MOTORCYCLE TYRES AND SAFETY

We take them for granted but have you ever thought how much we rely on our tyres? Have you considered the performance we require from them every single time we ride? To see what I mean, try this exercise.

Hold both hands out in front of you with palms uppermost. Have a good look at them. You are now looking at roughly the area of your tyres in touch with the road whenever you ride your bike!

In other words, that's the amount of rubber between you and eternity as you do the normal things bikers do. Like winding past that big lorry in the pouring rain, tucking in tight, and keeping the power on in a right hander or, possibly, stopping on a tanner when that Scandinavian looking car has decided, at the last second, to turn right across your path in front of you. Remember, the brakes stop the wheels but it's your tyres that stop the bike!

Now give a thought to the forces you are putting through those two bits of rubber. Think of the heat generated as the speed rises and of the flexing needed to cope with the handling ability of a modern Superbike.

You are now beginning to realise why the development and technology that has gone into those pieces of rubber has had to be very special. To borrow an expression, tyres are too small a word for them!

The truth is, bike tyres have developed so much in recent years that they can now usually out-perform even the best of riders on the greatest of machines and in the worst of weathers! They won't often let you down. They will nearly always perform well for you. But they can only do so if you give them a fighting chance.

Making sure you have the right tyres for the bike and having them professionally fitted, correctly balanced and properly maintained is every bit as important in your overall strategy as buying the right clothing and getting the best training.