It often occurs to many bikers that while purchasing a used bike they do not have an idea of whether it has tubeless tires or not.
“One of the easiest ways to check whether a tire is tubeless or not is to check what kind of valve the tires possess. More precisely, it also depends upon the number of times you get a flat tire while riding your bike.”
But, that’s only the tip of the iceberg!
We are going to dig a little further to differentiate different types of valves to check whether a bike tire is tubeless or not. Let us get right to it
Contents
Whenever you purchase a used bike for mountain biking from a local seller, it’s important to know the minor details of it to get away with any scam or fraud.
One of the issues that many bikers have to face is they cannot tell whether the bike has got tubeless tires or not. According to our experience and research, you can check a tubeless tire of a bike in the following ways:
The very first and most basic thing to do is to ask the seller about the overall specification of the bike as well as its tires. If the seller confirms that the tires are tubeless, you should ask him about the brand of tires he has installed on the bike.
If the seller does not know whether the bike tires are tubeless or not, better get away from such a deal as the bike is probably stolen.
It could occur to many bikes that their tires are tubeless, however, there might still be a tube inside them. In that case, Carbon Side Up from Bike Stack Exchange says that one should focus on looking at the valve stem of the bike.
The user makes the following assumptions based on how the valve stem might look like and its relation with a tubeless tire:
Based on these three assumptions, you can easily know whether the tires of a bike you are about to purchase are tubeless or not. The user also says that these assumptions may go wrong, but according to him, they are true in almost 95% of the cases.
Take an in-depth look at valve stems below.
Another way of seeing whether the tires have got tubes or not is to check the position of the valve stem on the wheels.
That said, tires that have tubes have a valve that directly gets inserted into the tire’s rubber. You can use the valve to inflate or deflate the tires accordingly.
In the case of tubeless tires, the valve is usually installed on the rim rather than the rubber plus it’s sealed with a lockring. That’s another easy way to check whether the bike has got tubeless tires or not.
Modern Problems Require Modern Solutions! Based on this meme, you can check the tubeless quality of the tires easily.
Simply check the tire sidewall and see whether they are marked with anything like TR, TL, or UST.
Find other details of the tire and put them in the Google search bar. It will have enough info to show you whether the tires are actually tubeless or not.
Last but not the least, if the tires go flat frequently, that means they are not tubeless. Detach the rubber part from the rim and you will most probably find a tube inside the tires.
Keep track of the number of times your tires get flat or punctured and if it’s more frequent, then you, my friend, are not using a bike with tubeless tires.
Here’s a discussion on Tubeless and Tube Tires you’ll find helpful.
Identify the valve stem on the wheel and if it is Presta sealed with a lockring, then it would certainly mean that the tires are tubeless. Other than that, if the valve goes into the rim rather than the rubber, it would also substantiate the claim of the tires being tubeless.
Last but not the least, check the sidewall of the tires and see whether they are marked as TL (tubeless) or UST (Universal Standard Tubeless).
These are some of the ways to know if the tires are tubeless or not.
The tires are most probably not tubeless if you are getting flat tires or instant punctures on a frequent basis. Better dismount the rubber and you will find a tube laying inside the rubber.
Bikes with tubeless tires remain inflated and maintain their air pressure for a long time. On top of that, bikers will face low flat tires and instant puncture issues while using tubeless tires. In the end, tubeless tires require less maintenance compared to tubed tires.
Checking a used bike from every angle and perspective is important for you because you are about to purchase it with your hard-earned money.
When it comes to checking the tires, simply follow the tips we mentioned above and make your evaluation based on it accordingly.
Tires Tubeless Tires
From riding to school since the age of 13, attending BMX races and events with his dad to himself conquering 50+ trails across the globe.
For Rob, his Giant Stance 29 2 2020 is the friend that makes everything better. He is also a proud member of the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA).
What’s the difference between tubed and tubeless tires?
Uh, the tube. Even if you never saw a motorcycle before, you’d know that! But of course there’s actually more to it than that. The two kinds of motorcycle tires are constructed differently and have different advantages and applications.
Tubeless tires are designed to be airtight. Tube-type tires are made to work with a separate air-holding component that holds the pressurized air — the inner tube. So how did the system with two parts come before the simpler system with just one?
The Suzuki Van Van 200 is a retro bike, even down to its tubed tires. Suzuki photo.
