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[Specter]

IM running about 29.5 in the back  that goes up to about 33 ish when track hot. I like it there, I dont see any problems with my rear end.
 It was recommended to try a bit lower, like 27 but it grows a bit much like 5 to 6 psi,  and I think is a bit squirrely in hard corners.
So, basically right there 29 to 30 is the sweet spot cold.  I get a nice even wear on the tire, it looks really good actually and they last a decent amount of time too.

Im running 31 to 32 in the front, it'll hit 36 ish in the front when hot.  You have to remember, when it comes time to shed speed, especially if you have to do so quickly, that battery is a LOT of weight transfer forward in a hurry, you want that front loaded up to hold it.  Not to mention if you are running a hard regen mode, you can probably easily transfer half your body weight or more to the handlebars as well, which will be picked up by the front.

I typically am right around 170 to 175 Lbs, and throw on 24 lbs of leathers, armor, boots, helmet and there you are.  So you may need to adjust yours a bit if your numbers are off by say more than 10 to 15 lbs.

I DO need to add a disclaimer.  I still am not entirely happy with my front end handling.  I have shock / suspension work to do still.  Ive had a few pro's ride the bike (one of them the suspension expert) and we are in agreement, something is not right and we need to figure and fix it.  With that being said, eventually if we end up changing a spring, and shock loadings etc,  the pressures may change a bit.  But for now, this lets me run a respectable lap and do so safely.  Currently Im running Continental  Attack 2's  190/55 and 120?? whatever the front is.

Aaron

[Pard]

@Specter outstanding posts.  Wish I could track my Rebelle.  Amazing how much you learn from other riders on the track.  So much expertise concentrated in one spot!

Was out at my local track riding my 400 yesterday. 

Go pro footage:

[PWM]

I DO need to add a disclaimer.  I still am not entirely happy with my front end handling.  I have shock / suspension work to do still.

The Ohlins have separate damping modules, compression on one fork and rebound on the other wondering (when worked hard) if steering head is at issue like triple-tree flex or head bearing preload.

Unlike BMW that used tapered roller bearing on steering head, I think Energica uses ball bearings?  If so, that's something to look at.

[jotjotde]

IM running about 29.5 in the back  that goes up to about 33 ish when track hot. I like it there, I dont see any problems with my rear end.
 It was recommended to try a bit lower, like 27 but it grows a bit much like 5 to 6 psi,  and I think is a bit squirrely in hard corners.
So, basically right there 29 to 30 is the sweet spot cold.  I get a nice even wear on the tire, it looks really good actually and they last a decent amount of time too.

Im running 31 to 32 in the front, it'll hit 36 ish in the front when hot.  You have to remember, when it comes time to shed speed, especially if you have to do so quickly, that battery is a LOT of weight transfer forward in a hurry, you want that front loaded up to hold it.  Not to mention if you are running a hard regen mode, you can probably easily transfer half your body weight or more to the handlebars as well, which will be picked up by the front.

Thank you for sharing this!
Looking at the numbers I am guessing these are for your EGO in racetrack setting. Surely, on the street with your Ribelle you choose a higher pressure?

I had a (street) one-on-one training last week and the instructor encouraged me to reduce the tire pressure from the 2.9 bar / 42 PSI (Energica spec).
Currently I am trying 2.7/39 rear and 2.5/36 front. Still running on the Pirelli Diablo Rosso III.

Especially the reduction in front tire pressure improved the handling of the bike so much!
The reduction on the rear tire feels a bit wobbly sometimes, especially when accelerating after the apex of the curve. IDK if this is a bad thing.

[Specter]

Even the Ribelle, it weighs about the same.   The handling WILL be a bit different, because your seating is different, handlebars are different etc. but still overall the weight is there on the tires.

36 is a good number to be in front, (hot), that equates to about 31-32 cold,  though Ive gotten away with 30 cold up front as well.  Ive noticed that too much psi up front and it wants to get jumpy or move around a bit.  You want to find that spot where when you brake, the tire is compressing and fully engaging, yet not being smashed like a pancake, or on the other hand, too hard not compressing enough and you have less of a contact patch, now it may want to slide around a bit.

