Do motorcycle tires get more slippery as they wear down in a short period of time?

[jonpurdy]

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I'm almost at 10K on my F800R fitted with the stock Sportec M3 tires. Lately they have felt like they haven't had as much traction as before (with the ABS going on more frequently, too).

I've only had them for nine months so they're not old. But do tires lose a noticeable amount of traction as they wear down?

(Move to newbie section if this question is too basic.)

 

[kiwi]

That's a decent amount of kms - are they nearly done ? My M3s are at 10,000 km too and are flattened in the middle with decent rubber still left on the outside. Dang too many straight roads here !!
I notice it being squirrelly at times

 

[jonpurdy]

That's a decent amount of kms - are they nearly done ? My M3s are at 10,000 km too and are flattened in the middle with decent rubber still left on the outside. Dang too many straight roads here !!
I notice it being squirrelly at times

The grooves have a few mm left in the middle; I'd guess another 3K and they'll be done. Taking the bike in for the 10K service to get advice soon as well.

Totally right about not enough twisties here; we have to head at least two hours east or to the track to scrub off the sides of the tires.

 

[AF4iK]

I've got about 10K on my Power 2CT and was wondering the same thing. Does the rubber compound change to something harder when you wear it down to a certain point? (like some car tires) Thinking of buying Power Pures or Metzler M5 next.

 

[matt365]

Tires do heat cycle. The more cycles, the harder the rubber gets.

I ran through a set of M3s on my 929. they seemed to last forever (for a decent sport tire...)

 

[hondahhh]

I've only had them for nine months so they're not old. But do tires lose a noticeable amount of traction as they wear down? )

Ya it seems like they do. At least on my last set, ct2s. The last 1500 Kim's on them and I was spinning and sliding the rear waaaay too much haha! The front a bit I guess. I started thinking it was my tire psi or slippery spring roads, then I noticed my steel belt showing thru.

After that it seemed like the "reduced traction" was a heads up.

Got about 11k on the rear

 

[AF4iK]

Tires do heat cycle. The more cycles, the harder the rubber gets.

I ran through a set of M3s on my 929. they seemed to last forever (for a decent sport tire...)

Good point. Anyone know ballpark how many heat cycles typical sport tires can endure before the compound is altered appreciably? While riding today, I was thinking about how many heat cycles I've put through my tires since I bought them. Btw, they're still gripping pretty well.

 

[chiller]

Good point. Anyone know ballpark how many heat cycles typical sport tires can endure before the compound is altered appreciably? While riding today, I was thinking about how many heat cycles I've put through my tires since I bought them. Btw, they're still gripping pretty well.

I remember reading somewhere that one of the track schools in the states uses ex racer rubber on there teaching bikes. they said that they get the tires from the racers who use them for 1 race, so perhaps 1 big heat cycle ... from that they can get about 100 teaching days on them then they toss them... so assuming a student gets it up to temperature every time and the school does not use warmers, then they would probably go out and come back what ? 5 times a day at a school ? so that's 500 heat cycles in a tire...

for me, i always notice the last 20% of a tire is usually not as sticky as the first 80% (80-20 rule I guess) ... but the last 20% is usually when the tire is really close to the wear bar, when it hits the bar that's when I'm shopping for a new tire...

 

[Ikan]

...but the last 20% is usually when the tire is really close to the wear bar, when it hits the bar that's when I'm shopping for a new tire...

Good practice. When the steel or whatever belts are showing the tire has been used beyond its designed service limit. Your insurance company could give you flack if you were involved in an accident for riding an unfit bike due to worn out tires.

Read some place recently where some newer sport tires are providing constant grip through out the tread's life.

 

[01rc51]

What the heck are you guys riding in order to get 10k out of a SS rear tire??

Now I'm getting to be an old fart who only rides a fraction of what I used to but I would be happy to get 5-6k out of a rear.

 

[GSXMAER]

my own testing.......40PSI = 3,000klm...............28PSI = 8,000 to 10,000

the way I ride.....

 

[Chungd]

What the heck are you guys riding in order to get 10k out of a SS rear tire??

Now I'm getting to be an old fart who only rides a fraction of what I used to but I would be happy to get 5-6k out of a rear.

Got a good 7K from my stock M3s, pushed them to about 8K with slightly less predictable grip, at that point the wear bars were in full bloom so to speak, switched over to Metz Roadtec Z8s rather than the M5s based on BMW recommendation, have been very happy so far for Ontario riding, we'll see how they hold up down south later in the summer...

 

[pyro_]

On my old triumph sport bike I used to get about 25k out of a rear using conti road attacks. Not quite as sticky as a set of full on sport tires but I didn't really notice the difference most of the time. And it was nice to not have to swap tires as much

 

[AF4iK]

What the heck are you guys riding in order to get 10k out of a SS rear tire??

Now I'm getting to be an old fart who only rides a fraction of what I used to but I would be happy to get 5-6k out of a rear.

At what point are you replacing the tires? I've got some usable life left in my rubber but it's about 1.5 mm away from the wear bars in the center so time to start shopping. I'd say I spent about 25% of my kms touring backroads, 30% on hwy and 45% zipping around the city.

 

[01rc51]

At what point are you replacing the tires? I've got some usable life left in my rubber but it's about 1.5 mm away from the wear bars in the center so time to start shopping. I'd say I spent about 25% of my kms touring backroads, 30% on hwy and 45% zipping around the city.

I'll ride until it hits the wear bars. Obviously I could push them a little longer but in the past I've gotten hit with rain when when on the wear bars and the back will start skating around. Not the safest when there is traffic around. For tire pressure I do run them a little lower than most do, which will kill some of the life. Typically 34 front and 32 rear.

 

[Wasted]

Your insurance company could give you flack if you were involved in an accident for riding an unfit bike due to worn out tires.

The police could give you a ticket but your insurance company won't do anything about it. You can't use 'I couldn't stop in time because my tires were bald' to dispute fault but the claim can not be denied because there are steel belts showing.

 

[Matrix]

I think whats most important is the minute to lose confidence in the tire then it's time to change. I get 5-6k out of a rear tire before I think I need to replace it, especially when I can feel I lose traction in the rain.

 

[Fiery254]

What's the average cost of a set of sport bike tyres? $350? $400?

Now ask yourself how quickly you could cause $400 worth of damage to your bike if your rear end kicks out on you because of lack of grip.

I had a tyre give way on me. Just the helmet I ruined was $750 before I started adding up the damage to the bike.


And if you're ever quoting tyre pressures on here, or any other forum for that matter, please put the model of tyre with the info. The last thing you want to do is set your Pirellis to Dunlop pressures.

 

[jonpurdy]

What's the average cost of a set of sport bike tyres? $350? $400?

Now ask yourself how quickly you could cause $400 worth of damage to your bike if your rear end kicks out on you because of lack of grip.

I had a tyre give way on me. Just the helmet I ruined was $750 before I started adding up the damage to the bike.


And if you're ever quoting tyre pressures on here, or any other forum for that matter, please put the model of tyre with the info. The last thing you want to do is set your Pirellis to Dunlop pressures.

I was wondering if the loss of grip was in my head or not. I thought I might be riding harder than when I first got the bike and requesting more traction than before.

Tyres are replaced, anyway. 12,400 km out of sporty M5s (but no track days, about 3 cm of chicken strips on the rear).

 

[reciprocity]

but the claim can not be denied because there are steel belts showing.

you sure about that??

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