Tubed tires were the first pneumatic motorcycle tires for several reasons.
First of all, rubber’s properties vary wildly depending on how it’s manufactured and treated. The outside of a tire needs to be tough enough to endure miles of riding, while the tube needs to be soft and flexible so it can be installed inside the tire. By using two types of rubber to do two different jobs, we wound up with two components for much of motorcycling history.
Spoked (wire) wheels disappeared on cars a long time ago but they stuck around on motorcycles way longer, and are still with us today, in many applications. It's hard to make a traditional spoked wheel airtight, due to the holes for lacing spokes to the rim. One-piece wheels, on the other hand, could be made with a totally isolated chamber for holding air. The industry started turning out strong, precise, airtight wheels that made the tubeless revolution possible.
A textbook tubeless wheel on a 2017 Triumph Street Cup. Triumph photo.
Tubeless tires offer some big advantages over their tubed counterparts.
They reduce weight, run cooler, and can be made in a wide range of profiles. They can also handle punctures better. When a tubed tire takes a nail at 90 mph, the tube can deflate instantly, collapsing the tire with it. A tubeless tire can capture the nail (screw, or pointy road debris of your choice) in the tire’s thick main layer, sealing around the intruder to keep the air inside. Can being the important word here. It doesn’t always work out that way, but a tubeless tire gives you better odds of experiencing a slow deflation that gives you a chance to get off the road safely, instead of sudden and total deflation.
The other aspect of flat tires that matters here is repairing them. If you're standing alongside a busy highway with a nail in your tire, it's a lot easier to make a temporary repair on a tubeless tire. With a plug kit and a way to reinflate the tire, you can usually get back on your way. With a tube-type tire, you have to remove the wheel from the motorcycle so you can take the tube out of the tire, patch the hole (or replace the tube, if you're carrying a spare), then reassemble everything and reinflate the tire.
It's still doable, but there are extra steps and you need a way to raise your motorcycle for wheel removal.
Two reasons, mainly: off-road performance and looks.
Off-road machines are the biggest holdouts from tubeless tires. Spoked wheels offer real advantages in holding up to rough terrain, and where you have spokes you generally have inner tubes. Exceptions exist these days, however, especially on some larger, more expensive adventure-touring bikes. Some have wheels with the spokes attaching to the edge of the rim, rather than the center, or to a flange. This allows the wheel to be airtight and enables the use of tubeless tires, giving ADV riders the best of both worlds: the advantages of tubeless tires for high-speed road work and the resilience of spoked wheels for off-road pounding. Neat stuff.
The other place we typically see tube-type tires is on cruisers or other motorcycles with a retro style.
For some riders who demand a traditional look, spokes just look right, and spokes mean tubes.
This Yamaha Super Ténéré has tubeless aluminum rims. The spokes mount externally, so the seal isn't compromised. Yamaha photo.
The valve stem is an extension of the airtight chamber with a tiny valve inside for changing the pressure inside the tire. In a traditional inner tube setup, the valve stem is part of the tube itself. Poking through a hole in the rim, you’ll spot the stem and its lock nut holding it in place. When you replace your tube, the valve stem goes with it, and the new one replaces it.
Tubeless tires are the opposite. The valve stem is separate and mounts to the rim. (If you’ve got a pair of big disc brakes up front, consider adding a right-angle valve stem so you can more easily inflate your tires with the air hose at the gas station.) Tubes and valve stems should both be changed with every tire change.
Heat cycling weakens rubber, weak rubber cracks, cracks leak, and flat tires are no fun, based on my testing.
Right-angle valve stems can make life easier. RevZilla photo.
These are both things you can do, but that doesn't mean it will be easy, advisable or the best solution. If you want to run a particular type of tire on your motorcycle, the easiest way to do that is to pick a motorcycle that designed to do that in the first place. You may also be able to swap wheels, but that can be an expensive and complicated proposition.
If you insist on running a tube in a tubeless tire, the general rule of thumb is to treat the setup as one load rating and one speed rating less than the tubeless tire says it can handle. That's mainly because your tube and tire combination will be creating extra heat, especially the harder you ride.
As for a tubeless tire on a tubed wheel, we won't say it’s impossible, because someone will come along and say they did it successfully, but it's not easy and it's probably not the best way to accomplish whatever it is you're trying to do.
