A RIDER’S GUIDE TO MOTORCYCLE TIRES

There have always been questions from motorcycle riders about what tires to get, air vs. nitrogen, manufacturer
recommended PSI vs. what other riders are doing and one tire type over another. Hopefully this missive will dispel
rumors, answer some questions and help some of those who want to understand what’s going on between them and
the ground beneath their motorcycle.

Since I ride a heavy cruiser, I will deal with the myths and realities of the cruiser/street tire.

First off, all tires are not made the same. Manufacturers create tires for use by many different vehicles. In the back
room labs, they continue to work on compound formulas that can help a tire work better for the application it is
intended. Let’s face it, the rubber you put on the ground is not the same stuff you see dripping off the trees in Nat
Geo specials. The science of tire making is a world in and of itself and is a very, very closely guarded secret.

The four main components of a tire that we will discuss are:

 Tire rubber compound

 Tire sidewall (carcass) /contact patch construction
 Treads (i.e. grooves or lack of)
 Air pressure / Tire temperatures

We will dispense with the same old garbage about reading a sidewall. If you can’t read the sidewall and know what
some of the notations mean, then you won’t want to continue reading this article. At the end, we will summarize all
the stuff between here and the end. That will be the section that’s the most important to today’s motorcycle rider
who needs an answer to his or her tire question.

However, for the rest of us, let’s start the discussion…

Tire Rubber Compound

While we call that black portion of the tire that comes in contact with the road “rubber”, it is in fact a complex blend
of many, many compounds such as natural and synthetic rubbers, carbon black which gives the tire its color, sulfur
to vulcanize or harden the rubber compound, additives to help the tire weather UV and “chemicals known to the
State that can produce cancer” (whatever they are).

But one of the most important compounds in a tire is silica. Silica is what gives a tire its grip. The more silica or a
differentiation of the size of the silica molecule, the better the grip a tire will have. Less silica will improve the
distance that a tire can go before it needs to be replaced. The actual composition of chemicals, additives and silica
percentages and/or molecule sizes that a manufacturer uses to make a particular tire is part of the construction
process.

Some manufacturers use several different combinations of compounds in a particular tread design. The main focus is
on grip. You don’t need much grip in the center of the tire contact patch as you do on the side contact patch where
forces tend to push the tire outward on the turn. Metzler’s ME 880’s touring tires use this methodology. The center
compound is very hard using less silica while the side compound is softer with more silica adding lateral grip in a
corner. The 880’s are the hallmark tire for mileage and longevity.

Bridgestone’s Battle Ax touring line also sports a hard center line compound; however, it’s not as hard as the Metzler
or they have silica compounds that are sized differently. The manufacturers thinking is that some riders will require
a better straight line grip in certain situations (for example: wet conditions) vs. the high mileage one would get with
Metzler. As a good all around mileage and sticky tire, the Bridgestone’s are a solid choice and this author’s shoe of
preference.

Avon’s Storm tires are slightly softer and use a larger silica molecule evenly distributed on both the center and
sidewall contact patch. As the name suggests, the Avon is a very sticky tire in both dry hard cornering conditions
and wet or slushy weather.

The chemical transition from hard compound to soft compound (straight line to cornering) should be gradual and not
abrupt as this could cause adverse sidewall movement as it makes the transition from upright to “leaned over” and
eventually lead to premature sidewall failure.

In a nutshell, silica compounds provide greater grip characteristics in wet, cold and hard cornering. This also means
that they will wear quicker. Harder compound tires or tires with less silica provide better wear characteristics but
they may not give you the best overall grip.

One significant factor that determines tire wear is the riders driving style. Aggressive riders can destroy a set of tires
on their rides very quickly. Heavy late braking combined with large applications of throttle will shorten the life of any
tire. Cruisers will normally wear out the rear tire first since there is more weight on the rear of the motorcycle than
on the front, whereas aggressive street riders will wear the front more quickly.