YES !!! it is amazing on how as little as a pound or two can make a HUGE difference in the handling up front.  Also being your street bike, too hard up there, it picks up ALL the little bumps and dimples in the street and that can give you issues with TC and Braking, and Regen, open up a whole slew of other issues to muddy up the worldview.

The wobbly on the rear, after a corner and accel.  Possibly you are getting a little light in the front end?  Ive done this a few times, come out of a turn and hit the throttle a bit hard and start dancing up front.  Not necessarily a back end issue, but a hot hand issue you are overdriving your front a bit   Abruptness can cause this too, you always want to go easy on / easy off especially when it comes to such a high HP / Torque bike as the Energica,  coming coming coming. ok here it is HAMMER IT!!! around a corner can get you in trouble.  Sometimes I may talk this way in my write ups, or appear to, but in reality, you have to sliiiiiide into the throttle.  Electric does not have power bands, gears and all that inconvenient limiting stuff that ICErs do, you got everything you have, available to you RIGHT NOW! if you so choose, so have to use a little more discipline.

Another thing to keep in mind, , ... street riding, really does NOT warm up tires much, so depending on how long / outside temps bla bla, you may also want to adjust your tire PSI's up a bit before the trip, because if you are just idling along at 50 mph you may never reach the temp to bring the inner psi up to where you want it.

Tire pressures are important,  and yes even a pound or do can make a BIG difference on how the bike handles.  Find what works best for YOU and YOUR bike and go from there.  Do you weigh 150 or 350?  THAT makes a difference too.

Tires don't warm up very much at low speeds, on wet roads, cold days.  Weaving back and forth is NOT going to warm your tires up for you.  Road riding, unless you are doing a LOT of hard accel for the rear tires, and hard braking for the fronts typically is not going to warm your wheels up a ton, so may need to bump the PSI a pound or two from what you considered normal.

The Energica is a HEAVY bike, it needs a LOT of support up front, that battery pack is a huge amount of weight being shoved forward on a stop, especially a harder one. 

In the summer Ill run them a bit lower pressures, in florida YES that tire WILL warm up a bit,  black on black in the baking sun, yah itll warm up alright.

Aaron

[Phaedrus]

IM running about 29.5 in the back  that goes up to about 33 ish when track hot. I like it there, I dont see any problems with my rear end.
 It was recommended to try a bit lower, like 27 but it grows a bit much like 5 to 6 psi,  and I think is a bit squirrely in hard corners.
So, basically right there 29 to 30 is the sweet spot cold.  I get a nice even wear on the tire, it looks really good actually and they last a decent amount of time too.

Im running 31 to 32 in the front, it'll hit 36 ish in the front when hot.  You have to remember, when it comes time to shed speed, especially if you have to do so quickly, that battery is a LOT of weight transfer forward in a hurry, you want that front loaded up to hold it.  Not to mention if you are running a hard regen mode, you can probably easily transfer half your body weight or more to the handlebars as well, which will be picked up by the front.

Thank you for sharing this!
Looking at the numbers I am guessing these are for your EGO in racetrack setting. Surely, on the street with your Ribelle you choose a higher pressure?

I had a (street) one-on-one training last week and the instructor encouraged me to reduce the tire pressure from the 2.9 bar / 42 PSI (Energica spec).
Currently I am trying 2.7/39 rear and 2.5/36 front. Still running on the Pirelli Diablo Rosso III.

Especially the reduction in front tire pressure improved the handling of the bike so much!
The reduction on the rear tire feels a bit wobbly sometimes, especially when accelerating after the apex of the curve. IDK if this is a bad thing.

FWIW, For my Ego RS with the stock Rosso III's on the track, I run 32 psi cold up front and 29 psi cold rear.  That has given me good grip, handling and wear and has worked well in sessions with California Superbike School.  On the street I just run the book-recommended 42/42 - but I don't push it on the street.

[jotjotde]

@Aaron: Thanks a lot for that valuable input!
You are probably right that the wobbly feel comes from pushing too hard when accelerating out of the corner. I will have to learn to handle the throttle more smoothly!

So, for the time being, I will keep to that 2.5-36 front bc it feels pretty good and tinker a bit around with rear tire pressure to find my personal sweet spot.


@Phaedrus: Thx for your comment, I understand that you more or less run the same pressure on track as Aaron. I booked a racetrack training in July and will remember that!

