engineering question: tires

[StratTuner]

Problem: How do you make a road tire get better traction on dirt?

Theory: wrap a chain, in a spiral fashion, around the tire and through the solid wheel "spokes".

Considerations:

• how thick should the chain be to maximize traction, minimize tire wear?
• Chain material should be steel or plastic?
• how to safely attach chain when its two ends meet (after spiraling around the tire)?
• has to be something that can be done on the road with a fully loaded NC and fairly quickly
• can existing tire chains (something small) work for this use?

99% of my riding is on Interstates, so it doesn't make sense to by a 99%road / 1% dirt tire...
No one makes that, and it wouldn't be dirt effective if they did.

I concede that testing on real dirt to provide real data is the best choice.

Any thoughts?

 

[StratTuner]

something like [THIS] looks interesting....

 

[mtiberio]

My Dad taught me how to macrame bicycle tire "chains" back in my youth. obviously you would not want to use real chains, they would damage the wheels.

 

[StratTuner]

-

Here's a video relevant to the discussion.


[video=youtube;MJQZL6qrfZ4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJQZL6qrfZ4[/video]

 

[StratTuner]

My Dad taught me how to macrame bicycle tire "chains" back in my youth. obviously you would not want to use real chains, they would damage the wheels.

So far, the rope idea in the video seems best...
fits the two "red neck" requirements: 1) cheap, 2) effective.
Seems like it wouldn't damage the tire surface much...the rope would give before the tire did.

 

[vman1313]

I thought I had seen someone tie rope around the tire and it worked. Safety would be my main concern if it broke and wrapped itself or that it could interfere with the brakes.

 

[Mike Cash]

I wonder how well some long heavy-duty cable ties would work.

 

[showkey]

Are we talking about a MacGyver fix to get out of jam........or.........some device to run several 100 miles or more ??????

Anyone that has used tire chains or cables on a car or truck know they are for short runs at low speeds. Run them further or faster and body panel , tire, wheel and suspension damage is very very likely.

On a motorcycle any entanglement from the devices coming loose could cause damage or worse unexpected wheel lock that could cause a crash.

 

[TigerDude]

Seems like something they'd do in Russia.

 

[kpinvt]

something like [THIS] looks interesting....
View attachment 31704

38 years ago (Wow! That's a long time ago.) I put a set of traction strips that looked a lot like the ones pictured on the front wheels of 1978 Volkswagen Rabbit. It took almost an hour of crawling around in wet snow to put them on. It was like driving a heavy caliber machine gun, I took them off after two blocks of travel.

 

[SergeantChuck]

I wonder how well some long heavy-duty cable ties would work.

I'm sure rope would last longer but the cable tie idea would probably work. They don't take up much room either so you can carry a bunch of spares. I work at a Caterpillar facility and we make heavy used of cable ties to secure our harnesses to the machine but we use them for other purposes outside of the assembly process. I can tell you that the large cable ties we use have a tensile strength of 105Nm but that would have nothing to do with how long they might last being chewed on by pavement.

The thing about using rope or a cable tie is they will still move back and forth against the wheels as they make contact with the ground. So regardless, you will create a rub mark on the wheel at every location where the rope or cable tie make contact with the wheel. I personally would not attempt either method. Just my opinion.

 

[BerndM]

If your tires are still pretty thick in the tread area, I have seen screw in steel studs that can be installed by simply screwing them into the tread area.
Just a thought. Nothing there to come loose and get tangled up in your frame or suspension.

 

[happy]

What is your definition of dirt?

There are many 90~10 dual purpose tires. I use Tourance for example.
If you need more than "getting thru" that unplanned dirt track with modest speeds, then you need to buy 2nd set of tires.

Using untested and unengineered solutions will lead to possible disasters.

Take care.

Sent from my LG-D955 using Tapatalk

 

[TN Thunder]

I've run steel chains on cars and trucks a number of times, mostly due to ice or ice and snow. As mentioned, they are for slow mph use. And if you run out of ice and snow they will wear out quite quickly. I've also had them to break and they will tear a fender up as well as the inside wheel well. And that can happen before you stop. I also, in my youth, use to wrap heavy nylon cord around my bicycle tire and it worked very good until the cord broke. I would never do that to a MC due to the possibility of it breaking/damaging/locking up the rear wheel. And that could happen before you safely stopped which means a possibility of an accident and injury. Either buy another wheel with an off road tire or another bike designed for off road use, maybe a use one to keep cost down.

 

[T S N]

I ride on unpaved roads with my road tires.
If it gets to be too much problem, I turn around.
No deep stuff. Sand, mud, water,= different bike territory.

 

[StratTuner]

I ride on unpaved roads with my road tires.
If it gets to be too much problem, I turn around.
No deep stuff. Sand, mud, water,= different bike territory.

I think that's the best policy.

 

[TGorman]

If you're just doing a short stint on some gravel/hard packed dirt, dropping tire pressure 5-7lbs will get you better traction. However, be careful as you increase the risk of damaging the wheel.

 

[JimbosToys]

I have done this on wire spoked dirt bike wheels. Used rope once (better on pavement) and plastic tubing with heavy tiewraps (better in dirt). Neither had good directional control, but they were great at for forward traction. Neither as good as a fresh dirt knobby.
Have also installed big head sheet metal screws in an old knobby for ice. Now THAT was fun!