How long do motorcycle tyres last on track?

There’s no definitive answer to this question. Your tyre life depends on multiple factors:

• The tyre you’re running
• The pressures you’re running
• The bike you’re riding
• How you ride it
• The track’s surface
• The weather conditions

As you can see; with so many variables, it’s impossible to give a set mileage that a tyre will return.

Two riders on the same bike, setting the same lap times on the same tyres could wear their tyres completely differently.

Road vs Track

Motorcycle tyre wear on track, compared to the road, is about multiples. On track you’re putting more force through the tyres, both in terms of acceleration, braking and cornering forces. Your average cornering speed is probably higher on track than on the road. You’re also putting those tyres through a corner multiple times in a matter of seconds rather than a matter of minutes on the average road ride. Your tyre’s temperature will stay at a high level on track whereas on the road it won’t reach as high a temperature nor stay there for as long.

This all adds up to increase the tyre wear rate by a factor of up to twenty. So a tyre that could last for 3,000 miles on the road, will probably last a maximum of 150 miles on track.

A rough guide

This all depends who’s riding, how they’re riding and what bike you’re riding.

However this is a rough guide based on someone at the front of the Intermediate group on a 1000cc trackbike.

The average pair of motorcycle slicks should last you around 200 miles on track, equating to around 80 laps of Donington Park.

The average pair of sticky road-legal tyres like the Bridgestone S22 should last around 150 miles or around 60 laps.

However if you are riding at a slower pace it’s unlikely that you’ll wear your tyres out as quickly. If you are in the Novice group and lapping at a reasonable pace, your tyres won’t start to overheat and this is where the dramatic decrease in tyre life occurs. Therefore, a Novice-paced rider should expect to see tyre wear that is no greater than wha you would expect to see if you were purely using your bike on twisty A-roads in the summer.

We’ve also written a post highlighting our pick of some of the longest-lasting motorcycle track tyres.