[Pard]

@Specter , if you are still having toe drag issues, consider putting a camera on the fairing and filming your feet.  Will help you analyze what needs modification. 

[Specter]

Pard the toe issue is me leaning the bike over that much.  I can't get off the seat as much as I need, or as fast as I need, so was leaning the bike into the turn THAT much.  It still had solid grip but as you can see by my tires, I used every ounce of bike and tire in those turns, sometimes even tickling sidewalls it seems.  If I had my leg hanging way down it would have absolutely been my knee.  Now we BOTH know that, this much lean, is not the greatest way to do things.  so Ive been working on trying to get over / get off more.

I got better tank grips now I can really squeeze my legs into the bike and STEER finally!  That is a big grip and slippery as shit otherwise and you do NOT have a lot of control otherwise ...nothing to grip and control, if you are slipping and sliding.  This leaves you with handlebar input and lean input... again, BOTH not the best way to do things.  It was a bad habit I learned because I didn't have proper setup on the tank.

Now I am UN learning that habit, getting much better at using my legs to steer and the arms only to gently guide, ie NO death grip or strong arming the handle bar, (unless you are in a hard / bad stop of course)

My other problem is, my back is full of screws / pins / rods / plates and other hardware that comes with multiple fusions.  My neck has artificial discs, my left arm / shoulder has hardware in it.  Hip.. well you get the idea.  Im not as limber as I once was, now throw a shit ton of arthritis and 60 years of abuse onto the body and well....  Here I am !!!       Im working on it, it's going to be a long road, but eventually Ill figure things out to do better around all this crap.

I do not zip from side to side as fast as I'd like to, or sometimes need to, and i may take a second or so to get from one side to another... now throw 120 mph and multiple fast  left / right / left / /  GO GO GO !! type turns and you don't have a few seconds to get over to the other side, AND BACK !!  so you can slow down / hang over / lean like a mo fo... It's a work of art.... in progress 

Im doing my  research now and will probably get one of those 360  x4 camera's to mount.  Thinking in the front windshield area might be the best, that way I can see in front of me, see ME, my lean and that stuff to start helping me along as well.  If not there Ive seen some that mount on the ass end,  I was thinking of putting it behind me but up and over my head, that way it shows EVERYthing in front, including me, and the back as well, but they don't really like camera's on sticks, on the tracks, so i'll have to figure that out too.

Aaron

[Pard]

^^^ Understood!  Brave man indeed taking on this adventure despite the orthopedic challenges.  Bravo!

[Specter]

Ya gotta work with what you have.  I do NOT plan on dying healthy, nor do I intend on dying, laying in a bed whimpering and withering away.  I want to have as much fan as possible, even if it's painful the next day.      The only thing that will stop me is if for some reason I become dangerous to those around me.  If I end up killing myself, oh well but if I get so decrepit that am starting to be a major danger to other around me, then it's over.  Otherwise,  game on !!

When Im in my 80s and still racing, Ill see if I can get Geritol and Depends to sponsor me!  Maybe they'll have a league and we can race our rasquals around the lunch room

Aaron

[Demoni]

Pard the toe issue is me leaning the bike over that much.  I can't get off the seat as much as I need, or as fast as I need, so was leaning the bike into the turn THAT much. Now we BOTH know that, this much lean, is not the greatest way to do things.  so Ive been working on trying to get over / get off more.

Getting old sucks! The only way to overcome is to adapt. Rotating your foot inward can help increase clearance when leaned over, as does moving your foot further back on the pegs. Alternatively you can adjust the peg position @ the rear set. Lastly adjusting the suspension so the bike sits higher will give more clearance.

I got better tank grips now I can really squeeze my legs into the bike and STEER finally!  That is a big grip and slippery as shit otherwise and you do NOT have a lot of control otherwise ...nothing to grip and control, if you are slipping and sliding.  This leaves you with handlebar input and lean input... again, BOTH not the best way to do things.  It was a bad habit I learned because I didn't have proper setup on the tank.

Now I am UN learning that habit, getting much better at using my legs to steer and the arms only to gently guide, ie NO death grip or strong arming the handle bar, (unless you are in a hard / bad stop of course)

I share your bad habit of favoring my arms vs using my legs & core. The front end of a bike need to float, fighting it just makes things worse and uses up your energy. I would be a much better rider if I had spent more time riding dirt bikes offroad getting comfortable with a bike moving around underneath me.

