Noob question on what tyres I can legally fit

[Londoner2015]

I am thinking of getting the Michelin Power Road 4 for my BMW F800R - grip on wet roads is more important to me than extreme lean angles. Anyway, that's not the point. The noob question is: is the kind of tyres I am legally allowed to fit specified anywhere? I remember reading somewhere that in other European countries the equivalent of the V5C has a section on tyres allowed, but I don't remember ever seeing this section on British V5Cs. The bike owner's manual specifies the designation (eg 120/70 ZR 17 for the front wheel) but I am not sure if that is just a recommendation or if it has something to do with homologation and is therefore binding in some way.

Michelin lists the PR4 as compatible with my bike, so i'm not worried - it was more of a curiosity. Thanks!

[Wonko The Sane]

[Londoner2015]

[ZX-7R]

I'd stick with recommended size personally,and i would say sports touring tyres would probably suit your need.
____________________
Current Bike - 2000 ZX-7R

[Vracktal]

Aside from minimum tread requirements I'm not sure there's anything specifying what rubber you're allowed to have. My housemate runs a 190 rear and 120 front on his Fazer, coupled with a jack up kit and it handles fine. MOT lot didn't bat an eyelid.
____________________
2007 BMW R1200R: On road
2009 BMW G650X Challenge: On road
1975 Norton Commando 850: Off road, awaiting recommissioning

[Kickstart]

Hi

Legally no. Although possible issues if you ride it abroad with the 'wrong' tyre, such as one with too low a speed rating.

Insurance could decide to make something up to make life difficult if they wanted.

But that said, if the tyre is the right size, speed rating and load rating then in the UK I cannot see there being an issue at all

All the best

Katy
____________________
Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[Alpineandy]

In some countries they may stipulate a specific tyre brand/name (?) but not here.
Just don't be a dick and fit knobblies just for that's 'Hipster Scrambler' look.
____________________
The above comment isn't necessarily the truth and anyone that says it is, is only correct if it's the truth or they're bigger than me.

[stinkwheel]

I believe if you deviate from the manufacturers specification in Germany you can be Put against the wall and shot required to produce a TUV approval certificate detailing this deviation from spec..

In the UK, it appears the only real regulations are that your tyre must have over the specified tread depth and not be rubbing on any other part of the vehicle. There's some stuff about not mixing crossply and radials too.

The fun bit is, while we're stil in the EU. If it's legal in the Uk, you can take it to Germany and the TUV can go fuck themselves.

So space saver car tyres for next Euro trip it is then...
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[talkToTheHat]

there is also a load number and speed letter. It's quite dangerous to use tyres with a lower load rating than specified and similarly dangerous to exceed the speed rating of the tyres. In germany it's a specific offence to drive faster than the speed rating of your tyres permits. You should be fine if the tyre manufacturer lists the tyre as appropriate for the vehicle.

I had some headaches with a virago when Avon said to use a roadrider/cobra combination and my garage's tyre supplier, cambrian, threw a paddy and insisted that one of the avon classic bike tyres was correct and tried telling me that the speed rating didn't matter.

If in doubt, there should be sticker on the swingarm or chain guard detailing tyre size, load and speed ratings and recommended pressures. This should also be in your owner's manual.
____________________
Bandit. does. everything.

[Londoner2015]

[Rogerborg]

Fill your boots.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1986/1078/part/II/chapter/C/made

Tyres must be pneumatic.

No re-cut tyre shall be fitted.

No requirements about load or speed rating.

If you've got a radial on the front, you can't have a diagonal or bias-belted tyre on the rear. If you have a bias-belted tyre on the front, you can't have a diagonal-ply on the rear.

The tyre must be suitable "having regard to the use to which the motor vehicle is being put or to the types of tyres fitted to its other wheels".

Inflated fit for its current use.

No cut deep enough to reach the ply or cord in excess of 25mm or 10% of the width of the tyre.

No lump, bulge or tear caused by separation or partial failure of its structure.

No ply or cord exposed.

At least 1mm of tread throughout a continuous band measuring at least three-quarters of the breadth of the tread and round the entire outer circumference of the tyre.