One other factor in tire wear is operating temperature. Some sports application tires rely on constant on-brakes and
change of direction input so that it can run in a specific operating temperature range. Without that input, this tire
type could lose traction. A true cruiser sport tire won’t require that type of input. In other words, if you plan on
using your sports-touring tire during a knee dragging session on the track, be prepared for disappointment and
possible “high-side” maneuvers.

So there are some things one should consider regarding a tires use. Carefully consider these facts and balance them
with actual user experience including recommendations from those who ride these tires day in and day out.

Do you ride in the rain? You might need more grip.

Do you ride mountainous roads? You might need more cornering traction but will have to weigh the way that you
drive with the tire choice you will make.

Do you ride open highway for miles on end? You may need a tire that has mileage built into it.

No one tire can do it all and don’t let anyone tell you different.

Tire sidewall (carcass)/contact patch construction

Basically, we only have to worry about two tire types for motorcycles. And the arguments for both types, radial
versus bias-ply, are numerous and idiotic to get caught up in.

Cruising motorcycles typically use bias-ply tires and most manufacturers have dedicated their cruising sport tire line
to bias-ply compounds. Sport bikes built for high speeds and severe cornering use radials. Bias-ply tires have a
round profile coupled with high sidewalls where as radials typically have a flatter profile with shorter sidewalls.

Bias-ply tires consist of over lapping, crisscrossing layers of nylon, rayon or steel cords that run diagonally from bead
to bead. As the tire carcass flexes, the cord/rubber combination creates heat. This heat is necessary to get good
grip. Granted, this construction style has the tendency to accelerate tire wear when too much heat is generated
which may explain why your soft compound Avon’s destroy themselves in four thousand miles because have run 52
lbs. of air pressure to get more mileage out of the tire.
Radial tires on the other hand have cords that run at a 90 degree angle. This reduces the amount of heat that can
be generated in this type of tire. As a result, they will run cooler. The tradeoff is that the sidewalls flex easily and as
such you get a shortened tire profile versus bias-ply. The air-pressure you keep in a radial tire is more critical than in
a bias-ply. By not checking air-pressure in a radial and allowing the sidewall to flex more than it should will shorten
the longevity of the radial tire exponentially.

A cruising tire should be able to offer good grip and longevity for the number of miles one can put on the tire. These
tires are expected to be able to take thousands of miles, day in and day out. Therefore, some of the cruising tires
are built to heat up gradually and run at a cooler temperature during their lifetime. These touring tires have a long
life span, rigid sidewalls and a very stable run out on the cruising motorcycle. Street tires offer a blend of shorter
heat-up time, more sidewall flex and they will run quite a bit hotter.

Layers of a harder compound are often added to the sidewalls of a tire to increase its load bearing weight rating as
well. These reinforced compound tires are used when motorcycle weights start to approach 700 plus pounds. If you
ride a heavy motorcycle that approaches this classification, make sure the side walls are reinforced or that the tire
has a weight rating for your motorcycle. Having a tire with a low rating on a heavy bike allows for excess sidewall
flex beyond the norm and weight exceeding the manufactures recommendation could cause adverse driving
characteristics such as weave, wobble, side–to-side shimmy and lack of straight-line tracking. Be cognizant of the
fact that some manufacturers of softer compound tires do not reinforce the sidewalls on their touring tires. Tires
that used to be built with rigid sidewalls on very soft tread compounds had tire “chatter” in hard cornering and it was
a very unnerving (as well as undesirable) trait.

Bias-ply tires, being rounder, have a roll-in advantage. Turning is easier as the tire contact patch moves from
centerline to the sidewall. In fact, most cruising tires are built to create a larger contact patch in a turn than going
straight and that contact patch can be up to four times the size of the upright patch. As the tire is placed in this lean
angle position, the tire “scrubs” the road surface as it moves in the turn. This scrubbing is almost like taking a brand
new pencil, and with the eraser down, you move (or push) it across a piece of paper. The eraser flexes and a small
part of the leading edge of the eraser is abraded. The same principal is what can sometimes give a tire a scalloped
effect after many miles of use. More commonly called cupping (and who really gives a rat’s fanny if it’s the right
word to say or not) it is the wearing of the leading edge of the tire groove as it is pushed across the road surface.

