Last Update: 28 October 2021
New to the market, Michelin Power Pure motorcycle tires for sport-bikes will save you over 0.90 kg (2 lbs) thanks to their Light Tire Technology (LTT) and a second-generation Michelin 2CT compound! That’s lighter than Bridgestone BT-016, Dunlop Sportmax Qualifier II, Metzeler Sportec M3 and Pirelli Diablo Rosso! What’s it mean for you? Better cornering performance.
Like all great innovations that come to regular road users it’s all thanks to the Michelin Power Research Team work in testing these materials in the racing arena first. Michelin states that “by shaving 2lbs off the weight of a modern sport bike which tips the scales at 400 lbs might not seem such a big deal. Yet it is! Since the saving in question concerns a part of the bike that is not covered by the suspension, its unsprung weight. In other words, the lower a motorcycle’s unsprung weight, the easier it is to switch from leaning into a right-hand turn to leaning into a left-hander. And vice-versa”.
Gyroscopic forces mean that running a tyre which is 0.90 kgs (2 lbs) lighter is equivalent to saving 2.70 kgs (6 lbs) on rims or 3.63 kgs (8 lbs) on brake discs. “A lighter tyre/wheel assembly which readily moves in response to road bumps will have more grip when tracking over an imperfect road. For this reason, lighter wheels are often sought for high-performance applications, as is the case in motorcycle competition with magnesium wheels. High unsprung mass also exacerbates wheel control under hard acceleration or braking. The vertical forces exerted by acceleration or hard braking combined with higher unsprung mass can lead to wheel hop, which compromises traction and steering control”, the company says.
Additionally, the Michelin Power Pure technology incorporates advanced materials like aramid fibres, which are used often in the aerospace industry. And although the tire is lighter, its tread is just as thick as that of the earlier Michelin generations.
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