run lower than slicks. Michelin Power Rain cold is 2.3 bar front / 1.8 bar rear on a drying track - HIGHER than the same brand's slick rear - because the tread must stay open to evacuate water. Running slick pressures on a rain tyre is the classic error.

Road / standard (for reference)

The as-delivered road figure is whatever the vehicle's own manual states, not a tyre-maker chart. Example validated figures: Kawasaki KX450F 1.0 bar as an off-road "standard"; a road manual such as the Moto Guzzi Quota gives 2.3 bar front / 2.5 bar rear (one rider), rising to 2.9 bar rear two-up. Typical road superbike manuals sit around 2.25-2.5 bar front / 2.5-2.9 bar rear, but the exact per-bike number must come from that bike's manual - a generic superbike road pressure was not validated to a single verbatim manufacturer figure here, so use your own manual.

Floor and ceiling

Never go below the tyre or rim maker's stated minimum (Michelin off-road min 0.8 bar front / 0.6 bar rear with a tube; race tyres carry a stated cold minimum for carcass integrity). When in doubt, the tyre maker's chart for your exact compound beats every generic rule.

Startpunkt, keine Sicherheitsgarantie - immer testen. (Starting point, not a safety guarantee - always test.)