You’d have to seal everything up with either some goo or a rubber liner to make the wheel airtight (it probably won't stay airtight). More importantly, the tubeless tire's bead will probably not seat properly and seal on the tube-type wheel's rim. They're not made for each other, after all. In short, it probably won't work and it may be unsafe to try.
Spurgeon runs a tube in the rear of his KTM, even though he could use tubeless. When airing down, tubes can actually be an advantage. Spurgeon Dunbar photo.
If you’d like to learn more about motorcycle tires, make sure to read Lemmy’s Tires 101 guide and his tips on changing tires yourself. If you’ve never seen how tires are made, that’s worth checking out, as well. There’s probably a lot more to tires than you realize.
Well, for starters, we ignore the advertising descriptions of a wonderful “hold” on any surface (“universality” of rubber is a myth, and a highway declared as such holds much worse than a special one in difficult conditions).
The principle of “taking the most expensive and popular one” is also not suitable for choosing motorcycle tires: if you choose the wrong type or profile, the same advantages can turn into a serious problem, therefore, we carefully study the characteristics. And here it is important that you know about the types, tire design, features of the choice of operation (oddly enough) and the timing of changing tires. Let's fill in the thematic gaps together. nine0003
Each class of motorcycle has its own type of “shoe”, designed for efficient transmission of torque, better grip, stability when maneuvering in the conditions in which a particular bike is most of its life. Conventionally, motorcycle tires can be divided into road, off-road and racing. Within the class, tires are divided according to tasks: road, slick, rain, cross (endur), mud, studded, and dual-use. Diameter and width - depend on the class and dimensions of the equipment. By class, we will consider it.
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In this category, most of the products are designed for limited use and have an extremely small resource - just one race or training session. Provides the best grip on asphalt. Their profile allows you to lay the bike almost parallel to the ground in the turn, however, only after warming up.
These motorcycles mostly "live" on the track, observing the primer only from a distance, from the height of the main road, so their "shoes" are designed for asphalt: the most durable, designed for the heavy weight of the motorcycle (passenger + luggage), and "all-weather".
To the characteristics of sports - do not hold out. nine0019 The scatter of equipment in this category is very large - from "evil" tuned fifty dollars for mini-cross to light enduro for travel, so there are a lot of models here.
You can combine them into classes according to their purpose: purely sports, amateur and rally:
For medium-sized classics, small-capacity, retro and custom motorcycles, various road tires are produced with a low semicircular profile, moderately developed tread, revealing working properties at temperatures below 80 about C.
There are a lot of options, as well as specifics (all-season, rain, universal).
Motor tires are designed for high side loads. Its profile - even for the widest models - is more rounded than that of an automobile, consists of a working part responsible for traction, and a side part that “works” only when tilted in a turn. Parts not in contact with asphalt are also very important. It depends on them how much the tire will weigh, how much it will be washed under the weight of the bike, how long it will last. nine0003
Hidden part between the inner and outer layers of rubber, which gives rigidity and takes on the load. The structure of the cord is multi-layered. Steel wire, or threads made of polyamide, aramid fibers (Kevlar), or polyamide are arranged in dense rows either across the tire, or - intersect at an angle of 30–40 degrees in the direction of its rotation.
The edge of the tire, going inward, into the grooves of the edges of the rim, having an annular metal (internal) reinforcement. The reliability of its fixation in the rim determines the life of a motorcycle tire, and sometimes a motorcycle with a driver. nine0003
The working part, covered with an intricate pattern, the size, shape and depth of the grooves of which depend on the purpose of the product. A larger high tread is typical for off-road and cross-country motor tires, a lower, smooth one - for road and racing.
A zone connecting the tread and the bead that is not inferior to them in strength, but does not work with either the road surface or the rim. It is on it that “letters” are applied that reveal the properties and characteristics of the tire. nine0003
The three main indicators of motor rubber - width, profile (height), seat diameter (internal) - are measured in millimeters and inches.