A word of caution here; tire manufacturers have mounds of data with regard to their tire, what motorcycle it should
be used on and under what conditions. Using a tire that is not recommended by a manufacturer for your motorcycle
should be done with the full knowledge that you are doing so at your own risk. Tire manufacturers are not liable
for a catastrophic failure if the tire being used is not rated for a motorcycles weight and speed.

Treads (i.e. grooves or lack of)

If you watch any street course based motorcycle racing, you will notice that the tires the riders will use have little or
no grooves or tread design in them. What? Why can’t I have a tire like that on my cruiser? After all, there’s more
rubber on the road and more rubber means more grip, right?

Yeah… well… sort of. These guys, who race, are using tires that have super sticky compounds designed for that
type of racing. The tracks they run on don’t have potholes, tar snakes, debris, old tire parts, oil, grease, gasoline,
water and grooves on them. Racing “slick” tires are designed to run on a clean track surface with far less air
pressure. The tires you run on the street are designed to handle all sorts of road and traffic conditions.

In the tire industry, the grooves you see in your tires are there for a purpose. The sections between the grooves are
called “land” and the grooves are called “sea” or sipes. Tire manufacturers have their own specific design that they
believe is better than the other guy. While that’s what they would like you to believe, these “land” and “sea”
patterns are there to provide traction depending on the tires use, the road condition and weather concerns. And it’s
these patterns that provide for the tires stability during their use.
A tire that would have a series of grooves that run all the way around a tire (in other words a center line grooves)
would make for a great long distance and cornering tire (ever wonder while Formula One open-wheel cars have tires
with a series of grooves all the way around the tire?). However, it would track any line, train-track or groove that
runs in the direction of travel. If you have been on a bridge that has a steel grate and experienced the pucker factor
of tires trying to run inside highway rain grooves, you know how severe a front end tracking wobble you can get. So
some manufacturers have designed the center lines grooves to go back and forth across the tire. The advantage to
centerline grooved tires is that they are excellent tires for heavy rain, slush and they maintain excellent road contact
in any condition. It’s the main reason that airplanes use centerline grooved tires. Manufacturers have done away
with the center line groove for motorcycles.

Most cruising tires have an alternating “land” and “sea” pattern. This provides good tracking in grooved pavement
and they still afford a good amount of traction in a wet/slushy environment. Most tires have a complementing front
and rear tire. For those folks who swear that running different sets of tires on the same motorcycle is not a concern,
skip to the next paragraph. Front tires that are complimentary to the rear tire can help the wet grip of the rear tire
by creating a clear channel for the rear tire to run in. Front tires should pick up water from the road, compresses
and accelerate it away, or “squeegee” water to remove the film off the road surface so that the rear tire only has to
deal with a thin film of water. Also, when these matched tires turn into a corner, they create a similar contact patch
condition as the tire changes from straight line to side wall. A mismatched contact patch could cause the tire to
“over steer” (rear end wants to push outward in the turn) or “under steer” (front end wants to push outward in the
turn) during cornering.

If you’re selecting a tire, note the pattern on the tire. Is it a center line pattern? Are the grooves wide enough to
move or compress water away from the tread contact patch in wet conditions? How about heavy wet/slushy (and
slushy doesn’t just mean snow and/or ice) conditions? These are things that you may need to consider in your tire
selection.

As a side note; some motorcycle owners have noticed a “whine” or howl coming from their tires after a short period
of break in. This howl is generated by stress put on the “lands” and “seas” of the tire creating a sort of harmonic
howl when the tire is subjected to a turn. It becomes more prevalent when the compound of the tire is more rigid
than a soft compound tire and is completely normal. All street and touring tires have this howl, only some tires howl
more (and louder) than others.

