This is a common issue that sometimes might cause some annoyance or better said to annoy our pockets, when our tires last less than we expected. As we mentioned in other posts, the engineers and chemists at Continental strive to make new compounds, components, and technologies to avoid as much as they can the wearing of the rubber. According to the main rules of physics, it is impossible to avoid the tires’ wearing, but at least we can delay it.
In this aspect, we have improved a lot. Our MultiGrip technology uses silica in the rubber compound which greatly extends tire life. A lighter carcass also helps prolong tire life by reducing the weight, reducing the heat generated and thereby also extending the tire’s life.
You also can do a lot to extend the life of your tires.
The most important and easiest way is for you to check the tire pressure routinely or especially each time before a trip. Don’t be the kind of rider that just checks the tire pressure when changing the tires or when the motorcycle needs routine maintenance.
Make sure you know the ideal pressure for your motorcycle and the possible alternatives, depending on whether you go with a passenger, with suitcases, or overloaded. Usually you can find that information in your motorcycle guide.
It is very important that you check the tire pressure in cold temperatures.
Let’s see the effect that tire pressure has on the tires’ wear.
Pressure below the manufacture’s recommendation will cause early wear on the transition area of the tire, between the middle and the side, as you can see in the picture.
It will also cause the tire to move laterally and will create instability when riding either straight or on curves. You will feel a vibration if this happens.
The earlier wear is due to the overheating of the tire carcass. The friction between the layers of the internal structure causes the overheating.
An extreme situation, for example, would be when you have a slowly leaking tire, you are under low pressure and you try to reach the motorcycle repair shop.
This can produce irreversible effects in your tire due to an overheating that actually destroys the internal area of the carcass. In this situation, when trying to take a curve, a serious accident could happen because the tire would slide over the rim causing a sudden loss of air.
Finally, in today’s post, we offer some final advice about inflating the tires with the right amount of pressure.
Buy a good tire pressure gauge, and if possible, a pocket size one that will become a main piece of your motorcycle tool kit when in route.
The gas stations’ tire pressure gauges are more reliable, but still it’s a good idea to carry your own gauge to check the exact pressure.
Don’t get confused with the different scales of measurements that can be on a tire gauge. Normally you can see two unit scales; the Bar (usually used outside of the United States, also known as pressure bar) is equivalent to almost one Atmosphere. Pay attention to the PSI sign, normally the gauges show PSI (Pounds per Square inch in the US system) and is the standard unit of scale in North America. For more details on tire pressure visit our post Tire pressure maintenance.
In the next post, we will talk about riding on overinflated tires.
Until the next post!