There are about a dozen markings adopted in different countries, but only four systems are widely used: Metric, Alpha, Standard (inch), Low profile (inch). For each of them, corresponding tables are available. For our market, more characteristically - Metric. nine0003
The name of the manufacturer (brand) and the name of the model are written in the largest letters on the product. The next in size is a "sausage" of numbers and Latin letters, indicating the width, height of the profile, the diameter of the rim for which the tire is intended, the weight limit per axle (rear / front), and the speed to which you can accelerate on this rubber. A little smaller - the country of origin, certificate, information about the material, design. Further, “small print” indicates no less important properties, which we will also consider separately. nine0003
I’ll immediately note the most common mistake in reading the rubber size index: the letter R is not a “radius”, as some motorcycle and car owners believe.
This letter means "radial" model and indicates the radial direction of the inner carcass reinforcing layers of this tire. There are two main designs - radial - when the cord layers run across the tire, and diagonal - when they cross. nine0003
You don’t see the letter “R” in the index, but you see a gap, or “B” - it means the rubber is diagonal, and if “reinforced” or “reinf” is written nearby, it is also reinforced with an additional layer of cord.
"Sausage of letters and numbers", for example, 120/70 ZR17 (73W) TL, stands for:
The arrow with the words "wheel rotation" strictly regulates where the tire should rotate during operation. If there are letters ND (non directional) on board, it can be placed in any direction.
If the manufacturer clearly limits the installation location of the tire, he writes “Front” on it for the front or “Rear” for the rear. Without this marking, rubber can be placed on either side. nine0003
TL or tube less - as we have already deciphered earlier - tubeless. TT stands for tube type, or "suitable for camera use."
All manufacturers unanimously recommend “not wearing” rubber for more than five years, and if the equipment has been “shod” in it for ten years, even mothballed, urgently change the “bagels” without hesitation. A couple of decades ago, the resource of tires was regulated only by their external condition and the courage of the driver, but this was even before the mass “epidemic of planned obsolescence of goods”. Now, two years are taken into account in the calculation of the service life, and five years is the allowable storage period for rubber in a warehouse, as a result of which it should not be sold, but disposed of. The release date is marked with two two-digit numbers enclosed in a circle or oval. The first is the week number from the beginning of the year, the second is the year of production itself. nine0003
It is a common practice to buy lightly worn race slicks or cuts - only makes sense for training on the "ring" or karting track, but not on the DOP.
In addition to poor handling, longer stopping distances on slippery surfaces, and increased risk of blown tires at high speeds, riding old tires carries legal risks. When passing a technical inspection, a cracked or worn protector (hypothetically) can cause a refusal to issue a diagnostic card. In fact, this is the same malfunction as badly worn brake pads. Also, in the event of an accident, due to the unsatisfactory condition of the rubber, the insurance company may refuse to pay you, referring to your favorite excuse - speeding (based on the increased stopping distance). nine0003
"From the factory" modern motorcycle tires are covered with a preservative silicone impregnation that prevents drying out during storage. It is slippery and penetrates deep into the pores of the rubber. Until you wipe it on the asphalt - do not count on a good "hold" and "sharp" brakes. It is not necessary to wash off the grease with gasoline or other solvent (it is useless), just ride measuredly for the first couple of hundred kilometers.
By the way, after long-term storage of used road motor rubber, it is also recommended to “run in” it in order to remove a layer of coarsened material from the surface. nine0003
Even if you provide ideal storage conditions, motor rubber still ages over time, becoming covered with microcracks. If the "age" of tires has exceeded 10 years or more - do not buy them, despite their attractive appearance.
Signs of critical wear:
The principle of evaluating the residual depth of the tread grooves is now outdated - most manufacturers add an integrated tire wear indicator to the options, which is worth focusing on.
Let's start with what happens if you put a wider tire back without changing the "native" rim. This question worries many inexperienced motorcyclists who want to look more "sporty".
Firstly, you will not wait for the expected increase in traction due to the increased area of \u200b\u200b"support". Wider rubber, squeezed by the edges of the rim not in size, will tend to “up”, so the calculated wheel profile will be violated. It will be higher, respectively, the contact patch will not increase. Secondly, the controllability in corners will worsen, the speedometer will “lie”, the weight distribution will change due to the rear of the motorcycle raised.
This is highly discouraged for most modern sportbikes that hit the track, but many classic models, nakeds and cruisers are often fitted from the factory with a combination of radial front and diagonal rear tires. Unlike the radial, the diagonal one is a little “softer”, allows for moderate overload, is sold a little cheaper, so why not?