Also, motorcycle tires need to run balanced. Sorry to say, but a motorcycle tire can be out of balance with as little as
500 miles on the clock. The pain of removing a tire and rebalancing outweighs the time you could be spending on
the road. However, if you want very long mileage life out of your tire, you should try to rebalance your motorcycles
shoes every 2000 miles.

Air pressure / Tire temperatures

How much air you put in your tire is critical to safety, longevity and grip. We should all know by now that a lack of
appropriate air pressure can cause premature tire failure, mushy driving conditions and loss of control. A question
also comes up about regular breathable air vs. nitrogen in tires.

Should you use nitrogen? Do you have a container or nitrogen machine in your garage? Can you get nitrogen at the
local gas stop? I won’t go into the whole installation and filling of a new tire, but the purge and refill three to four
times before you can safely say that you are running nitrogen in your tires sounds like a pain in the fanny. Look,
nitrogen makes up 78% of the air that you breathe. In effect, when you fill your tires you are using nitrogen. In a
consumer study, the air loss of nitrogen vs. regular air filled tires was only 2.3%. You have to check pressure in a
nitrogen filled tire just as much as a normally aired tire. The amount of money you will spend on nitrogen filled tires
far outweighs the advantages unless you put only 3000 miles on a set of tires per year.
With that being said, we have learned quite a bit of information that should dictate how much air we put in our tires.
If you adhere to the manufacturer’s guidelines, which apply to the “average” rider, you should have a tire that will
last a long time and perform well. However, most premium tire companies are always touting higher pressures than
OEM or other replacement tires and that is largely due to the quality of construction. Higher pressure also means
lower rolling resistance thus better gas mileage. One sure way to minimize air pressure loss is to make sure your tire
technician cleans and dresses the area that the tire bead rests against. Second only to the loss of air at the valve
stem, the bead-seat area should be clean and smooth.

As was mentioned before, tires are designed to create and shed heat. Tires are also capable of dealing with the
pressure gains and losses due to heat are a part of their design. However, if a tire gets too hot, the compounds in
the tire break down and tear apart which means splitting or shredding of the tire carcass (ever seen those large
chunks of truck tires strewn all about the highway?). Having splitting or shredding happen on a motorcycle can be
hazardous to your health and well being.

Tires need to get warm fast so that they can create grip. The use of softer compounds or smaller silica molecules
can cause a tire to create more heat than a harder compound tire. Bias-ply tires create more heat than radials.
Tires with a slicker surface can get hotter than a tire with well defined and deep “land” and “sea” variations. An
aggressive riding style will allow tires to get hotter than a conservative style. Weight can contribute to how fast and
how high a temperature a tire will experience. Road conditions can cool a tire (as in rainy or slush conditions), or
cause a tire to gain more heat (hot day and new asphalt).

A motorcycle rider has to consider the following: If someone tells you that they run 48 lbs. PSI in the rear and 46
lbs. in the front tire, it does not mean that you should do the same. Are you running the same tire? Are you running
the same load? Do you drive aggressively? Same weather conditions as the other person? Are your rides short and
uneventful, long and challenging, on the highways or “twisties”?

Running too much pressure in a tire can do just as much damage as running too little. If you consider that tires
have a harder compound in the center, you may have to make decisions about how much pressure you carry due to
the conditions of the road. Running higher pressure could reduce some grip. This means that if you’re planning on
doing mountain/coastal “twisties”, higher pressures wouldn’t be a good thing. However, if your road is an open
highway, getting good mileage out of a tire that has a bit more air pressure might be the ticket. Weather will also
play a big factor in how your tire handles the road surface.

One mistake almost everyone makes is this; you start the bike and immediately blast off into corners and work
through quick stops. Cold tires don’t have the same amount of grip as a warm or hot tire. The silica compound in a
very cold tire is stiff and unforgiving. If you watch race car drivers, they weave back and forth before the start of the
actual race trying to create as much heat as they can in their tires. Heat means more traction. So if you’re just
starting off on a ride, make sure you give your tires some time to heat up before you start dragging your kneecaps
or try to stop on a dime.

