VOL. 55 ISSUE 12 MARCH 27, 2018 P101
The materials used for the
body cords are usually fabrics
like: rayon, nylon, carbon fiber,
and metals like steel.
Let's start with some history
about motorcycle tires. The
first tires in the market were
the bias-ply construction type.
Back then, vehicles were much
heavier than today, and all of
them used high profile tires. For
these reasons bias-ply tires were
a good option because they
provide reinforced structures
with a high number of body
plies to provide extra strength/
reinforcement.
During the old days, bias-ply
tires required a lot of plies, which
contributed a lot of weight. The
layers created a lot of friction that
could cause the tire to tear apart.
This limited the speeds that they
could safely operate at.
Through the years, newer
and lighter bias-ply tires were
developed until the day when
radial carcass tires were created.
With this new kind of tire
construction, a stronger structure
was achieved even on lower
profile tires. Nowadays both
types of construction are still
used; basically one is used over
the other depending on the kind
of usage for the tires.
A) Radials: Road Tires or light
trail for light motorcycles-wide
transversal tires with low profile.
B) Bias-ply tires: Road Tires,
trail or off-road (Motocross,
Enduro, etc) for motorcycles with
narrow rims and high profile.
The definition of radials and
bias-ply tires is very surreal. The
meaning comes from its layers
and orientations.
What is
difference
between a
In this illustration, we can
see the layout of the layers in
the bias-ply tires, where we can
see that a diagonal line would
be formed if they came from
across the center of the tire.
In this illustration, we can see
the layers layout for a radial
carcass. They start from the
center and go through the
exterior circumference (radius).
Radial and
Bias-Ply tire?
to you by Contenental Tires
