Nitrogen

[mstic2000]

They stuck water in a bottle and made it a mulit-billion dollar business. Why not? If I'm living in a place where the bottled water tastes better than tap water. It's time for me to move.

[trbig]

I think I'd try a decent water filter before moving..


Either that, or just drink beer.


Tod

[DGXSER]

Funny thing about that Tod, my compnay had an office in a small local town where the water just sucked, tasted like crap. We (meaning I as office manager) bought bottled water from the local Sams club. So I thought of buying a filter system and after looking at the cost of the system and the cost of the replacement filters per gallon of water, it was cheaper to keep buying the bottled water.

[trbig]

my compnay had an office in a small local town where the water just sucked, tasted like crap.

Quit following the dog's lead and drinking from the toilet.


Or at least flush first..

Tod

[MaximPhil]

been around a long time, a lot of tire change places advertise it.

The idea is that nitrogen doesn't expand and contract as much as "air" when heated and cooled, this means a more consistent pressure in your tires which can reduce wear and increase mileage - or that is the claim.

I've yet to see any real scientific - or even somewhat scientific - evidence to support the claimed benefits. The idea that it expands less is true.

Race teams use nitrogen because to them tire pressure is very important - and because race tires get hotter.

If your using nitrogen, no worries about filling up with regular air if your away from a nitrogen station.

A lot of the new car dealers sell all their cars with nitrogen in the tires to begin with. What I'm not sure about is, how do they remove ALL the "air" from the tire before adding nitrogen? They would have to install the tire in a nitrogen bubble devoid of air to prevent that from happening.

Having been "Tire Guy" for a race team: The reason racers use Nitrogen is two fold. It is the cheapest way to get compressed "air" in the pits. Bottled nitrogen is DRY. The moisture trapped inside a tire will flash to steam at the temps encountered in highspeed competition. not likely on road use.
To remove the moist air in a freshly installed tire we simply inflated without the valve installed and let it blow off. Refill then install the valve and top off
to exact pressure. ( which changes with ambient air temp) so don't leave in the sun on a hot day.
Raceday most nitrogen is consumed(released) by the air guns which also prefer dry air.
Phil

[ManitoulinLad]

Yeah I guess I live in a not bad place - you can drink the water right out of the lake (Mindemoya) without any probs its spring fed. We do get town water from this lake, they add chlorine & filter, tastes fine. My local gas station still has the air for free with an outside meter- I just fill up my air pig a couple times a year with it or go to the station. But there is one station that has a coin operated thing for air - so i guess the city is moving in - Dan

[b.walker5]

Being in the refridge trade i have a ready supply of nitrogen and have used it in my bike tyres for years. I dont have separate hot or cold tyre pressure settings, just one for all seasons. I used to use it my forks as well, before I went to progressive springs. I don't have the "science" to back up it's use other than the constant pressure advantages and the lack of moisture, and if it wasnt free I wouldnt use it, but I do notice that when changing tyres the rim shows none of the signs of moisture corrosion that you normally see in air filled tyres.

[crazy steve]

One of the other 'selling points' for nitrogen in tires is, being an inert gas, it supposedly causes less deterioration to the inner liner.

'78E original owner

[psycoreefer]

Yeah cuz so many of us here have tires last long enough for the inner liner to wear out from chemical reactions with air in the tire. Given how much I've been riding I'll be happy just to get the whole season out of this set I've got now.

[MeatTooth]

as a former aircraft mechainc I can tell you that nitrogen goes into commercial aircraft tires. It stays more stable with temp changes and it doesn't have all the water vapor in it that compressed air does.

[lakecountrydave]

I am personally going to stick with air, but I still have a question. Aren't the recommended tire pressures determined so that you fill your tires cold, and then the pressure rises to the proper pressure when you drive on them and they warm up. Does this mean that if you are filling your tires with nitrogen you need to figure out the difference in expansion rates to fill your tires to determine the proper pressure? I am sure that the difference is quite minimal, but tire pressure effects the handling of a motorcycle far more than an automobile.

[b.walker5]

I am personally going to stick with air, but I still have a question. Aren't the recommended tire pressures determined so that you fill your tires cold, and then the pressure rises to the proper pressure when you drive on them and they warm up. Does this mean that if you are filling your tires with nitrogen you need to figure out the difference in expansion rates to fill your tires to determine the proper pressure? I am sure that the difference is quite minimal, but tire pressure effects the handling of a motorcycle far more than an automobile.

Nah, way too much science. I just went a couple of pounds over the cold rating from the manual which left me with 30 and 38, front and rear. Handles fine at that. I check them before any major ride and top up on monthly basis if required. Generally never takes more than a lb or so, unless theres a leak. If I have to top up any significant amount on the road I just use air and then drain and refill at home. I use my refridge manifold with a quick release schreader adaptor, which is more than most people have to work with, to get pretty acurate pressures but as I said earlier if the gas wasnt "free" I wouldnt bother with the hassle.

[xs11jack]

Hey, This is really informative,

especially when my learnin' is backed up with all the science that you guys supply. What saddens me is that although there are some fact used in tire sellers ads, the benifits do not help the average driver. In fact, a good friend of mine dropped by and during our chat, he said that he got nitrogen in his truck tires. I don't want to make him feel bad, so I said "oh, how much did the dealer charge?" He said $10 a tire. To me that was so outrageous that I was speechless, I just couldn't hurt his feelings, so I just changed the subject. Usually he checks with me first be cause he knows I will do the research to get him the right answer. But, this time.....
Ole Jack

[b.walker5]

Thats just good enterprising business , outrageous but enterprising. I've always said that one could nail 2 bits of wood together, create a myth aound it, adverstise it and someone, somewhere is gonna pay for it.

[3Phase]

Yeah cuz so many of us here have tires last long enough for the inner liner to wear out from chemical reactions with air in the tire. Given how much I've been riding I'll be happy just to get the whole season out of this set I've got now.

I hear that! Hey, if air is 80% nitrogen anyway how come the outside of the tires always wears out so much faster than the inside? We're all being ripped off!


Regards,

Scott