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Scrubbing in new tires
I
just installed new Tourances on the Red Devil this
weekend, and I got to thinking about the scrub-in
process. One little tip I heard long ago was,
“Slippery when new.” So I thought this week’s
topic should be about the scrub-in period for new tires.
New tires may have sticky or slimy goo on them, either
mold-release compound from the manufacturer to make sure
the tire comes out of the mold, or lubricant to let the
tire slip more easily onto the rim. (A lot of tire
manufacturers and installers deny that such materials
exist.) In any case, new tires are smooth and have
limited traction.
When you buy new tires, the best thing to do is to find
an empty parking lot and do some lazy figure-eights.
Make your turns progressively faster and with greater
lean angles. The idea is to scrub off that goo under
controlled circumstances. You never want to suddenly
turn so hard that you're riding entirely on an area of
the tires that hasn't been scrubbed off yet.
Once you leave the parking lot after your scrub-in,
remember, optimal grip is obtained only after the tread
surface has been ridden on for 100 or so miles, so go
into those first few twisties with a bit of caution.
Take turns gently, slowly increasing your angle of lean.
Slowly is the key: You always want enough of the contact
patch to be on the broken-in section that you don’t
lose it. Eventually your chicken-strips
will disappear.
The nice thing about having a GS is we can take new
tires for a ride down a gravel road (at least that's
what I do). The gravel gets the goo off pretty
quickly...
Be Safe!
References:
http://www.timberwoof.com/motorcycle/faq/maintaining.html
http://swmototires.com/technical.htm
http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/tech/tire_facts/ |
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