New - slippery - tyres

I was riding home yesterday from the tyre place where the assistant told me
(as I have been told for the last 15 years) "take it gently for the first
100k, keep it upright as much as possible.

Now I believe that the supposed reason is the tyre is covered in some
preservative that has less adhesion than rubber so if you lean over you fall
off.

So as I was riding home staying upright (just hanging off the side like
Casey as I went round corners) I thought I am wearing the preservative off
the bottom of the tyre but that stuff is still just sitting on the side off
the tyre, waiting for me to get my 100ks up and start leaning again.

Is this be gentle for the first 100k a myth, if not then is the
preservative still on the side of my tyre after I have done my 100k.

Answers please before the weekend so I can have some fun (with both of us
leaning over for the corners)

 

It is true. There is a silicon based preservative. Just slowly
increase your lean angle over those km and you should be fine. I used
to live 45km out of Hobart and would start out like a wuss, but by the
time I got home I figured the tyres were fine and never had a drama.
Leaving the city took the shit off the centre of the tyre and the
lovely racetrack they built for the last 20km of the ride home took
care of the rest.

 

My tyre supplier tells me that running the tyres at their operating
temperature will remove the offending material, probably the release agent
from the tyre moulds. This suggested to me that a single longish ride
should do the job. I now go for a non stop ride of at least 100 km
immediately after having new tyres fitted (or after taking delivery of a new
motorcycle). I have had no difficulty with tyre grip after following this
procedure, despite having some white deposits on the sides of the tyres at
the end of the ride.

If the above is correct, then riding new tyres that have not been run at
their operating temperature in the rain is not a good idea. This is
confirmed by a friend telling me about nearly dropping his bike about three
times in the first 200 metres riding brand new tyres in the rain.

John Dwyer.

 

=================

Onya bike

Gerry

 

He said, take it gently, not, don't lean. You just take it easy and
you'll be right. ie.. don't tip it in to the first corner at maximum
lean angle. You should gradually increase the lean angle. You could
probably 'scrub' in the tyre surface in 3 minutes by riding around a
large round about increasing your speed by 5kph each time around and
then do it again the other way round (that might be illegal and
dangerous). Once each surface area of the tyre has been exposed to
the road for a second or more any coating should be removed from it.
Taking it easy for 100km is suggested to allow you time to get used to
the way the bike handles with new tyres compared to old, worn tyres.

 

Here's a question: Would riding the bike on (reasonable) dirt road
for about 50kms be a good idea?

The reason I ask is because the way gravel scrubs the tyre, it would
scrub even that part of the tyre's surface which would normally not
touch the tarmac unless leaning hard.

I'd be interested in what others think about this. Has anyone tested
this? Would someone be interested in testing this?

=================

Onya bike

Gerry

 

Diogenes wrote:

Sounds possible.

OK, Gerry, send round a pair of BT016s for a Street Triple and I'll try
it out for you.

Being serious, I'd have the tyres scrubbed in well before I'd ever get
to 50 kms of nice dirt road.

FWIW, my method of scrubbing new tyres involves exaggerating the lean
angle of the bike by leaning the "wrong" way in corners.

Works for me.

regards,
CrazyCam

 

No wonder they call you Crazy Cam

 

YouTube?


=================

Onya bike

Gerry

 

No thanks, I never touch the stuff.

But, a beer would be welcome.

regards,
CrazyCam

 

For a bloke who's widely believed to be a fuckwit, Nev is pretty
good at hitting nails on heads...

I've enjoyed reading this thread, mostly 'cos it digs up a line of
thought that I've been carrying for years...

When I learned to SCUBA dive, the instructors told me about this guy
they knew who knew some guy who didn't secure his SCUBA tank properly
in the boat, the boat lurched, the tank rolled, the valve was knocked
off, the tank shot around the place like a rocket, and the guy lost
his leg up to here <indicates with hand>.

When I learned to ride motorcycles, the instructors told me the
story of the guy who knows some guy who departed with his kickstand
in the down position, leaned left, was launched into traffic, and
killed by an oncoming car. (I've heard exactly this story a number
of times from a number of instructors).

When I started studying management, I read an academic paper by a
woman named Connie Fletcher [1] titled "The 250lb man in an alley:
Police Storytelling"[2]. She spoke about a prevalent story within
police forces that described a guy who knew some guy (a cop) who
once came up against a very big and very angry man in a dark alley.
Where the first two stories that I've offered are used as
justifications for a particular mode of behaviour on the part of
the student designed to encourage safe practices, Fletcher observed
that the 250lb man in an alley story was designed to perpetuate the
view that women could never 'make it' as police officers because
they wouldn't be able to safely cope with that situation.

Fletcher also reported her observation that the story took on
different slants in different services. The fire brigade version
dealt with the difficulties of trying to save a physically large
man, unconscious from smoke inhalation in a burning building. The
ambulance/paramedic version had a physically large patient who
needed to be moved in an emergency. In each case, the premise
was the same: women can't properly perform this role.

Astute readers will, by now, have noted that I've used terminologies
that meet the definition for "urban myth". No-one who tells the
stories was *ever* directly involved in the incident that stands
as a warning. They *always* know someone who knows someone and,
when pressed, can never quite nail down firm details as to who
someone or someone is.

