Motorcycle Tires
The bike tires provide the only contact with the ground, through the contact surface under normal conditions, and because of this they have a strong influence on the handling characteristics of motorcycles. Motorcycle tires have a round cross section to facilitate the desired inclination when a motorcycle tour.
Bike tires are available for many different applications, including: Sports, Sport Touring, Touring, Cruiser, Scooter, On / Off Road, Enduro, Motocross and Racing. There are tires designed for dirtbikes, tourism, sport and race bikes.
Sport / performance tires provide amazing grip but may last 1,600 km or less. Cruiser tires and “Sport Touring” try to find the best compromise between grip and durability. There is also a type of tire developed specifically for the competition. These tires offer the highest levels of grip for cornering. Due to the high temperatures at which these tires work normally use on the street is unsafe because the tires do not usually reach the optimum temperature so it has almost nothing to grip on the road.
Sport Touring – these tires are not generally used for high cornering loads, but for the long straights, good for travel around the country.
Sport Street – these tires are for drivers, “aggressive” street. These tires do not have a long life, but in turn have better traction in high speed corners.
Track or Slick – these tires are for track days. They have a triangular shape, which in turn gives a larger contact patch while leaning. These tires are not recommended for the street by the type of manufacture, and is known to have a shorter life on the street. Due to triangulation of the tire, the less contact in the center of the wheel, causing the tire to develop a faster surface when used to ride the lines for long periods of time and have no tread at losing most of the wet grip.
Car tires are usually made of harder rubber for durability. They can last longer, but tend to offer less grip than tires sport. The reward is that touring tires typically offer more grip at lower temperatures, which means they may be more suitable for travel in cold or winter conditions, while a sport tire can never reach optimum operating temperature.