Abstract
Worldwide the quality of motorcycle has undergone revolutionary change over last decade. Technological upgradation, customer demand and road infrastructure has contributed to this revolution. These necessitate higher performance of motorcycle tires as tires being interface between powerful engines and the road. Among the various parameters of motorcycle tire tread performance, dry and wet traction, rolling resistance and mileage, are important as they conform the safety requirement, fuel economy and durability. In general, Oil-extended Styrene Butadiene Rubber (OE-SBR) with high styrene provides better traction and abrasion with little deterioration in rolling resistance properties. In this study, vegetable origin oil extended high styrene (40%) SBR’s were characterized in motorcycle tire tread recipe. The use of vegetable oil results in almost zero polycyclic aromatic (PCA) content and therefore, these OE-SBR’s are environmentally friendly, renewable, and sustainable. SBR grades prepared with vegetable oils were showing less mixing energy (around 10%), better flow behavior (low activation energy by around 5%), lower filler-filler interaction (lower Payne effect by more than 25%) and lower tanδ@60°C (around 5%) as compared to petroleum oil.