Today’s bikers know much more about tires. They don’t just choose tires based on the brand, size, and type/model of grooves. They are currently also finding a lot about the character of the deeper tires and one of them is the tire compound. Through this article, we will discuss deeper what compound tires are. Is it true that the soft tire compound is the best compound?
In order to stay focused on the discussion, the first thing we will discuss is terminology. Tire Compound is a mixture of basic tire-forming materials consisting of natural rubber, polymer, carbon, and other chemicals, and those things are processed in a mixer with certain temperature and time settings.
And in general, the types of tire compounds are Soft, Medium, and Hard. The term soft compound is usually referred to in the world of racing such as MotoGP and World SuperBike. Where racing tires need tires with maximum traction to stay on the racing line.
But of course, the principle of tire traction is inversely proportional to tire wear. In other words, soft compound tires tend to wear out faster. Racing tires use a soft compound because, during the race, tires that have maximum traction in maneuvering on the circuit are needed, but the usage duration of the tire is arguably short due to the very high level of tire wear.
In addition, to ensure that the tires are always in their best performance, racers will usually use new tires for the next race so that even if the tires have not reached the wear limit, but usually they are no longer used for racing.
For daily tires, the compound used is regular compound because the use of tires is not as extreme as during the race, so tires with a more durable compound are needed. Well, the development of road motorcycle tires is a derivative of tires commonly used for racing events.
As well as with prototype bikes in MotoGP whose technology will be passed down to mass production motorbikes such as the Ducati Desmosedici who passed their technology to the Ducati Panigale V4, or Yamaha M1 to the Yamaha R1. With the concept of an identical engine configuration and passing on other advanced technologies.
The majority of input from consumers who use daily bikes to tire manufacturers is that they want tires with more grip performance, but don’t wear out quickly. So simple, but with today’s technology, I think everything is possible.
