Eventually tires wear out, and needreplaced. Typically the rear tires start to square up, losing their roundedprofile, as the center of the tread wears away faster than the shoulders. Fronttires generally wear more evenly across their tread, but may begin to developscalloped wear known as cupping. Knobby tires are more obvious as the knobs startto wear, tear or break-off over time.Inspect your tir...

Simply put, a single layer of material on the inside of thetyre’s carcass.All the materials used in a tyre are about performance – abalance of grip, flexibility and durability. It may surprise you to hear thatthe ideal mix of rubber is actually porous, so will slowly leak air. In thepast, this was overcome by fitting a tube with a completely different rubbermix that would contain the air much bett...

The design of a decent motorcycle tyre is all about itsconstruction, compound and tread pattern. Advances in the materials used havedeveloped dramatically, with new elements offering manufacturers multipleoptions for both carcass design and compound variation. The traditional balanceof a hard compound for mileage and a soft compound for grip has been modifiedby additional elements that make the ru...

In this photo we have a 180/55 ZR17 (73W) tyre, whichmeans it’s 180mm wide, and the profile height is 55% of that, so 99mm. The 17relates to the rim size – 17inches – while the 71W is the speed and loadrating; 365kg and 168mph (270kmh). Because that rating is in brackets, it meansthe tyre is capable of speeds above the figure, but if there were no brackets,it’d mean the rating was the maximum. The...

Crossply (or bias) tyres have a relatively simplestructure with sturdy sidewalls and are particularly suited to off-road use asthey resist impact well. They can’t be used at speeds over 150mph (240kmh)Radial tyres – which have an ‘R’ in the designation onthe side – have a casing that sits at 90° to the rolling direction, and a beltthat’s between around 0 and 25° off it. This belt, which sits under...

The legal tread depth limit for motorcycles, mopeds and scootersover 50cc in the UK is 1mm across three quarters of the width of the treadpattern, and with visible tread still remaining on the other quarter. At thispoint though, the ability of your tyre to disperse water will be limited, andit will be performing far from its best in the dry.For anything under 50cc, the law simply states that you m...

It sounds obvious, but the most important point is thatthe tyre must be the right size for your motorcycle, with the correct speed andload ratings. Then, be honest with yourself, and choose rubber that’srecommended by the tyre manufacturers to suit your needs.A good example is sports tyres – many people think theyshould buy the stickiest race rubber they can, but unless you’re riding hard ontrack,...