On a very cold start, a radial tire should warm and have good gripe after about fifteen minutes. A bias-ply might
take a tad bit longer. Higher starting pressures in the tire will require that the warming time be longer. Lowering
the starting pressure can and will create heat in a tire quicker by expanding the contact patch and maintain that heat
when under way.

Just this one caveat: If you don’t pay attention to how much pressure you run for the type of tire you have, you are
playing Russian roulette with your life and shortening the life of your tires.
Tire pressure comparison chart – AVON = radial Metzler / Bridgestone = bias-ply

2006 K1200LT – Primary use: 2-up – specifications geared primarily toward safety of rider / passenger

Unloaded and/or 1-up

Tire / Conditions Dry Wet Straight Curvy

Metzler 42f/46r 40f/42r 44f/48r 40f/42r
Avon 2’s 38f/40r 32f/34r 40f/42r 36f/38r
Bridgestone 40f/44r 38f/40r 40f/44r 38f/38r
46f/50r 40f/42r 48f/50r 48f/52r
TARGET
to To to to
PRESSURES
50f/54r 44f/46r 50f/52r 52f/56r
All tire pressures are considered to be +- 2 lbs. at cold starting pressure

Loaded and/or2-up

Tire / Conditions Dry Wet Straight Curvy

Metzler 44f/48r 42f/42r 46f/48r 42f/44r
Avon 2’s 40f/42r 34f/36r 40f/42r 38f/38r
Bridgestone 42f/44r 40f/40r 42f/44r 38f/42r
48f/52r 46f/50r 48f/54r 48f/56r
TARGET
to to to to
PRESSURES
50f/56r 48f/52r 52f/56r 54f/58r
All tire pressures are considered to be +/- 2 lbs. at cold starting pressure

The pressures listed above are cold starting pressure estimates. The values located in the TARGET PRESSURES line
are what I am looking for once the tire has warmed to operating temperature. I adjust my starting pressures in an
attempt to obtain the target pressure listed.

For temperatures above 95 degrees, decrease starting pressures by one to two pounds. For temperatures below 40
degrees, lower starting pressures by 2 to 4+ lbs and allow for extended warm-up periods on bias-ply tires. Use
mildly aggressive back and forth movements in the lane to generate heat in the tire. Altitude can affect cold starting
pressures. Adjust accordingly.

High internal temperatures are what kill a tire. Having too much cold start air pressure on a hot day while you work
in “twisties” can help degrade the performance of a tires sidewall. Adjust accordingly.

Radial tires gain and shed heat more quickly than bias-ply tires. They also are more susceptible to problems if you
forget about checking your pressures before and during a trip. You can make adjustments daily if you desire. I have
found that knowing what conditions will be like as a make-up of a particular trip dictates the starting cold pressures
before I start the trip. I will check the pressures only if there is a need or an adjustment that is required to obtain
the performance.

These values are gathered over a three year period from 2007 thru 2010 and are based on notes and analysis
completed on a 2006 K1200LT. Your pressures may vary. Failure to check tire pressures regularly is like riding a
motorcycle without a helmet… it’s just plain stupid!

Wear patterns you could see in your tires could be the result of over pressurization, improper balance or alignment /
“run-out” of your particular motorcycle. Shorter wheel base motorcycles will tend to allow for scalloping if the
pressures are kept to low.
NOTE for Bridgestone / AVON tires: To adjust for scalloping (noted after the fact ) increase tire pressure by 2lbs.
and check tire wear every 500 miles. Increase pressure if scalloping continues to exist. Do not continue if scalloping
is present after 1500 miles. Check for balance, alignment / “run-out” if scalloping continues. ALSO: Know the
difference between scalloping (a normal wear pattern) and severe scalloping.

Tires, especially those on a motorcycle, can get out of balance in as little as 2,000 miles. If you have the
opportunity, checking and rebalancing your tires could extend the life of your tires. If you notice a vibration while
traveling at speed, the possibility of losing a weight could explain it. Have the balance check at your earliest
convenience.

