Many seasoned track day riders will have at some point seen a cold tear, the wear pattern shown in the image above – whether it be on their own tyre, or that of another rider.
Some just put it down to experience, sort themselves out with another tyre, and carry on. However, wouldn’t it be better to understand what causes a cold tear, so you can better avoid it in future?
If after a track session your tyre has a pattern of uneven lines across a segment of it, which you can get your thumbnail under, chances are you’ve got a cold tear – and it’s generally all down to your tyre pressures.
After the session, once the tyre has cooled down completely, check the pressure. In most cases you’ll find that the pressure you are running is too high.
This over inflation causes the tyre to heat up quickly, and unevenly. The surface of the tyre gets hot, whilst the carcass is not yet up to temperature. This can see the polymers in the tyre, which hold everything together, start to give way causing the tear.
Checking your pressures before every session to ensure that they are correct is often all you need to do to stop this from happening, and you could also invest in a set of tyre warmers if your tyres would benefit from one – not all do, so check with your local dealer first before you waste your money.
Unfortunately if your tyre looks like the one above, you’ve already reached the point of no return, so you’ll be need more rubber too.
As the UK’s largest trade-only motorcycle tyre supplier, Cambrian Tyres have a wide range of dedicated race rubber, as well as tyres suitable for fast road and track day riding from all the major manufacturers.
