Could anyone let me know what tyre pressures I should be looking to have on my '88 R100gs. Its carrying a pillion, two full 35ltr aluminium boxes, a few tools, tent etc. Not sure of weight exactly but quite a lot! Haynes manual only gives pressures with a pillion (36front 42rear) it doesn't say what to do if you are carrying the equivalent of three or four!
Leave my house tomorrow, leave country in two weeks. Finally!

What tyres? I should stick with what BMW suggest and see how the bike feels

On the side of the tire they have the max load and pressure.
I would not go over that.
In most tires I see that is 42.

My r80gs with two up, two large tech panniers stuffed to the max (my missus likes stuff) and a full HPN tank 43 lts we both weigh in total with gear on about 23 stone and I ride front at 36 psi and rear at 42 max I would drop that a bit once on crap roads 32/36 max no real problems so far, I reckon you really need to make sure your rear shock is set up right though. seems to make a huge difference to the handling when loaded up.

thanks for responses, I've got Metzler Tourance on. Think I'll stick with what is says for pillion and see how i get along.

My R80-100RT weighs about 270kg at summer and 285-290kg something at winter.
I do not carry a passenger (with very few exceptions).

Front 1.9-2.1kg
Rear 2.3-2.4kg I would need to go up to 2.6-2.7kg if I have a 50-60kg passenger and 2.7-2.9 if I have a 90-100kg passenger.

You need to have someone who can read tire-looks under load to check the apperance of the tires under load...
Or - you do as we were taught at driving-school - put the hand on the tire directly after a ride; cold = too high pressure, warm/hot = too low pressure. Should be "handwarm" - 35-45'C or so if I understood it correctly.

It is better that you run with a bit too high than a bit too low pressure!
BMW manual is -not- correct concerning asphalt surface... they state graveroad pressures(!).
Which brings your question to - you will need to adjust the pressure in accordance to the surface you will be running on and the ambient temprature.

Too low pressure => very sensitive to uneven road surface; the bike uses a full lane or more...

Comparison to my VW Type 4.
Supposed to have 2.2kg... must be an aprils fools joke! I use 3.5-3.7 front and 3.3-3.5 rear. Friend of mine had 3.8-4.0kg front and 3.6-3.8 rear when he drove his T4 as a taxi.
It is the same thing with bike tires - you will have to raise the pressure significantly above factory specs.

The pressure affects, damping, tracking, grip, braking power, wear, and mileage. Too cold or too hot => more wear on highway; off road is a compleatly different issue.

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Drive Safely,
Albert