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make a bike tire that will last longer than 12,000 miles??? Why can't they put a thicker tread on them? An el cheep o tire for a car has more tread thickness. Looks to me like we need a crusader to take this fight to the manufactures to force them to make a 20/25000 mile tires. This is bull crap having to change rear tires every year, if not twice[:@][:@][:@][:@] That is why I drive a particular brand of truck, I don't like working on them all the time. Rant over.........[sm=rant.gif] Dan
First the tyres could be made harder like car tyres. You would get 15000 to 25000 out of a rear but I wouldnt want to ride it.
Thicker tread, well the depth on my Avons is deeper than most cars. If its taken too far the problem of unsprung weight rears its ugly head. Also where do you calibrate your speedo, loose 1/2" tread thats 1" off the tyre diameter. Thats 3.14" off the rolling circumference per wheel revolution. Thats a long way out and if I got it right would put your speedo out by a tad under 9% without any other errors. There would be the problem of manageing operating temperature in the tyre.
Dual compound treads is probably the way to go but no one has come up with a good dual compound tyer suitable for my RK as far as I know.
If I can get 10000 out of a rear and 15000 - 20000 out of the front then I'm a happy camper.
Don't forget a bike tire leans side to side where a car tire doesn't. That said, with a lot of riders running straight lines most the time the tire squares off and it causes problems in handling when you lean the bike. So in order to get a tire to grip it has to be softer and therefore squares off in less time.......there's not much they can do.
I don't know about you but my rear tire gets flat enough after 10-12k miles....gets to the point its kind of hard to get it to lean over in a curve. You would have even more of an edge on the tire if it had more tread depth to allow for 20k miles of wear.
LOL...I just replaced my tire yesterday with only 6000 miles on it. I never do burn-outs but I tear up the twisties. I had no idea that the curves would eat up the tire this quick. At $250 a pop and no signs of me slowing down...I'd better adjust to buying a tire every three months.
I'm talking a small amount, say 1/8 in. thicker rubber on the center tread and progressively thinner on the edges. With the center having a little harder compound to stop center wear/flattening. Every little bit would help. I know anyone who buys new tires as well as brakes, understands they need to be broken in/ seated before maximum performance is achieved. To me it makes about as much sense as using engine oil that must be changed every 1000 miles. Maybe OK back i n 1909, but with newer compounds, I don 't buy it.
Sorry...but unless you really understand rubber compounding and tire manufacturing, you can't begin to understand the complexities involved. Part of our family has been involved in tires for decades, so I have a VERY limited knowledge of it - but suffice it to say that the technical challenges are VERY significant. They've worked on multi-compound tires for a number of years, but so far I know of no manufacturer that's made it work.
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