Motorcycle tires: everything you need to know to choose them well and maintain them

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April 3, 2018

Making the best choice of tires is about ensuring your safety. Depending on the two-wheeler and the way it is driven, road travel, sporty driving or off-road, the tires will have to be adapted..

Motorcycle tires: everything you need to know to choose them well and maintain them

Which motorcycle tire to choose ?

The importance of choosing motorcycle tires: large families

  • The road (or touring) tire is the most common. Renowned for its longevity, it guarantees progressiveness and comfort. Its heating time is optimal for a city ​​and motorway use. Its rubber is harder on the tread, its casing absorbs shocks. Motorcycle road tire design allows the water to drain well.
  • The sport motorcycle tire is appreciated for its good grip, its handling and its liveliness; so many qualities required for sporty driving on the road. Its design allows rapid course changes. More pointed, with a sparse tread, the sport tire quickly warms up.
  • Motorcycle track tires or slick tires have the advantages of excellent grip, especially when riding. angle socket. With very few designs, these tires suitable for sportbike are smooth at the edges and therefore wear out quickly. They heat up and cool down very quickly.
  • The very manoeuvrable cross-trail motorcycle tire favorsmixed land ; it is ideal for off road.

The different indications of a motorcycle tire

To choose the right tires, it is important to read the information and follow the manufacturer’s recommendations..

Before buying a tire, pay attention to the different references that can be found there:

  • the name of the manufacturer: Dunlop, Michelin, Pirelli, Bridgestone, Metzeler, Continental, Goodyear, etc….,
  • the tire model and type: Tubeless TL, therefore tubeless or tubetype TT with inner tube,
  • the reference with the dimensions (width, height),
  • the load index and the speed index,
  • the inside diameter of the motorcycle or scooter tire – expressed in inches and the same size as the rim.

Example of the Michelin Pilot Road 4: 180/55 R 17 73 W TL

180: tire width

55: ratio between the width and the height of the tire

A: maximum speed index recommended (here 170 km / h)

17: inner tire diameter

73: index of maximum charge from 375 kg

W: index of maximum homologation speed for a speed greater than or equal to 270 km / h

TL: Tubeless

Table of load indices:

Load index Weight

in kg

 Load index Weight

in kg

 Load index Weight

in kg

 Load index Weight

in kg
20 80 55 218 79 437 101 825
22 85 58 236 80 450 102 850
24 85 59 243 81 462 103 875
26 90 60 250 82 475 104 900
28 100 61 257 83 487 105 925
30 106 62 265 84 500 106 950
31 109 63 272 85 515 107 975
33 115 64 280 86 530 108 1000
35 121 65 290 87 545 109 1030
37 128 66 300 88 560 110 1060
40 136 67 307 89 580 111 1090
41 145 68 315 90 600 112 1120
42 150 69 325 91 615 113 1150
44 160 70 335 92 630 114 1180
46 170 71 345 93 650 115 1215
47 175 72 355 94 670 116 1250
48 180 73 365 95 690 117 1285
50 190 74 375 96 710 118 1320
51 195 75 387 97 730 119 1360
52 200 76 400 98 750 120 1400
53 206 77 412 99 775
54 212 78 425 100 800

Speed ​​index table:

Speed ​​rating Speed ​​in km / h Speed ​​rating Speed ​​in km / h Speed ​​rating Speed ​​in km / h
A1 5 D 65 Q 160
A2 10 E 70 R 170
A3 15 F 80 S 180
A4 20 G 90 T 190
AT 5 25 J 100 U 200
A6 30 K 110 H 210
A7 35 L 120 V 240
AT 8 40 M 130 ZR > 240
B 50 NOT 140 W 270
VS 60 P 150 Y 300

The importance of the motorcycle tire profile

Like all motorcycle equipment, the choice of tires depends on how you ride. The all-season road tires are generally considerate and present a round profile.

Les sports tires or some summer tires facilitate engagement when setting up on the angle and have a triangular, pointed profile or in V.

How to properly maintain your motorcycle tires ?

Tire break-in

A new tire is a sliding tire. It will take some time for the tire to break in.

This break-in period is very important and depends on the type of tire, the handling and the brands of tires..

When fitting new tires, you must ensure tire balancing to eliminate vibrations and distribute the weight on the rim.

A motorcycle or scooter tire can start to break in after 50 or 200 kilometers.

The lapping will gradually remove the paraffin present on the surface of the tire and will allow the tire to be wedged on the rim in order to optimize grip and stability.

To properly break in a tire, adopt a gentle ride.

Accelerate moderately the first few kilometers, and a good braking distance is recommended because the rear wheel can rip on dry ground, but especially if the road is slippery and the asphalt wet.

The angle must be gradual because a new tire has less grip. Do not hesitate to take turns and roundabouts because a running in a straight line is insufficient.

How to see if a tire is broken in ? Observe if paraffin is removed especially on the middle strip. Then it’s a matter of feeling. The tire is run in when you feel comfortable on short and long trips.

What is the ideal pressure for your motorcycle tires ?

Too low tire pressure means overconsumption of energy and accelerated tire wear. But above all, it no longer guarantees road holding.

It is therefore crucial to follow the instructions for inflating all the tires (front rear): between 1.9 and 2.5 bar for a front tire, and between 2.5 and 2.9 for a rear tire..

Remember to check the pressure regularly and when the tire is cold (tire that has not been driven for more than 2 hours or has traveled less than 3 km at moderate speed).

If it is hot, then subtract 0.3 bar during inflation. Advice: if there are elements stuck in your tire, do not remove them, otherwise the puncture will accelerate.

How to measure motorcycle tire wear and when to change them ?

For your safety, a tire should be checked regularly. A tire in good condition has a clean surface, it should not be cracked or deformed.

Wear is easily noticed thanks to the indicators: driving on roads and motorways will wear out first the tread.

Repeated cornering will tend to leave the sides worn. The tread depth limit of a motorcycle tire must not be less than 1 mm and 1.6mm for scooter tires.

If the furrows are smooth, it’s time to change the tires.

The tire is the only contact between the rider and the ground: a smooth tire is dangerous and represents an infringement of the highway code, as if you do not have the obligatory equipment on a motorcycle.

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