I've watched the 'slippery tyres' story with much interest
for many years, and I wonder: does anyone *actually* know someone
who rode a bike out of a shop on new tyres and trowelled it as
a genuine, demonstrable and defensible result of slipping over
on not-yet-conditioned tyres, or is this 'slippery tyres' story
as Nev's post implies, a myth designed (perhaps unconsciously so,
perhaps "that serves" is better wording than "designed") to
encourage safe riding practices, to stop people from screwing
up before they're used to their new tyres?

Or is that all a bit too deep for a Friday night?


GB

[1] Fletcher, C 1996, “"The 250lb Man in an Alley" Police
Storytelling.” Journal of Organizational Change Management,
vol. 9, no. 5, p. 36.

[2] Ask me for a pdf if you feel so inclined.

 

Some years ago on a ported water bottle I had stopped in at Horrible
Harrys on Boundry Rd Coopers Plains and fitted a new rear , headed East
and turned left into Orangegrove Rd with my usual solid twist of the
wrist , I did not drop it but will admit to needing clean undies when
it started into the power band part way in the turn as it lifted onto
the slightly square edge on the Avon . Surely there others who will
admit they have been a dick occasionally ?

 

(snip the lot because it's all relevant and I can't separate what to keep
and what to delete.... or I'm just a lazy prick)
I've also read the 250lb man references and am healthily sceptical of these
tales. I've never had trouble with new tyres because
a) I'm so cheap I usually run my old tyres so low they're worse than a
cake-of-soap on ice or
b) I'm old and slow.
I generally try to run new tyres through some roadside-verge gravel for a
bit of a scouring though.

I have two tales of the sidestand "myth" though. One is the feller I sold
my mach111 to who pitched it head-on into a taxi and blamed the sidestand
(before doing a runner and leaving me; the previous owner and current
rego-holder to negotiate with the taxi company)
and the other, far more personal, one when Tim saw me stopped on the Hume
and pulled his FJR1300 over to see if I had a problem. I didn't; I was just
sneaking a roadside piss and I was flustered at being caught so I leapt
aboard my heavily-laden R1100/GS
http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/bargearse/loaded.jpg
and belted off at 120kph. Tim saw I had my sidestand down and got after me
but as he pointed at the stand I entered a left-hand sweeper, ground out and
bounced into the right lane as I tried to get the stand up.
I braked and tried to stay on the road but I got bounced into the right
emergency-lane and next stop was the trees in the centre-divide. A Commodore
that was behind me moved along-side as the driver could see my struggle and
he, very helpfully, gestured towards my sidestand but his position also
blocked any chance I had of getting back onto the road.
The miracle happened when I was at the edge of the grass and the stand hit a
broken bit of road and finally flipped up; allowing me to pitch left, brake
and pull in behind the Commodore ('though he was also braking in his
misguided attempt to help).

I certainly believe that "myth". (and I reckon Tim probably does too)

 

And by drinking that concoction, you would definitely have slippery tyres

 

You need an old boxer bmw. The side stand parks itself if you forget, as
it hits the road

 

In aus.motorcycles on 7 Aug 2009 18:31:00 +1000

I can't do it from personal experience, although I did hear the story
the day after it happened, from the witnesses.

It isn't clear if it's new tyres only, or just bad riding... but a
buyer of a new Ducati got around 20 feet from the shop door before
trowelling it as he opened it up, the back end started sliding, and he
panicked. (20 feet beat the shop's old record by a fair bit)

Given he wasn't going around a corner at the time, I suspect it was
bad riding.


As to the sidestand thing, I've left a stand down and hit it in a
corner and been scared witless, and had to go straightish, but luckily
it wasn't much of a corner and there was room. Had it been a
tighter corner and something was coming the other way it might have
been nasty.


I've also gone round corners on the Old Girl on 3 points of contact -
two tyres and a centrestand - which was apparently impressive to see
from the rear at night, but a centrestand in the up position is much
higher than a sidestand in the down position, and we managed the
several corners quite nicely. Now the stand has been performance
modified in that fashion it hardly ever scrapes.

Zebee

 

f

Everything's a beat-up, GB. There are no truths out there except your
own. Everything you want to question can be dismissed by a brain
fucked by education.

Now... Back to the REAL world.

I have had heaps of near offs whilst riding on new tyres. I'd love a
quid for every fish tail I've done on new tyres. Strangely, this
skittish behaviour goes away after about 10o kms. But it's just my
imagination or autosuggestion.

I've got a fucking idea for you, GB. Why don't you get a new set of
tyres and go riding in the rain, maintaining your usual riding
style/speed. Let us know how you get on.

Fucking wnaker.


=================

Onya bike

Gerry

 

The bloke who fits my tyres has plenty of anecdotes about telling
someone to be careful, new tyres, slippery, then to see them drop it
before the first corner.

Even though I always take his advice, he tells me everytime and has done
so for 26 years now.

 

I got a set of Battleaxes fitted to the Triumph and the only thing I was
told when I picked it up at the shop, was, "watch it on corners, the new
tyres may tend to bite"
Which it did, being used to tyres which were worn a fraction, which made it
seem to slide around the corners, but with the new ones, the bike wanted to
go around the corner much quicker on a tighter line.

 

Yeah, now tell GB.

He's on his obfuscatory hobby horse, trying to run the line that it
might all be an urban myth. Does that fuckwit even _ride_ a bike?


=================

Onya bike

Gerry