Motorcycle tire delamination

[Grumpy Goat]

Just watched this video this morning ... shocking .



The guy was so lucky. I guess it popped up for me because I am interested in these Conti tires since their features seem interesting. After watching this maybe I will only fit the ContiSport tires to the S1000R, since the load is lighter and speeds are not consistently high.

This looks like delamination and first time I have seen this on a motorcycle tire, although there is no reason that it couldn't / shouldn't happen since the principal causes are underinflation (leading to increase in temperature) and overloading. Riding at high speed for long periods of time also leads to significant rise in temperature. Truck tire treads are the most frequent that we see especially on the side of the road, but some of us ride long distance at higher speeds and in hot temperatures, while loaded heavily.

Very important to pay attention to the tire pressures (I am anal about this on my trailer) and sticking to the manufacturer's recommendations.

As for the Continental tires -- they claim that instead of using 2 compounds (harder in centre and softer at sides) they use one compound, but prefer a differential heat curing approach to achieve a harder centre strip. Well looking at this guy's tire it certainly looks like the adhesion of that centre strip is what failed. In all fairness he was cruising on the Autobahn at over 130 mph. I did not recall him mentioning about tire pressure at the time. I don't think that it is limited to Continental tires, but his video is certainly an eye opener, especially with a fresh tire.

Any experience and info on motorcycle tire delamination?

[Olgry1]

In 1989 there were four of us riding east (myself and another were on 1989 K100RS ABS). We had a nice trip for a few days.

As we headed home the next day I noticed a vibration. I decided to go faster to see if the vibration went away and sure enough over the ton it was still there but better. At the next rest area I pulled over and started to look at the bike and everything looked ok until I rotated the tire. It was one of those holy s__t moments! A huge chunk was missing from the center of the tire.

I limped the bike over to Youngstown BMW to find out they were closed for the day and the 4th of July. Monday a.m. Youngstown BMW took care of me Monday a.m. and got me back on the road.

Besides being the first motorcycles (1988 100RS ABS) with ABS brakes the K100RS ABSs also had Pirelli Radial motorcycle tires.

I will search through my pictures to see if I can find the picture.

   

[Grumpy Goat]

Wow ... good thing you were able to catch it in time. At least on a motorcycle you might feel it. The only time I had delamination was on my old popup years ago as I was going to Canada on a road trip with my daughter. Some drive pulled up alongside and was frantically indicating something was wrong on the trailer. I pulled off to see I was driving on canvas! Talk about an "Oh sh!t" moment ...

[Ray]

In 1989 there were four of us riding east (myself and another were on 1989 K100RS ABS). We had a nice trip for a few days.

As we headed home the next day I noticed a vibration. I decided to go faster to see if the vibration went away and sure enough over the ton it was still there but better.

Right - the answer is (almost) always more throttle....
I can picture the tire simply skipping over the bad spot and decreasing risk of puncture.

Question for these tires - date of manufacture and how much time stored outside in the sun and ozone?

A simple tread tear shouldn't expand that quickly - though I suspect we've all seen our share of nasty tire damage from metal road debris (and hopefully, as is my case, on someone else's bike).

[TriangleRider]

In his YouTube update the poster says he got the following from Conti (who blamed him for the failure) "The official recommendation is to break-in the tire at moderate speeds for 100 km before going higher speeds."

Here is what Conti says on their site:
https://www.continental-tires.com/motorc...-tires/faq

"Due to the production process, and release agents often used in the tire molds, new tires have a smooth, slippery surface that must first be roughened by moderate running-in. Only when the surface structure has been broken in can the tire build up its maximum grip.

Even if Continental's "TractionSkin" technology contributes greater safety during initial riding, it is necessary for the rider to condition the tires for the requirements of high-performance motorcycles by applying moderate, uniform stress during the break-in period and thereby preventing tire damage. During the break-in period (approximately 150 km / 100 mi), heavy acceleration and braking, extreme lean angles and high-speed riding should be avoided. Also, tire stickers should have been removed from the tire.

Each new tire requires a few operating temperature cycles to ensure full grip and tire stability. Furthermore, the tire should be warmed up each time you start a new ride."

So, tires with "TractionSkin" are delivered still requiring some final processing and it is up to the rider to do this properly. I think I prefer my tires to be fully baked before putting them on my ride.

[TriangleRider]

The quote in the FAQ I posted above seemed oddly specific to me so I checked previous versions of that page and, as recently as last October, the break-in FAQ had no mention of tires needing this additional break-in;

https://web.archive.org/web/202010220354...-tires/faq

So, they added the break-in language at approximately the same time they responded to the YouTube poster.

Conti also continues to promote their TractionSkin as "..a revolutionary new micro-rough tread surface, virtually puts an end to tire break-in."

Confusing messaging to say the least.

[Grumpy Goat]

Conti also continues to promote their TractionSkin as "..a revolutionary new micro-rough tread surface, virtually puts an end to tire break-in."

Confusing messaging to say the least.

Gotta love BS CYA words like "virtually" and "basically" ...

In my job I often nip these out of our process documentation.