Quote:
Originally Posted by The Atomic Ass
Lack of ability to change final drive ratio, (and nearly ALL bikes, not just ones with CVT's, come with a "sportier" ratio by default, and higher revs than needed would just grind my gears constantly at this point), and maintenance.
I'll be doing 18,000 miles in 3 MONTHS.
I'll already be doing tire changes at least at this interval, unless the moto tire industry has a serious tire out there that competes with the lifespan of passenger car tires.
I've also ridden a Burgman 400 for 26,500 miles, I can say that the belt isn't the only thing you need to consider as far as maintenance goes.
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My solution to tire longevity and lower rpms is to use passenger vehicle tires (commonly referred to as "car tires") on the rear of my scooters as I have done for the past 7 years. On my Honda Reflex 250 scooter I changed the tire at 35,000 miles only because I wanted to try a different size car tire. It could have lasted another 2 or 3 thousand miles more. Typical scooter rear tire life for the Reflex scooter is 5 to 8 thousand miles. Mine usually went 6K miles.
Bike tires are not likely to ever equal car tires in longevity for certain reasons.
#1 reason why not) A car tire uses the full width of its tread face and thus shares the load and wear across a larger tread area per revolution than a bike tire which, because of its arced tread face, can only use 1/4 to 1/3 of the available tread at any one time. And since bikes typically spend most of their life time upright, it is no surprise then that the center-line of the tire wears out first and most and faster than a car tire.
2) Car tires are often a larger diameter than the bike tire they replace. This gives a slight mechanical advantage in reduced rolling resistance. (along with the tread width advantage) A taller/larger diameter tire will last longer than a similarly designed and built tire of smaller diameter while carrying an equal load... even more so if it is wider as well. But a larger diameter tire is a geometry change that may have a less than desirable affect on handling qualities. On the plus side though, a larger diameter tire would effect a taller final drive ratio which would be better; fuel economy wise that is.
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3) Even with dual compound tires, (harder along the center-line of the tire for longevity, softer compound outward from there for grip in turns) the center-line of a bike tire will wear out first. And that, even though car tire rubber compound is softer than bike tire compound; durometer number (a measure of material hardness) will show this difference in car tire VS bike tire compound hardness to be true. It is an often assumed misconception that bike tires have softer compound than car tires... they don't
4) Load capability for a car tire would typically be higher than that of the bike tire it would be replacing. Significant physical aspects of bike tires would need to be changed to increase load bearing capability; an attribute which would benefit longevity.
5) Tires could be made to last longer by using even harder rubber compounds, but as a result would have less grip. A bike tire could possibly be made to get near to the longevity of a car tire, but it would look an awful lot like a car tire (wide, flat tread section) and it would likely have similar handling attributes that car tires exhibit when used on bikes. Those attributes may be found to be unacceptable by many riders and the manufacturers are not going to make tires that don't sell very well because they don't have desired handling qualities that most riders want.
There is no conspiracy by bike tire manufacturers to make tires that have poor longevity to a captive group of bike tire buyers/users. Bike tire manufacturers make the best tires they can for bikes and car tire manufacturers make the best tires they can for cars. It is the rounded profile of the bike tire that makes them so smooth and consistent in turns, but it is also the very thing that causes them to have limited wear life. As it is with most things, changes are trade offs... gain this but lose that. C' est la Vie. (that's life)