A79 House Of Motorcycles

The Motorcycle Tires

Tires or tyres (in American and British English, respectively) are pneumatic enclosures used to protect and enhance the effect of wheels.

Tires are used on many types of vehicles, from bicycles to cars to earthmovers to aircraft. Tires enable vehicle performance by providing for traction, braking, steering, and load support. Tires provide a flexible cushion between the vehicle and the road that smoothes out shock and provides for a comfortable ride.

Markings:

Dot Code:

The DOT Code is an alphanumeric character sequence molded into the sidewall of the tire for purposes of tire identification. The DOT Code is mandated by the US Department of Transportation. The DOT Code is useful in identifying tires in a product recall.

E-Mark:

All tires sold for road use in Europe after July 1997 must carry an E-mark. The mark itself is either an upper or lower case “E” followed by a number in a circle or rectangle, followed by a further number. An “E” (upper case) indicates that the tire is certified to comply with the dimensional, performance and marking requirements of ECE regulation 30.

Mold Serial Number:

Tire manufacturers usually embed a mold serial number into the sidewall area of the mold, so that the tire, once molded, can be traced back to the mold of original manufacture.

Motorcyle:

There are many different types of motorcycle tires:

Sport Touring - These tires are generally not used for high cornering loads, but for long straights, good for riding across the country.

Street - For sport bikes that are generally not going to be riding aggressively. Riders of this type usually want tires that are going to last a few more miles.

Sport Street - These tires are for aggressive street riders that spend most of their time carving corners on public roadways. These tires do not have a long life, but in turn have very good traction in high speed cornering.

Track or Slick - These tires are for track days or races. They have more of a triangular form, which in turn gives a larger contact patch while leaned over. These tires are not recommended for the street by manufactures, and are known to have a shorter life on the street. Due to the triangulation of the tire, there will be less contact patch in the center, causing the tire to develop a flat spot quicker when used to ride on straightaways for long periods of time.

Construction Types:

Bias

Mexican Bias Tire, branded as UniroyalBias tire (or cross ply) construction utilizes body ply cords that extend diagonally from bead to bead, usually at angles in the range of 30 to 40 degrees, with successive plies laid at opposing angles forming a crisscross pattern to which the tread is applied. The design allows for the entire tire body to flex easily providing the main advantage of this construction, a smooth ride on rough surfaces. This cushioning characteristic makes for major disadvantages of a bias tires: increased rolling resistance and less control and traction at higher speeds.

Belted bias

A belted bias tire starts with two or more bias-plies to which stabilizer belts are bonded directly beneath the tread. This construction provides smoother ride that is similar to the bias tire, while lessening rolling resistance because the belts increase tread stiffness. However the plies and belts are at different angles, which lessens performance compared to radial tires.

Radial

Radial tire

Radial tire construction utilizes body ply cords extending from the beads and across the tread so that the cords are laid at approximately right angles to the centerline of the tread, and parallel to each other, as well as stiff stabilizer belts directly beneath the tread. The advantages of this construction include longer tread life, better steering control, and lower rolling resistance. A disadvantage of the radial tire is that it produces a harder ride at low speeds on rough roads.

Solid

Many tires used in industrial and commercial applications are non-pneumatic, and are manufactured from solid rubber and plastic compounds via molding operations. Solid tires include those used for lawn mowers, skateboards, golf carts, scooters, and many types of light industrial vehicles, carts, and trailers. One of the most common applications for solid tires is for material handling equipment (forklifts). Such tires are installed by means of a hydraulic press.

Semi-pneumatic

Tires that are hollow, but are not pressurized have also been designed for automotive use, such as the Tweel (a portmanteau of tire and wheel) which is an experimental tire design being developed at Michelin. The outer casing is rubber as in ordinary radial tires, but the interior has special compressible polyurethane springs to contribute to a comfortable ride. Besides offering run-flat capability, the tires are intended to combine the comfort offered by higher-profile tires (with tall sidewalls) with the resistance to cornering forces offered by low profile tires. They have not yet been delivered for broad market use.