Chicken strip problem

Ok, beer-theory alert:
The tyre deforms differently under different loading.
I'm pretty sure I don't brake all that hard into corners, and if I'm
braking then I usually do it upright.
I do accelerate through and out of corners.
I know from pictures of the bike in a corner that the rear tyre deforms
much more than the front. The rear tyre appears to be making contact
to the edge, whereas the front is nowhere near the edge. In fact, the
rear almost looks like it's down on pressure, but it's got 33+psi in it.

Now, is that due to the profile, the loading on the tyres, the way the
tyre deforms, the way the tyre is *designed* to deform or other?

If it's 1 or 4 then yes, it's the way it's meant to be. If it's 3 then
I'd expect that to be the riding style (heavy acceleration out of
corners / heavy braking into corners / whatever). 2 tyre pressures
wrong perhaps, or as for 5 - WFDD.

 

this is true... although you want to be investing in an impact driver
too.

 

Titainium bolts do have miles better corrosion restance than normal
steel bolts, but you need washers and some funny special grease to use
them.

 

Veggie Dave says...

My daughter had one of those as her first road bike when she was 16.
Poor thing used to get ridden flat out from Leicester to Warwick and
back again 3 times a week. I fitted a 70cc big bore kit and Fresco pipe
to it, after that lot it did about 50mph and stayed 100% reliable.
Lovely little bike, she's given it to her brother now he's turned 16.

 

someone here says...

The right side of my front tyre has no chicken strip left, the left
side has just over quarter of an inch. My rear tyre has no chicken
strip either side and the right is a bit more chewed up than the left.
It would be the same even without the help of Donington's abrasive
tarmac because I don't do left handers very well.

 

The technical guy was doing a presentation to our local BMF meeting, at the
end he asked
for questions.
"I can take my rear tyre almost to the edge of tread. Get rid of all those
silly rubber bits
sticking out. But I can't even get close with the front wheel. How can I get
rid of the
rubber tassles on the front?"

The reply involved.... "If you get too close to the edge of a rear tyre, you
stand the chance of losing
traction. This will result in a low side. The bike will judder/shake and
generally let a rider know
in time to do 'something' about it. Losing traction in the front wheel is
potentially more dangerous,
highside/inability to steer so it is designed that the chicken strip will be
bigger."

Certain caveats were that tyre must be standard OEM sizing.
Fitting the wrong size tyre so that you could remove the last mm of strip
would be considered
negligent of any tyre fitter. The probability of wrecking the bike would be
very high.

He had spent four years on the GP circuit and claimed that ALL the racers
had a chicken strip on the front
larger than the one on the rear, regardless of their personal approach to
cornering ie sliding it in sideways.
or whatever.

Dave

 

So I'm like a racer? Cool. Lets go with your explanation.

<seriously>

Sounds reasonable enough. Your bit, that is.

 

Nah - leave him to the comedy - porl's the chap for animation.

 

Eye thank yew,

Dave