Motorcycles can not walk without tires, almost without exception, almost all motorcycles need tires. What do you know about such important tires?
Two broad categories of motorcycle tires
- A tire with inner tube: Keep the air in the inner tube and do not require precise contact between tire and flange. Even if the air pressure is low, do not worry that the tire will fall off the wheel, resulting in air leakage. As a result, tubes are widely used in off-road vehicles and American street motorcycles using rims and steel wires.
- A tire without inner tube: We usually call tubeless tire, the principle is to use the steel ring and tire edge of the special structure, air in the body. Even if the tire is stabbed by a foreign body, the air will not disappear immediately, and the tire burst repair is very convenient, so it is very popular. In recent years, tubeless tire has been gradually used on ordinary motorcycles.
Do you know the “four basic functions” of tires?
- Support body weight and load: support body, personnel, luggage, and other weight, mainly using the air volume and pressure in the tire, support the body weight and load, so it is very important to maintain appropriate air pressure.
- Transmission of driving force, braking force: to make the motorcycle forward or stop, it is necessary to convey the engine, brake power to the road, this is mainly through the friction of tire rubber, in the rapid start or emergency braking beyond the tire limit, the motorcycle is prone to idling, skidding situation, very dangerous.
- Change and keep the direction of the motorcycle: under the control of the rider, the motorcycle turns or keeps moving in a straight line. This function is mainly motorcycle ride out through the friction and elasticity of the tire rubber and the firmness of the tire structure. Once the turn is too fast to exceed the tire limit, it is very dangerous to move in the direction you want to turn, so please pay attention to the speed of driving.
- Alleviate the impact from the road：this is the performance of the so-called “driving comfort “, which can ease the impact of bumps and bumps. This function is mainly through the air volume and pressure in the tire, rubber elasticity and tire structure elasticity, so the tire pressure is too high or too low, please maintain the appropriate tire pressure.
Learn to read the dimensions and specifications of tyres
Motorcycle tire specifications are the same as automobile tires, but there are some special marks. First, we will introduce the specifications of which parts of the tire are marked.
- The outer diameter of a tire: the outermost diameter of a tire.
- Total width of 2 tires: straight line distance of the widest part of the tire.
- Tire height wheel: the outer diameter of the tire minus the diameter of the wheel frame and then divided by 2.
According to these four basic data, the following specifications will appear on the tire :(total width of the tire)/(flat ratio of the tire: the ratio between the height of the tire and the total width)-circle diameter.
Let’s look at other terms about tires
- Tread: the part of the tire in contact with the ground.
- Flat ratio of tires: ratio of tire height to total tire width
- Wheel frame: a circle used to assemble tires.
- Hub: the central part of the vehicle assembly.
- Spoke: the joint of wheels and frames.
- Wheel: wheel frame, hub, spoke as a whole.
- Fetal wall (sidewall): a more lateral part than the tread that does not touch the side of the tire on the ground.
- Oblique layer (bias): a structure formed by the oblique staggered overlap of the curtain layer (motorcycle cases ply) of a fetus.
- Radiation layer (radial): a structure layer in which the motorcycle cases cord layer is radial (RADIAL direction) from the center of the tire and is fixed with a band.
- Fetal (motorcycle cases): one of the structures that make up the tire, the skeleton of the tire. or “case” or” body”.
Different options on different motorcycles
Usually, the purpose, weight, engine horsepower output, speed characteristics, design, and so on will be determined, and then the motorcycle manufacturer’s motorcycle fully determine the tire size of each motorcycle. Besides, motorcycle manufacturers sometimes ask for “size-appropriate tires” for new models. At this point, the tire brand will be able to bring the ultimate performance of the tire for motorcycle full evaluation and selection.
For example, in terms of the type of vehicle, cross-country tires are mainly used to improve the walking performance on uneven roads, so they usually choose larger diameter tires, the main size of the front wheel 21 inches, rear wheel 18 or 19 inches combination. On the other hand, with the high performance of the motorcycle body, the shape of the tire is gradually flattened.
Finally, the tread is an important index to determine the performance of the tire. The shape of the tread determines its drainage and the ability to drain other sundries, and also affects its grip performance. The same size of the tire has dozens of treads, generally according to the actual situation of friends to choose the appropriate tread. If you often travel on mountain or mud roads, snow, ice roads, and other roads, you should choose cross-country wide trench and deep trench pattern tires, because the groove is deep and wide, in the wheel rotation, because of the centrifugal force to facilitate the discharge of water and other debris, so that the tire better contact with the ground. If you often travel on the road, you should choose a more tight trench, such as ring, arrow, etc. This kind of tire has a large contact surface with the ground when driving on the road, which can make it safer than other tires.
