Michelin MotoE Race Bike Tires Experiment With ‘Green’ Tech

[advrider]

Tire tech is an ever-evolving mix of chemicals, usage data, rider demands and price points. The fact that we have tires as good as they are is a testament to the veracity of those folks in lab coats and the people that test them out under the harshest abuse this side of a rolling burnout. Just watching those MotoGP riders drag elbows is border-line miraculous. But: Tires can always be better. The struggle goes on.

The latest wrinkle in tire tech is the use of renewables, and Michelin is leading the way with a new selection of traction donuts specifically designed for MotoE riders – aka electric motorcycle racers. The MotoE racing season just kicked off April 30th in Jerez, and the new Michelin hoops now feature 33 percent recycled content in the front tire and 46 percent in the bigger back tire. Additionally, it’s Ducati’s first year of supplying electric bikes for the races after Energica supported the teams in the past.

If you’re thinking the new tires are partially made from the carcasses of old chicken strips, you’re partially correct. Old tires are definitely melted down and recycled, but of course, it’s more complicated than that since tires aren’t made entirely of rubber: There are steel kelts, kevlar belts, metal beads and more. The recycle process is known as “pyrolysis” and Michelin has teamed with  (and invested in) Swedish firm Enviro that the company says has made advances in more efficient recycle methods. Michelin’s goal? Tires made from 100% recycled material by 2050. Video break:

That’s a long way off to be sure, but the effort had to start somewhere, as tire waste is a huge problem worldwide, with Michelin saying a billion tires get spooned off rims of every type each year. Most end up in landfills, that back alley down the street, on fire, or in water, slowly releasing nasty chemicals as they degrade (they are essentially made from petroleum, after all).

Michelin says their new tires with recycled content aren’t just made of old rubber and belt materials, but also include materials such as orange peels, lemon peels, pine tree resin, scrap steel, sunflower oil, and rubber from rubber trees instead of petroleum-based materials.

Worried your tire is going to come apart at speed and send orange peels into your visor? Michelin says that they are “maintaining the performance level without any concession on safety” with the new MotoE race tires, and the recycle tech should trickle down into consumer products over time. The new “green” tires are said to be good for 250 km/h racing in MotoE, and no, they won’t be green in color (although that could be… interesting).

 

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