Do I need to increase my tyre pressures when carrying luggage?

Generally speaking we don’t recommend you overinflate your tyres to compensate for the additional weight when carrying luggage.

Even a fully loaded bike will be carrying a maximum of 50kg of additional weight. Whereas even the smallest pillion will weigh at least 65kg with all their gear on.

You have to also factor the difference between riders; a small rider with a lot of luggage may weight less than a larger rider with no luggage.

So when it comes to riding with luggage the most important thing is to set the correct tyre pressures, rather than try and over compensate. It’s also worth consulting your owner’s manual to see if there are manufacturer-recommended pre-load adjustments you can make (usually adding a bit more preload on the rear) to compensate for the additional weight.