So I guess its time to talk a little about something a bit more technical. This is something that I'm sure we can never really come to any solid conclusion because so many people have so many different preferences.
Tires Tires Tires.
So what do we know about tires? What facts cannot be refuted? So heres my list as I see it:
1) Different tires are for different bikes just as different tread patterns are for different styles of riding.
2) There are 3 different main styles of tires. Biased ply tires, belted bias ply tires and radial tires. For our purposes here, we can just say that radial tires are the best style available and you will find them on all modern sportbikes.
3) All tires have markings. Brand, direction arrow, colored dots to mark the heaviest spot on the tire (should be lined up with valve stem) and a series of numbers and letters that give valuable information. For example, 180/55ZR-17. 180 is tread width in millimeters. 55 is 55%, meaning that the height of the tire is 55% of the tread width. In this case 55% of 180 mm. ZR is a speed rating and 17 is the rim diameter. There are also some tires with standard number indications in inches, instead of metric.
4) You should always fill your tires with the psi recommended by your bikes manufacturer, not by what it says on the tire. Check your tire pressure frequently.
5) Find the wear indicators in the tread of your tires. They are there for a reason, to keep you safe and keep you bike handling as it should.
6) Finally, you can tell what type of rider a person is by checking out their rear tire. A flattened center or profiled tire means that they do quite a bit of highway, straight line riding. Unused tire edges might indicate an newer rider or possibly someone who doesn't hit the twisties too often. Evenly rounded tires without chicken strips possibly shows an experienced, aggressive rider who enjoys all types of riding.
The next post is part 2 : Brand review and tread preference.
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