The choice of how much to inflate the wheels to is a constant compromise between the loads on the rubber and its capabilities. On most motorcycles, the recommended pressure for each axle is indicated on a sticker (on the fork and swingarm), but this value is only relevant for the rubber model that was supplied from the factory. On a new model, look for a designation on the tire (next to the max load load) indicating the maximum allowable cold pressure. Do not take a tire if this value is lower than recommended for your motorcycle.
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Let's say your bike has a sticker with the recommended 2.25 bar for the front and 2.5 bar for the rear wheel. If you ride mainly with a passenger, with luggage, making long “flights” along the track, your motorcycle weighs 200 or more kilograms, and its volume is close to a liter, keep the pressure in the rear wheel at least 2.8–3.0 bar, and in the front 2.5 bar. If you ride around the city, alone, with almost no luggage, and are not fond of “flights”, it would be optimal to set equal pressure in both wheels at 2.2 bar. nine0003
For lightly loaded medium-sized engines, the interval varies from 2.0 to 2.3 bar, and for slender "Chinese" 2.1 bar - in the front, 1.9 bar - in the rear cylinder (especially if the tires are also Chinese). The pressure in road tires must not be lowered below 1.9 so that the motorcycle does not start to “float” in corners or on bumps - this is dangerous.
The more we inflate the closed volume of the wheel, the more “round” it becomes and the smaller the area in contact with the asphalt.
A larger contact patch means greater rolling resistance and accelerated tire wear, a smaller one means worse stability, lower braking and acceleration efficiency. Up to a certain point, these nuances are compensated by the tread, so on motocross and enduro bikes, the wheels can be lowered to 1.2 bar - front and 0.8 bar - rear. However, air is an unreliable business, therefore, in hard enduro and trials, a gel filler is now more often used, which allows maintaining a pressure of 0.4 and 0.9bar. Such a set will not live long, but this is a sport in which, as we remember, rubber consumption is not considered.
Definitely yes. The older the cylinder, the harder its surface and the lower the residual tread height, the worse the bike “holds” the road. Bald or improperly matched tires increase the braking distance, and can cause an unexpected “leaving” the track into a ditch. On an over-inflated tire, the fork or pendulum will “beat” hard, and on a flat tire, the motorcycle will become less predictable in corners and “gobble up” more gasoline than in a normal ride.
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No, because their rims are not sealed and you simply cannot inflate the tire. Not all alloy wheels are suitable for tubeless, so always check what type of rubber was on the bike before. In addition, the hole in the rim designed for the camera nipple may not match the size of the new nipple.
Only if the damage to the wheel does not allow you to inflate the tire, and you still need to get to the “repair”. In all other cases, the idea is controversial. The inner surface of a tubeless rim is not designed for other rubber to constantly rub against it, creating additional heating, and the inner part of a tubeless rim may have protrusions that injure the chamber. It is possible to get a “beautiful” wheel by putting a tubeless tube on a spoked rim, but objectively, this will increase its weight (remember the unsprung masses), and reduce the life of the camera.
About when it frays to break - you will know already on a flat tire. You can repair a puncture of a tubeless tire without removing the wheel, but you will have to remove and patch the tube with its disassembly. nine0003
Undesirable. Even if it does not look worn yet, its resource is already less, from frequent “heating-cooling” cycles, it becomes rougher than new, frays or cracks faster. The old tube may not fully expand and fold if the new rubber has a lower profile (and internal volume) than the previous one.
If it belongs to the Racing Street or Street Legal class, this is a completely justified choice for the owner of a sport, street, naked or classic with claims to “aggressiveness”. In other cases, it is not recommended. Firstly, the use of racing slicks or cross-country tires is not allowed on the DOP. Secondly, sports tires are designed for intensive work with a certain warm-up.
At competitions, before the race, they are warmed up in special covers, and then they are “given” one warm-up lap so that from the first seconds of the test race they can provide the bike with good contact with the asphalt (sticking). nine0003
In the city, even if you ride aggressively, the slick simply does not have time to warm up to operating temperature (more than 80 about C). Or even before it does not heat up for the whole trip, given the ragged rhythm of traffic lights and possible "toffees". Accordingly, it will not give adequate grip when trying to “give a corner”, the wheels will be demolished during braking, and instead of an energetic start, the bike will “grind” on the spot.
