Tire warmer fitment

sand.man

Well-Known Member
I'm having a heated discussion with somebody about rear tire warmers specifically.

He believes that because a 180/190 tire warmer will fit onto a 160 rear tire, you should not bother to buy 150/160 tire warmers.

I believe that because you will have extra material hanging off the edge of the tires, you'll have exposed heating elements not in contact with the tire that may overheat and burn out the warmers.

Manufacturers must be producing 2-3 different sizes for a reason, right?

I'd love to hear input from the members here, many knowledgeable people in the EMRA.

Thanks,
Ryan.
 

yak

Well-Known Member
I ordered my warmers from John Bickle. At the time I was on an SV, but he asked me if I would want to use them on 180s some day. I said possibly, so he said he would size them accordingly. I haven't compared them to the standard size warmers but they have worked well on 160s and 180s with no burn through. (There are some small darker lines in a couple of areas but it doesn't appear to be significantly damaged after 3 seasons, 1 on the 160 and 2 on the 180.)
 

jetfixer15

Active Member
I used the same TyrSox warmers on the 160 rear on my SV and the same warmers when I switched to a 180 on my SV. Never had any issues (warmers were designed for a 180).
 
It all depends on the manufacturer. I do know with some warmers you can"t do it as the heating element may over hang and ,yes it will do possible damage if it is not in contact with the trie.
That being said,, I"ll use my warmers as I know them best,,, but the heating pad is the same in the 160 as the 180/90. The cover is not. The 160 SV/250GP size warmer is a smaller cover to size proportionatly. The 180/90 is bigger to allow for the side wrap and insulation to extend out farther.
Keep in mind it is not the heating elements that one should be concerned with,,but the insulation qualities. If you put the best furnace money can buy in your house and leave the windows open,, it's not the furnaces fault the house is cold. To heat soak a tire at 20 C you need 40-45 minutes.
So with that in mind if the heating element is within 10-15 milimeters of the edge of the tire,,,that is plenty for the heat from the wire to heat soak that area. Assuming,, you are in fact retaining the heat. If the warmer can't retain the heat,,where ever the wire is doesn"t matter.
The big key with any warmer is to ensure it is centred on the tire and you give it the appropriate time to heat soak the tire.
This being a very exspensive sport if a rider is contemplating venturing up into the 180+ tire sizes we will sell them the bigger warmers to save them money in the next year or so. If the bike will allow the extra side wrap it will in fact help the tire get hotter faster. But not all tire/bike combinations will allow for that extra side wrap. So that is where the 160 size warmer is suited.
Now you ask why we don"t have that side wrap on the 180/190?? we did experiment a few years back with much more side wrap. But found it started to hang up on the calipers and some saftey wire would grap the warmer and damage it. So there is a limit to the side wrap so you don"t damage your warmers.
So,, to answer your question,,, flip your warmer over and see if you can measure the heating wire over all width. So edge of outside wire to outside wire. Then match it up to your tire. If your wire is inside the surface area of the tire tread you should be fine.

John
 
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