Motorcycle & Scooter Tires

Motorcycle Tires and Tubes

Motorcycle tires and tubes keep your bike running safely through different rides. A solid one protects against damage and provides an added level of security. These tubes come in a variety of sizes and styles, letting you pick the right one for your riding needs.

• Tread: This is the visible part that hits the road. Smoother threads work better on dry, smooth surfaces, and chunkier threads work better off-road.
• Bead: This is the part that attaches to the wheel. It is mainly steel wire that is heavily covered in latex. It has a snug fit to the wheel so as to bar it from slipping rotationally.
• Carcass: This is considered the body under the tread. Tires, particularly of motorcycles, are either radial or bias-ply, referring to how they are made.
• Sidewall: This is the part that bridges the bead and the tread. It gives the tire its load transfer and handling characteristics. When referencing profile, aspect ratio, or height, this is the part that is usually referred to.

• Radial: These feature a casing angle of about 90 degrees to the direction of travel and belt of fewer than 25 degrees. The belt is located under the thread area, which gives it its stability and allows for higher speeds.
• Bias belted: This is a precursor of the radial design. It features a cross-ply design, and it has a belt made from Kevlar. It is easily recognized as it has a B on the exterior.
• Breaker: The tread area is reinforced from the inside, making it last longer through minimal transverse slip. This also makes it less prone to failure.
• Cross-ply: It has sturdy sidewalls and a simple structure, which offer many benefits in off-road use including impact protection. This design has a maximum design speed of about 150 miles per hour.

Inner tubes are a combination of synthetic and natural rubber. Natural rubber offers better resistance to punctures and is more pliable. Racing tubes normally have a higher rubber content which bars flats. In addition, there are solid foam inserts that feign air pressure from foam tubes.

Proper sizing of the inner tube prevents pinches and enhances performance. Installing the correct size guards prevents the tube from getting pinched by the tire irons, or having to be overinflated.

Inner tubes come in various weights in order to provide the right amount of protection against flats. The weight of a thin tube is about 1,230 grams, while the 3.5 millimeter super heavy duty is about 1,720 grams. However, the mousse tube tips the scale measuring 1,950 grams.