Ideally, pre-washed, treated with a silicone spray, complete with a disk and in special cases. Naturally - in a dry, dark place with a constant temperature, away from fire, children and animals. nine0003
Change your shoes for the winter, or find and set aside good rubber in reserve - make sure that during storage it:
Few people can provide all these conditions, so remember at least the main thing: protect the motor rubber from drying out and deformation - do not hang it, but lay it horizontally, wrapped in waterproof fabric. nine0003
This is only the main part of the answers to popular questions about motorcycle tires, collected in one material. Without "deepening" in the topic - a little about everything. If any of your questions still remain unanswered - ask it in the comments, we will definitely analyze it.
When choosing motor rubber, beginners are often faced with the need to decipher the markers that are literally dotted with both sides of the tire.
This long list of letters and numbers can confuse anyone who encounters a manufacturer's encoding for the first time.
In the article we will talk in detail about what each letter and number means on the surface of the tire. After reading the material, not a single symbol on the sidewall will remain a mystery to you, and it will become much easier for you to find the right tires. nine0003
Everything is quite obvious here - for one or another type of bike there is its own set of rubber of certain sizes and indexes. Driving with tires that do not meet the recommended parameters is fraught with increased tire wear, suspension loosening, poor handling and increased fuel consumption.
First you need to understand what marking is in front of you - this is important to determine the size. There are four varieties in total: metric, alpha, standard inch and low profile inch. We will talk about each in its place. nine0003
As mentioned above, the marking is located on the sides - you can immediately read the name of the manufacturer's company and model, but we are interested in numbers and letters, of which there are a lot, and this is really scary.
What to pay attention to first of all?
This is the standard metric marking system found on the vast majority of motorcycle and automotive models. It is located nearby on the same arc and is the first to catch the eye when looking at any tire. nine0003
Let's take this as an example: 180/60 ZR16 74W TL. All elements go in strict order - one after the other, so decoding should not cause difficulties. Let's analyze each designation:
180 - profile width from one edge of the tire to the other, expressed in millimeters;
60 - profile height as a percentage of the width. This figure may be omitted if the width is in inches.
nine0019Z - this is the designation of a high-speed tire that can be used at speeds above 240 km / h.
R - radial type of construction. B or "-" means a diagonal design.
The difference between them is in the method of "sewing" that is used in the frame. If the textile threads are stretched diagonally from one rim to another with an overlap, then this is a diagonal rubber.
It can only have an even number of layers, the most common being four. In the radial model, the threads run perpendicular to the direction of movement - from rim to rim, and there are much more layers under the tread. The latter makes radial motor tires a much safer type - it clings to the track better and behaves more stably under load, deforms less and resists wear better. However, it is very difficult to repair, unlike diagonal rubber, which is easier to repair and has much stronger sidewalls. nine0003
16 - bore diameter, expressed in inches. It must match the same value on disk.
74 - load index, i.e. the maximum weight for one wheel at which it is able to perform its functions correctly, taking into account the recommended inside pressure (see the owner's manual for the bike or the plate on the frame). In our case, index 74 corresponds to 375 kg of weight per wheel.
See all load indices in the table:
| Load index | kg |
|---|---|
| 60 | 250 |
| 61 | 257 |
| 62 | 265 |
| 63 | nine0333 |
| 64 | 280 |
| 65 | 290 |
| 66 | 300 |
| 67 | 307 |
| 68 | 315 |
| 69 | 325 |
| 70 | 335 |
| 71 | 345 |
| 72 | 355 |
| 73 | 365 |
| 74 | 375 |
| 75 | 387 |
| 76 | 400 |
| 77 | 412 nine0336 |
| 78 | 425 |
| 79 | 437 |
All possible speed indices are in the table, which is the same for all types of markings:
| Speed index | Maximum speed, km/h | nine0331
|---|---|
| A | 40 |
| B | 50 |
| C | 60 |
| 65 | |
| E | 70 | nine0331
| F | 80 |
| G | 90 |
| J | 100 |
| K | 110 |
| L | 120 nine0336 |
| M | 130 |
| N | 140 |
| P | 150 |
| Q | 160 |
| R | nine0002 170 |
| S | 180 |
| T | 190 |
| U | 200 |
| H | 210 |
| V | nine0333 |
| W | 270 |
| Y | 300 |
| VR | >210 |
| ZR | >240 |
| nine0002 (W) | >270 |
| Z | >300 |
Now let's talk a little about alternative rubber marking systems.
