Opening Statement
We often attend riding schools to hone our track or off-road riding skills. We attend them because they have a curriculum, a system, and a plan that has specific inputs to get desired outputs. And if done right, the results are pleasantly rewarding.
But, a tyre testing school is new to us. Now, so far, we have gone about the business of gauging and rating tyres based on our personal experience and preference. There's no denying that this approach has gotten us positive results. But, we have always failed to have a proper curriculum and structure to improve the repeatability of tests. And we all know repeatability is the backbone of any worthwhile testing.
Eurogrip Tyres' recent Masterclass on testing tyres addressed this specific issue.
The curriculum
Eurogrip flew in its international test riders, brought in its R&D team, and even got its CTO for this Masterclass. The idea was straightforward: the tyre maker wanted to expose us journalists to its way of testing tyres outdoors. And with it, give us an outline of what parameters matter and why. Now, whether we choose to use this outline or not for our testing in the future, will of course depend on how close to the real world the test parameters take us.
The curriculum dictates that when it comes to outdoor testing, the testers look at the tyre's performance in three broad buckets - handling, grip, and stability. To break it down further, handling includes judging the motorcycle's behavioural characteristics like lightness, neutrality, and precision. Under grip, test riders must rate the tyres on their braking and leaning ability while looking for consistency and predictability in grip levels even as loads change. Finally, there's stability. Here the test riders must check if the tyres keep the motorcycle stable - with and without load - even when the rider intentionally destabilises the bike in a straight line and when leaned over.
These tests are then repeated to see if the tyres and the motorcycle respond similarly to run after run. It is time-consuming and tedious; like most tests. As mentioned earlier testing tyres is about giving a particular input to get the desired output. Any deviation from that desired output helps you rate the tyre. There is a known input and output for each aspect mentioned above. We won't go into the details of all of them but we will leave you with an example.
To check if the tyre tends to wobble, for instance, the motorcycle is taken to 100kmph and then the handlebar is let go of. The bike is then allowed to decelerate to 30kmph. The ideal output in this case is a motorcycle that tracks straight with no shake of the handlebar whatsoever at any speed. In short, no instability. This is repeated many times over. Any deviation from this output indicates a tyre's weak spot.
The practicals
To get a feel of these test procedures, we were taken to the Kari Speedway race track. We were given a bunch of different motorcycles with Eurogrip’s Roadhounds and Protorq Extremes. Interestingly, the lineup of motorcycles wearing these tyres wasn’t track-focused. We had motorcycles like the Royal Enfield Classic 350, the Harley Davidson Street 750, and the TVS Ronin to go around the track on. But then again, this wasn’t a track day, so the choice of motorcycle shouldn’t matter much.
Now, it would have been impossible for me to go through each of the listed tests in the testing curriculum. So, I focused on handling and grip as my broad buckets.
On the Ronin, wearing a 90-section Beamer at the front and a 130-section Protorq Extreme at the rear, the handling or quick direction changes at speed didn’t feel exceptional. The bike responded to inputs predictably and stably, but it wasn’t quick or very willing. Grip levels too - especially for the front - didn’t offer the feel or confidence to push them, be it under braking or lean. This held even when I switched to the Yamaha MT15 running the same tyres. The MT is sportier than the Ronin and offers higher lean angles. During the slow-speed slalom though, the Beamer felt light and agile making it a good option for city commuting.
Next, I jumped on the Bajaj Dominar 400 featuring the Protorq Extremes - 110-section at the front and 150-section at the rear. And immediately, the tyres felt more willing to drop into corners. Quick direction changes - even though the Dominar is a heavier bike - felt easier. Moreover, after the Beamer, the Extreme felt like cheat codes. I could brake deeper, lean more, and get on the gas early without the tyres misbehaving at all. The experience was better still on the lighter Duke 390 running the same set of tyres. But I did find that the rear tyre moved around slightly under the gas at corner exits. Nothing alarming, but noteworthy, nonetheless.
Finally, I rode the Kawasaki Versys 650 running Eurogrip’s Roadhounds. The tyres were a 120-section at the front and a 160-section at the back. Now, the Versys is a softly sprung motorcycle; one that is meant to munch highway miles in comfort, not set lap times on a racetrack. And this was obvious the moment I took it out. The bike was diving and wallowing and moving under me every time I braked, turned or got on the gas. But as it turns out, it made the Roadhounds shine. The grip, the feel, and their ability to get the Versys to drop into corners did give me enough confidence to push the bike more than I had initially intended to. But the real test of these tyres - mainly on a race track - will be when we try it out on something sportier.
Final Comments
There’s no denying that the theory of tyre testing presented during the Masterclass was helpful. It gave me a behind-the-scenes understanding of what goes into tyre development and testing. Crucially though, I now have a structure to follow when gauging tyres, be it for performance, longevity or ease of riding.
However, the track outing wasn’t as big an eye-opener. Maybe more track-appropriate machinery and more laps with every bike would have helped. But even so, it was a good enough taster of what is possible when a proper curriculum is applied. Now, I am looking forward to the next Masterclass.
