Motocross & enduro tyre pressure: chart by terrain

Tyre pressure is the simplest and most effective setting on your motocross bike. Here are the reference values by terrain.

01Standard starting pressure

On a competition motocrosser, 18 or 19 inch, with a classic MX tyre:

• Front: 0.9 - 1.0 bar (13-14.5 psi).
• Rear: 0.8 - 0.9 bar (11.5-13 psi).

That is your baseline. From there you adjust for the terrain.

02By terrain

Sand

The tyres sink in. You want a wide footprint to float.

• Front: 0.7 - 0.8 bar (10-11.5 psi).
• Rear: 0.6 - 0.7 bar (9-10 psi).

Watch out for the tyre coming off the rim: at 0.6 bar, on a heavy landing, you can unseat the bead. If you run these low pressures often, fit Michelin Bib Mousse inserts or Tubliss.

Hard-pack (rock, dry, gravel)

You want grip but not too much pneumatic cushioning.

• Front: 1.0 - 1.1 bar (14.5-16 psi).
• Rear: 0.9 - 1.0 bar (13-14.5 psi).

Muddy / greasy ground

You want the knobs to bite without spinning.

• Front: 0.8 - 0.9 bar (11.5-13 psi).
• Rear: 0.7 - 0.8 bar (10-11.5 psi).

More give so the tyre deforms and hooks up.

Intermediate (the most common)

Stay on the standard values. Adjust by ±0.1 bar on feel.

Hard enduro / rocky

You want tyres that are almost soft, that wrap around the rocks without blowing out.

• Front: 0.6 - 0.7 bar (9-10 psi) with a mousse.
• Rear: 0.5 - 0.6 bar (7-9 psi) with a mousse.

Non-negotiable: an anti-puncture mousse plus a reinforced rim. Without a mousse, these pressures are suicide.

03What to check your pressure with

• Digital gauge (Motion Pro Digital, Beta Tools): accurate to ±0.02 bar. That is what we use.
• Dial gauge off a compressor: poor accuracy (±0.1 bar typically). Avoid.
• Pencil gauge: forget it, it reads whatever it likes.

Check cold (before you ride). Pressure climbs by around 0.1 bar once the tyre heats up.

04Check often

• Before every ride day.
• After a heavy crash (it can make the valve leak).
• Whenever you are unsure — an underinflated tyre shows visible deformation under the bike.

05Classic mistakes

• Overinflating to be safe ("that way I don't have to think about it"): the tyre skips, no grip, and a real risk of a sudden slide in a corner.
• Underinflating without a mousse: the bead unseats on a landing, or you puncture quickly by pinching the tyre on a rock.
• Forgetting: you head out to ride on 1.5 bar because you pumped them up for the trailer.

06How not to forget

A maintenance app like the HOROTAG app can log every tyre job (change, pressure setting) with the date, so you can go back and see which pressures worked on which terrain.