Motorbike Tyre Safety
Tyres are an essential part of every motorbike that must be cautiously looked after to avoid disaster. Tyres in bad condition pose a potential threat to the biker and may eventually cause an accident. This is why it is crucial that you use the right tyres for your bike and ensure that they are in excellent condition. Here are some useful motorbike tyre safety tips you should know.
Don’t Mix Tyre Brands
When fitting tyres to your bike, ensure that both the front and rear tyres are made by the same manufacturer and have the same tread pattern. Mixing tyre brands is highly dangerous.
Wheels and Rims
It is crucial that the wheel size and type perfectly fit fitment your motorbike and tyre. Ensure that you only fit rims designed for motorcycles. Do not interchange motorcycle rims with car rims of similar nominal diameter; this is very dangerous.
Tread Depth
For motorbikes over 50cc, make sure that your tread depth is not below the legal minimum of 1mm. The legal tread depth for motorcycle tyres in the UK is at least 1.0mm tread depth around the circumference of the tyre for 75% of the axial width, while the grooves of the original pattern must be very visible. Tyre treads are designed to give excellent wet hold to the road. Worn out tyre treads can be extremely dangerous especially in wet conditions, reducing speed during such conditions may reduce the chance of an accident. Always check your tread wear indicators in the tread grooves; if the indicators become level with the tread surface, it is time to replace your bike’s tyres.
Regular Inspection
To ensure that your motorbike tyre is safe for use at all times, carry out routine inspection and maintenance on your bike. Check the state of your tyres for cuts, cracks, bulges, noise, objects in the tread, unusual behaviour or the condition of the tread depth. To maintain your tyres effectively, avoid driving speed bumps, potholes, or kerbs, this can cause significant damage to your tyres.
Tyre Choice
Choose the right tyre type to ensure that you are not putting yourself in potential danger. If you are riding for long hours, then a sports-touring tyre is the best option for your bike, to avoid easy wear of your tyre’s tread depth. Sports-touring tyres are perfect for use in various weather conditions and provide a firm grip.
Tyre Pressures
Always check your tyre pressures from cold at least once a week using an accurate gauge, especially before riding. Your tyres require the right amount of pressure to function correctly; Over-inflation reduces ride comfort and weakens your tyre’s grip, while under-inflation results in poor handling and control of the bike. The correct inflation pressure is typically recommended by the tyre manufacturer and is crucial to safe handling and control of the bike.
Running-In New Tyres
After fitting new tyres, you should ride your motorcycles with utmost caution with as little speed, sudden swerves or braking as possible for the first 100 miles. Ideally, new tyres should be run-in at 60 mph for the first 100 miles, this allows the tyre to settle itself onto the wheel rim, correctly seat and inflate. Also, ensure that the tread depth is clean and uncontaminated.