Motorcycles that weigh far less than the target bike should adjust pressures downward if they are lighter than a dry
curb weight of approx. 770lbs.

This set of tables only addresses tires that are weight and speed rated for the 2006 K1200LT. Other tires that have a
weight and speed rating for earlier model K1200LT’s may have different characteristics and research should be done
before applying these values to those tires.

Despite what anyone tells you, Dunlop does not make a D205 tire that is weight and speed rated for the LT, hence
there is no data for the Dunlop tire in this diatribe.

Summary
So let’s get to the grist of it. What have we learned?

A soft compound tire creates more heat than a harder compound tire. Would you run the same starting (cold) air
pressure in a soft compound tire as a hard compound tire?

A high mileage tire will not have as much grip as a street tire. Would you ride “The Dragon” on a high mileage tire
while dragging your knee and doing forty miles per hour above the speed limit?

Would you use a very soft grip tire in the summer months when wet pavement is not a problem and you are touring
the highways in Arizona or Nevada?

Tire air pressures for your motorcycle driving application should be thought of as a target, not necessarily as a
starting cold temp only. Manufacturers like to talk about the “target pressure” of a tire once it has heat built into it
not when it is cold. Racing tires (and some street tires) have a pin-point target pressure designed into them so that
they run in the low thirties for optimum tracking grip. Tires that you and I will use have a much broader target
pressure and can carry a much higher pressure for longevity and grip.

As the driver of a motorcycle, you need to take stock of all of these things. It’s OK to listen to someone else as they
tell you what they do… BUT YOU ARE NOT THEM AND THEY ARE NOT YOU! Listen, process what they tell you and
then make a decision based on known facts.

DO NOT try and run an Avon or Bridgestone tire that same way you would run a Metzler. Vice-versa, don’t run a
Metzler in conditions that a high mileage tire are not good for. If you run Avon’s or Bridgestone type tires, use a
lower cold pressure starting temperature than you would on a Metzler. Remember, that softer compound tires that
use small silica molecules heat faster and have a higher operating temp and can have a PSI increase of 15% to 20%
of the starting PSI (or more) under normal operating conditions. Weight can contribute to the amount of heat a tire
will produce and road conditions can augment that pressure gain or loss. If you run Metzler for mileage, don’t
expect the tire to grip anywhere near that of a street tire.

Tires wear out. Running a tire beyond its useful life is asking for problems you cannot afford. It is cheaper to get a
new set of tires than to push a pair of “shoes” beyond their useful life. Running a mileage set in the summer and a
grip set in the winter may be an option. In a recent study that involved gathering information from motorcycle
forums, it was suggested that the average life span of a motorcycle touring tire was approximately nine
thousand miles. For a street motorcycle tire the average life span was a little over eight thousand miles. Your
individual mileage may vary. If you are in a quandary about whether to change a set of tires or not because you are
getting ready to go on a long trip, change your tires.

The object of running the correct tire and the right air pressure is not solely to get the most mileage out of a set of
tires. You have to think of your (and your passengers) safety. You have a problem with a tire on a motorcycle, your
chances of not getting through the emergency unscathed are far greater than that of a car or truck.

After all of this, remember: The people you talk to are not you, don’t ride like you, may not ride in the same area as
you do and don’t have the exact same motorcycle configuration that you do. Doing the same thing as someone else,
when you know that the previous statement is true is asking for problems. Motorcycle riders are not the same as
cage drivers. They have to think for themselves, be ever watchful and know their machine. Above all, they are
responsible for their lives and the lives of those who ride as passengers.

Before you ride:

Know that you are invisible. Know that all vehicles have brake lights that do not work. Know that some
drivers are more concerned about the fact that they forgot to buy bread than they are about killing
someone from inattention. Ride safe… and ride with knowledge!

Mark “Uncle Mark” Griner – BMWMOA Member #127457 - www.expressoriders.org