They are much rarer, but still it will not be superfluous to mention them.
Let's take a list of characters as an example: MT90S-16. It is used to mark rubber for touring motorcycles, but this is quite rare. Some markers are unique, some correspond to those accepted in the metric system. nine0003
M (Motorcycle) - this is the designation of tires designed specifically for motorcycles.
T is the width of the rubber profile. In our case, the marker corresponds to a width of 5 inches. There are also a lot of similar markers:
| Marking alpha | Width in inches |
|---|---|
| MG nine0336 | 2.75 |
| MH | 3.00 |
| MJ | 3.25 |
| ML | 3.50 |
| MM | 3. |
| MN | 4.00 |
| MP | 4.25 |
| MR | 4.50 |
| MS | 4.75 |
| MT | 5.00 nine0336 |
| MU | 5.50 |
| MV | 6.00 |
90 - profile height.
S is the speed index (see the speed index table above).
16 - landing diameter on the disk.
Tires according to this principle were marked in the 90s, and now it is quite difficult to find them on the market. There is a chain of symbols on the tire: 3.25H-19. Everything is much simpler here, since the name of the system speaks for itself. However, it should be borne in mind that it does not imply a separation of the height and width of the profile - the profile is square and its size is identical.
3.25 is both the width and height of the profile, expressed in inches. nine0003
H is the generally accepted speed index (see speed index table above).
19 - the landing diameter of the disk on which the tire will be installed.
We turn the tire over and see this picture: 4.25 / 85H-18. This is how rubber with a specifically low profile is marked. Just in case, we recall that low-profile models are tires whose profile height is less than the width. nine0003
4.25 - profile width, expressed in inches.
85 - the ratio of the height of the profile to the width, expressed as a percentage.
H is the maximum speed index (see the speed index table above).
18 - the landing diameter of the disk on which the tire will be put on.
This was the main part. As a rule, it is enough to determine which motorcycle this model is suitable for.
However, it would be useful to learn about other markers that indicate the internal structure of the bus and its features. nine0003
The following designations are often found on the sides:
M/C is an abbreviation for motorcycle, i.e. This tire is designed specifically for motorcycles. This marker is placed if the tire has "car" dimensions.
TL - tubeless model (Tubless). For tube tires, the TT - Tube Type marking is used.
Wheel Rotation, or arrow, for a tire with an asymmetric tread pattern, indicates the direction of rotation. A tire with a symmetrical pattern does not have such a marker, and, accordingly, they can rotate as they like. nine0003
Rear Wheel - the model is suitable for the rear axle. Tires for the front axle are indicated by the F or Front Wheel marker. If there are no such markers, then the rubber is considered universal, and it can be put both on the rear axle and on the front - these are tires for scooters, light small-capacity motorcycles and mopeds.
The maximum pressure with which it is allowed to operate the tire is as follows: 290 kpa (42psi) cold, 1psi=6.9 kPa. Keep in mind that cold means that this is data for cold pumping, and in a warm state, the pressure will increase. We have already written about how to adjust the pressure correctly. nine0003
Now let's look at the designations for different designs. Frame production technologies are different.
You can also learn about the conditions for which the tire is intended from the marking:
REINF (Reinforced) - reinforced construction with several protective layers of cord.
MBS - the cord consists of Kevlar threads. Such a device is designed to combat deformation at high speeds. nine0003
XL, or Extra Load - the tire can work under increased loads.
SAG (Super All Grip) - improved off-road capability.
NHS (Non Highway Service) - the model is not designed for highways.
SL (Limited Service) - there is a usage limit.
O, H, GL - homologation for a specific motorcycle model or this tire is supposed to be used for a standard equipment of a particular bike. nine0003
DOT - The tire complies with safety standards set by the US Department of Transportation. If it is certified in the European Union, then you will find the abbreviation EUCX. The symbols EB F7 D306 may follow - technical data.
B or E in a circle - the model has been tested and fully complies with UNECE requirements. Next to it is usually a number indicating the country where the rubber was tested: 1 - Germany, 2 - France, etc. A list of numbers may follow, but this is technical information for the manufacturer, it makes no sense to decipher them. nine0003
Also do not forget about the release date. Usually these are four separate digits arranged in a row. For example: 1218. The first two digits indicate the week of manufacture, the last two - the year.
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