Better Riding

Everything you wanted to know about tyres but didn’t know what to ask.

Perhaps the most crucial component of the handling of your motor – cycle (and indeed, scooter) are the tyres it is wearing.So here are the ten things you should know about your tyres.

10 construction and configuration
The majority of Indian two-wheelers wear bias-ply, tube-type tyres. Bias ply involve over lapping layers of fibers set at a diagonal to each other-hence the name. The radial tyre places the structure fibres perpendicular to the direction of the travel. Again, most of the Indian bikes come with tubed tyres-an inner tube holds air. While punctures are easy to repair and tubes are cheap to replace, tubed tyres run hotter and heavier. In comparison, tubeless tyres use a butyl rubber coating on the inside of the tyre and a special bead to hold the air between specially designed ( usually alloy) rims. The Yamaha FZ16 is currently the only motorcycle to sport what might be considered the state-of-the-art in tyre technology-tubeless radial tyres. The Pulsar 200 and 220 and the Yamaha YZF-R15 are the next best-tubeless cross-ply tyres.

09The Mystery of Compounds
A high hysteresis tyre-which loses a lot of energy as heat-is the soft compound tyre. By its very nature, it will offer more friction and consequently grip but it will also wear our faster. Soft compound tyres offer superb grip on clean tarmac and can also offer surprising ability in dirtier conditions. However while the life of an average tyre in India is expected to be 35,000km, a soft compound tyre can get used up in as little as 15,000. At least in India, as a general rule, the softer the compound, the more expensive the tyre tends to be with Michelin and Pirellis city tyres being among the top.

08 The Shape of the Tyre
Unlike car tyres, motorcycles tyres have to account for the fact the motorcycles lean into corners-hence the rounded shape. A highly rounded shape will give you the ability to take massive lean angles very, very quickly, while a shallower profile will slow your steering down.

07 Aspect Ratio.
The aspect ratio is generally a percentage that expresses (the 60 in 160/60R17) the height of the side wall as a percentage of the tread width. In the case of a 160/60R17 it means the sidewall is 60 percent of 160mm, or 26.7mm. the bigger the number, the taller the sidewall and usually, the better ride quality.

06 Tyre Pressure
Tyre pressure is perhaps the most crucial part of your motorcycle’s handling. Manufacturer recommended tyre pressures are a good place to start. If you are a lighter rider of ride significantly faster, you should try running 5-8psi lower to get more grip and feel from the tyre. In the wet, though, return to manufacturer recommended pressures – higher tyre pressures in the wet reduce the chances of you acquaplaning.

05Treads, Sipes, Slicks and Tyre Wear
Tread refers to the blocks of rubber on the portion of the tyre that actually touches the road and sipes are the fine grooves in it. Slick tyres have the full tread section cast so that it is one big block. If a tyre is designed for faster speeds, sipes tend to get left out because the tyre simply does not have the time to utilize them. Slicks offer the greatest contact patch and are usually the faster way to get around in the dry.

04 Rims Considerations
Rims, brakes, tyres and spokes are what is called upsprung rotating mass-as weight that is not below the suspension. This is also the reason why people swear by magnesium alloy wheels, carbon fibre wheels and so forth. Rim sizes are generally expressed in inches-5.5x17 being a 17inch diameter rim with a 5.5inch width. So far in most cases the spoked rims remain lighter than our alloys.

03 Handling and Tyres
Handling to a very large extent depends on your tyres. If your tyres are worn, your motorcycle simply -will not have the sharpness or accuracy that you crave. If you are serious about your riding, you should be paying close attention to your tyres and the air pressure in them. Once a month, spend 15minutes looking at your tyres closely, ejecting stones stuck in the tread and carefully inspecting the sidewall for damage and the rim for running true.

02 Replacing Tyres
The thumb rule for replacing tyres is that when the tread depth is low enough to leave the ‘1’ on a one rupee coin completely exposed. Or 2rupee coin completely exposed. Or 2mm. most tyre embed a coloured strip in the tread with a marker on the top of the sidewall when you see the coloured band appear, it is time to get fresh rubber on. Also a tyre change is your chance to get a stickier, superior set of tyres so doesn’t get sucked into replacing your OEM tyres with the same brand and model. Hunt for a softer, stickier tyre, ideally in the same size.

01 Tyre Size
Manufacturers design the tyre size and compound to fit the chassis design and performance intent of the motor cycle. The smart choice for performance is a tyre that is at best one or two notches wider, with a lower aspect ratio, a softer compound and if you like cornering, a more rounded profile-this may also be more expensive that replacing your OEM tyre, but at least it will have noticeably performance benefits.