All original tread visible elsewhere.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[Londoner2015]

[Rogerborg]

It's tricky to disprove a negative, but I'm not aware of any regulations other than Construction and Use, plus section 4.1 in the MOT, which adds rejections for:

Unsuitable tyres (sidecar or car).
Not correctly seated in the wheel rim
Seriously damaged or misaligned valve stem
A tyre not fitted in accordance with the direction of rotation marked on the sidewall.
A tyre fouling another component.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/510388/mot-inspection-manual-classes-1-2.pdf

What a bizarrely specific note:

"A Metzeler 100/80 - 17 52s ME22 tyre is suitable for fitment to the ear wheel of an Aprilia AF 50 motorcycle provided it isfitted in the everse to the direction of rotation indicated on the tyre wall."
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[talkToTheHat]

UK legislation is vague, suitable would include capable of handling the vehicle load and speeds at which it will be used. That we have standard load and speed ratings allowing manufactures to easily specify suitable tyres without having to prove that the tyres are suitable. You'll likely be needing case law to find the exact legal precedent for this. Examining the negative argument here is likely to be more productive, tyres that are not capable of handling the speed or load requirements of the vehicle are not suitable.

It does not take much google-fu to find cases of drivers being fined for use of space-savers otherwise than to reach a tyre specialist for repair. It's rare. What's more likley is if your vehicle is in an accident and examined and your tires are judged to be unsuitable by tesimony of a professional pedant who will cite such things as load and speed ratings you're going to get fucked.

LV tried this one amongst their many stunts after my little rear ending where they claimed the continential tyres on my virago were unsuitble because they were a metric size and the original specification was for a fully imperial (3.00-19 IIRC) so I showed them the paperwork from continental declaring their 90/90-19 a suitable equivalent for the old imperial size and a suitable tyre for that exact vehicle.

Buying a vehicle with unusual tyre requirements is a bad idea.
____________________
Bandit. does. everything.

[Londoner2015]

A mate told me there was a lot of discontent among Italian owners of the new Africa Twin, because Honda had omologated only tyres with an H speed rating; however, off-road tyres are apparently only available with lower speed ratings, and therefore could not be legally fit.

Those interested in off-road tyres have had to get some special paperwork from Honda in order to use Q (a lower speed rating) tyres, which they used to then update their equivalent of the V5C (for a fee, of course).

My google-fu is weak and I cannot find details on line but, assuming this is true, I am wondering what would apply to the UK? No V5C update, I understand, but would Africa Twin owners need some kind of letter / confirmation from Honda before they use Q tyres if the owner's manual only mentions H tyres?

[Rogerborg]

You seem determined to find a reason why you can't do something.

Speed and load ratings explicitly do not apply to motorcycles (or cars for that matter) in the UK.

"Suitable" is a very broad brush and could arguably be applied to offroad tyres. MOT manual describes as unsuitable: "Motocross or similar tyres, i.e. tyres where the space between tread blocks is substantially greater than the size of the blocks themselves"

Also, marked as "not for highway use", front tyre on the the rear or vice versa.

But not one word about checking for a specific tyre type using the V5C or any other definitive record.

Bear in mind that you can heavily modify or even scratch build a vehicle and put it through an MOT. We don't quite have Ze German's obsession with rigid regulation.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[Alpineandy]

I didn't know that they did a 'Q' rated tyre.
In theory an Insurance company could get difficult if you have a lower rated tyre (in the event of an accident because no one is dumb enough to actually tell them otherwise) and if your accident was at 130mph with a tyre rated for only 110mph then they'd have a good point. However as no one with any sense would ride an AT over 100mph that shouldn't be a problem.

As for the bike being legal, it depends what speed 'Q' tyres are rated for. IMO It would be unwise to use them on the road if they're rated below 100mph, but you'd be able to argue that as 70 is the UK max, then 70 rated tyres are adequate for the job.

All this is assuming you are based in the UK as you haven't put your location on your profile (which helps so much in answering your questions in future).
____________________
The above comment isn't necessarily the truth and anyone that says it is, is only correct if it's the truth or they're bigger than me.

[Rogerborg]

[Alpineandy]

[talkToTheHat]

It tends to be the case that tyres for faster bikes are wider and very few fitments will have more than one speed rating available, unless you venture into knobblies or suchlike. Retro models are a bit more problematic as they likely share fitments with older, lighter, slower bikes.

Note that the pilot road 4 caters for really big bikes, and all the PR4s are W rated which is well in excess of the road speed of most bikes.

Further note that one of the reasons for the voluntary 186mph limit in the hyperbike era was a lack of tyres beyond a Y rating.

HOWEVER, I note that michelin recommend W rated PR4s for the hayabusa, which is capable of a little bit more than the 168mph the tyres are. Furthermore the the power supsersport evo, a 50/50 road/track tyre is only W rated.

I wonder if the current MotoGP issues are down to supplying W rated tyres?
____________________
Bandit. does. everything.

[Londoner2015]