2003 silverwing hot rear wheel and tire

I just bought a 2003 silverwing and after a short drive, the rear tire is pretty warm to the touch. I rode it maybe 20 miles today on roads where the temp was maybe 70, but when i pulled over, the tire and rear wheel were pretty warm to the touch. now i'm not talking steaming hot, but warm. I would say 90-100 degrees. Is this normal, or do I got some maintenance to do? I need to put a tire on it, but i was pretty surprised to see how much heat it was holding. Oh yes, I put 33 pounds in the tire before i left. Any suggestions?

The whell is very likely to be warm to the touch. There are two brake systems attached to the rear wheel and they will transmit a good bit of heat to the wheel.

33lbs falls within the recommended pressure for the rear. check the label under the seat as I believe there are load restrictions to the pressure in the rear tire.

Grip is all about the tyres contact with the road, as such the friction transmitting the drive to forward motion will generate heat. As Dale pointed out the brakes will also transmit heat from the pads through the discs to the tyre.

If you listen to bike or motor racing they will frequently discuss the requirement of getting heat into the tyres to improve grip.

So, the long and short of it. Heat in the tyre is healthy. Especially if you have been working the tyre. hard acceleration and cornering.

Indeed and if you ever watch the F1 pit-stops you'll see that the chaps changing the wheels wear VERY thick gloves....and it's not to stop them breaking their nails!

MikeO wrote:

Indeed and if you ever watch the F1 pit-stops you'll see that the chaps changing the wheels wear VERY thick gloves....and it's not to stop them breaking their nails!

Yup, tyre temp is over 100 dec Celcius Mike! Would you wash your hands in boiling water? Rhetorical question! Of course we wouldn't.

Don't mention a car tyre even in jest, you know what usually happens. Also that very nice exhaust will be constantly radiating heat quite near the rear tyre.

scooter tire can run quite warm, being worked hard 13" on Silverwing, lots of power, strong rear brake--- weight overload?

On '03, check DOT date of birth on side of tire---more than 5 yrs I would throw away, start over, check for brake drag, etc.

Muffler runs along side tire and wheel=extra heat?

Since 1990, I have had the following rear scooter tire failures, all Bridgestone--Helix in Japan, J speed rated OEM tire on 70mph bike is almost crimminal, 3 on Reflex, I think tire construction problem, Bridgestone kept giving me replacement tires, that failed on inspection after riding. None put me down, but Helix thread flew off in long turn---really thrilling. Funny with my Vespas, no tire trouble, tubed/cheap tires, P200E and P150E exhaust almost blew right on tire and muffler close by. No heat or failure related problems.

Of my Japanese scooters-TMAX/SilverWing/Reflex/Helix/Burgman 400, Helix10" rear seemed to run hottest---Daelim 125 scooter in Korea=no tire related issues.

Best to be very fussy about tires, accidents cost more. Find somebody who rides scooters a lot and have him feel rear tire and wheel and see if true to his experience. Bike shops in US almost useless as the employees drive pickup trucks and seem to get/not have a lot of real 2 wheel experience, even less with scooters.

my suggestion is to check to make sure the "Parking Brake" is not slightly on. Even if it is just on one notch, it will heat things up.
I have had that experience once but now I check to make sure it is released!
Old Dave in Western Nebraska