Im doing my research now and will probably get one of those 360  x4 camera's to mount.  Thinking in the front windshield area might be the best, that way I can see in front of me, see ME, my lean and that stuff to start helping me along as well.  If not there Ive seen some that mount on the ass end,  I was thinking of putting it behind me but up and over my head, that way it shows EVERYthing in front, including me, and the back as well, but they don't really like camera's on sticks, on the tracks, so i'll have to figure that out too.

Onboard video is a great way to visualize what you are doing right and what you are doing wrong. If you can't run with a stick, try mounting the camera to the upper fork tube looking back at you or on the swingarm (rear stand spool works well) looking forward. Those angles should let you see how your are positioning your body in the turns. Make sure you get footage from both sides as your position is probably different in left vs right hand corners.

IM running about 29.5 in the back  that goes up to about 33 ish when track hot. I like it there, I dont see any problems with my rear end.
 It was recommended to try a bit lower, like 27 but it grows a bit much like 5 to 6 psi,  and I think is a bit squirrely in hard corners.

Sounds like you have your pressures figured out. +3psi hot vs cold is a good benchmark.
Just remember to keep checking your temps throughout the day. As the track temp or your pace changes you will generate more or less heat. You need to adjust your tire pressures accordingly. A pyrometer will allow you to monitor your pre & post session tire temps. A infrared temp gun can be used to check the track surface. These data points can help you decide on optimal tire pressure for conditions. Tire warmers will allow you to bring your tires up to optimal temps and to maintain those temps between sessions. This removes a variable and allows you to skip the 1-2 warm up laps needed to get your tires up to temp. 

[Specter]

Thank you for your inputs @Demoni.
Yah the foot, I already have it as in as I can, always 'remember' to pull it back in turn 8 when it scrapes  but even plastered to the bike still occasionally drag it.  Now that my speeds are faster, I am approaching that turn a bit different (actually let's be honest, and say more correctly) so unless I miss the setup on 7, should be able to get that one with a lot less lean angle needed and circling the drain on it so badly, Ill be starting my apex touch more centered instead of rimming it.  Ill try adjusting peg position however riding the bike higher is pretty much out of the question, im barely touching the ground at idle as it is now, that is NOT really a good  option at this point unfortunately.  Ideally at stop I like to be flatfooted with the bike, not on the balls of my feet like I currently am.  Just a little uneven ground and things can get challenging keeping the bike up.

Using the arms, with hard regen, it's kind of a given, the regen takes the place of braking.  A few of the experts have made that comment, wow you are shifting your body weight really hard, which my reply is, whether you are using regen or brakes, it's the same thing, ..YES it IS a different way of riding, and you are used to braking, I learned using Regen Braking, but once you DO learn how to use it, you learn how to feather it, JUST like you'd do with your brakes, you don't grab a handfull of brakes, you gently ease in and off it, need to learn the same with the throttle, a little to slow a little or maintain your current speed or a lot to slow faster,  way off to basically apply your full rear brake, almost fully.  Ive discussed this a bit with Stefano and can understand now why he prefers braking over regen, that's the way he learned, and how he rides his other bikes, it's one less thing to have to learn and eventually master.  He's good at it the old fashioned way, so why reinvent that?  Me now, Ive basically taught myself to ride with the regen, so lets see if I can master it.  Don't get me wrong, I do know how to apply the brake properly and am getting a lot better at being gentle with it, especially with those sensitive monsters!, but regen is just one less hand movement / input to have to manage IMO.  Gloves occasionally can get in the way of braking if they are not perfectly on your hands.

Ill re check the rule on selfie sticks. I KNOW your camera has to be hard tethered, will check on the stick, I think a stick in back aiming forward would show you everything you really need to see TBH.  Id really love to see my real lean, to ME it feels like Im way off the seat, leaning way over, but I bet it's not, and it's not like you can just look down and check when you are that leaned over, that'd probably end up a bad day for you heh.

Aaron

[Pard]

watch till end!

[Grauteufel]

Oooo. Oooo. Ow. That sounded expensive. Loved how quick you were to stand and give the thumbs up, not bad for an old bloke. I note the crash happened not long after that silver/white bike was pressuring you……..