Eurogrip Tyres Tread Talks: Science And Art of Tyre Testing

Eurogrip Tread Talks: Master Class was all about understanding what goes on behind making motorcycle tyres as well as learning how to evaluate them. This session of the class was held at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore. 

The class was led by four tyre experts from Eurogrip. Two of them were international veteran riders with some competitive riding experience under their belts – Toshihiro Wakayama from Japan, and Vittorio Iannuzzo, Expert Rider, Italy. The other two were Renati Zilli and V Sivaramakrishnan from the Eurogrip senior management. While they explained to us the nuances of tyre manufacturing and what goes on behind the making of the tyres, the two riders helped us understand how they evaluate and test tyres before they are launched to the public. 

This happens in tandem with the real-world testing of the newly designed tyres. These are put through closely monitored, standardised tests, with different combinations of tyres till an expert rider can provide consistent evaluations. However, the riders do not know which tyres they are testing so as to get unbiased and non-prejudiced evaluations. During these tests, the tyres are evaluated for their lightness, the ease of direction change, behaviour under hard braking, effect of acceleration and braking during extreme cornering, and more. 

After this, the tyres are also tested for the same in the actual real world, not a lab simulated environment. But all that was a presentation and we were there to test them out ourselves, and what better place than a track to put the tyres to their full potential, safely.

So after the class we headed out to the track, and Eurogrip had a bunch of motorcycles ready for us to test out their range of tyres – Protorq Extreme, Roadhound, and Beamer. The Protorqs are their tyres for sports performance, the Roadhounds are sport-touring oriented tyres, while the Beamer is for the entry-level sporty segment. The bikes on the platter ranged from a 150cc sporty naked to a 650cc sports tourer – all fitted with appropriate Eurogrip tyres. 

Long story short, the Protorq Extremes are the ones I like the most since they suit my riding style and preferences. Also, a track is the best place to evaluate the Protorqs. These greatly inspire mid-corner confidence, and to my surprise, as I got more acquainted with the tyre, bike, and the track, I could push my braking marker, and get on the gas earlier before the exit. And all of this on a bike that was not really meant for track riding. Kudos to Eurogrip for designing such a fantastic tyre. 

Coming to the Roadhound and the Beamer tyres, while I had fun riding the bikes shod with these tyres, these are something I would like to test out on public roads which is what they are primarily designed to run on. Not just these, but the Protorqs as well, since all those who buy these tyres will primarily ride on public roads.