why risk dumping your bike over $250 in tires?

 

why risk dumping your bike over $250 in tires?

yeah I know that, but I have my reasons for asking.
all I want to know is, does it matter when the roads are dry.

 

Dude get new tires. No telling how many heat cycles those have been through. It is not the tread when riding aggressive. It is the heat cycles.

My $.02

 

Dude get new tires. No telling how many heat cycles those have been through. It is not the tread when riding aggressive. It is the heat cycles.

My $.02

so the more heat cycles, the less sticky it can be?

 

yeah, you can read about it after you end up on your head:redflip

 

:shrug well I'm not alone, I see plenty of guys up in the hills with bald spots, or almost completely bald tires....and they ride better than me

also, if you're talking about soft sport-compound tires like my M1, they naturally wear out fast ---- So just because it's bald doesn't mean it's been through a ton of heat cycles

 

so the more heat cycles, the less sticky it can be?

yeah. the rubber on tires doesn't just stay the same throughout the whole life of its existence. the number of heat cycles can really change the traction characteristics of that rubber. that, plus age, just change tires. that's why you wouldn't want to put tires on that have never been used but have sat for a really long time. the rubber just loses its moisture and starts to dry rot and crack.

 

:So just because it's bald doesn't mean it's been through a ton of heat cycles

It means it has been through enough!!! Sportecs may not be race tires and are not nearly as cycle sensitive, but when i used to run them i could tell a noticable difference in grip after about 7-800 miles, they would harden up significantly!!!

 

abundant heat cycles draw the plastimers out of the rubber. these plastimers are what gives the tire it's "soft sticky" grip. as the heat cycles draw the plastimers out of the rubber it gets harder and loses traction...particularly on the part of the tire that has most frequent contact with abrasive surfaces....in your case the "bald" spots. the "better" riders that are still running on balding tires are accidents looking for places to happen. spend a couple hundred on new tires and save yourself a few thousand in parts and medical bills.

one more reason why i leave race take-offs to the squids.

 

OK, well ASSUMING it still has enough "plastimer" in it, it's still good, right, regardess of the tread? I mean look at Indy/F1 tires, those have NO tread. It's only when it's wet out that they use tires with tread.

as for race take-offs, plenty of the people on my local board buy race take-offs and they're not what I'd call squids.....they probably hit 15-20 track days a year

not trying to be a dick, just trying to be analytical about this

 

Hans, you might have seen my front tire when I had the 9r on few occaisions. I've run it BALD up/down palomar a few times..and you probably seen me ride on Palomar :laughing

If you are commuting and the tire is "bald"...no big deal. As long as the cords aint showing (you gettho mofo :laughing ). Once the cords are showing, change that sheeit...or it might blow out on you :shake

 

Buy new tires u cheap fucker.

 

And when you can see the air in the tires they are past bad. You do understand that "race" tires while they have no tread they actually have enough thickness. There are depth indicators so you can tell when they are "worn out",but if you wait that long you will have lost several races due to loss of traction. Street tires have very thin carcasses and when the tread is gone in ANY area,it is really thin in that spot. A nail in thick tread will leak air and go flat. A nail in that thin spot can blow out. Want to test your riding ability? A rear blow out is bad,especially after the bike has slowed down from like 60mph to like 30mph. The tire "flops" from one side to the other trying to pass you. The front is death in the same speed range. It can easily get "wound up" in the fender,presto,you are on your side or bouncing end over end. You will go through 2 or 3 rear tires to one front,so a worn front is past ready for a new one. Not to mention the change in shape that affects handling. Pay now for tires or pay later for tires and the bike damage from the crash.

 

OK, well ASSUMING it still has enough "plastimer" in it, it's still good, right, regardess of the tread? I mean look at Indy/F1 tires, those have NO tread. It's only when it's wet out that they use tires with tread.

as for race take-offs, plenty of the people on my local board buy race take-offs and they're not what I'd call squids.....they probably hit 15-20 track days a year

not trying to be a dick, just trying to be analytical about this

theoretically, yes.....not very likely, but possible. All i am saying is use a method we use on aircraft....if it's questionable then the answer is change it. As for your friends riding on take-offs...i'll assume that they are running someone's qualifying or practice tires. nothing wrong with that...i just prefer not to take the chance of getting a tire that was ragged outby heat...tread can look good but the tire has no grip.....just my personal preference.

Of course if you can't afford new tires...then maybe you should look for a decent set of take-offs or continue to ride on your existing tires...just be careful and get new ones as soon as you can.

just my $.02

 

OK, well ASSUMING it still has enough "plastimer" in it, it's still good, right, regardess of the tread? I mean look at Indy/F1 tires, those have NO tread. It's only when it's wet out that they use tires with tread.

That's because, for all practical purposes they are slick tires. Meaning there isn't supposed to be tread on them. Sure they got 2 or 3 bands around them that are supposed to atleast look like tread, to meet the rules. But they are slicks, they are supposed to be run that way.

well I'm not alone, I see plenty of guys up in the hills with bald spots, or almost completely bald tires....and they ride better than me

and

as for race take-offs, plenty of the people on my local board buy race take-offs and they're not what I'd call squids.....they probably hit 15-20 track days a year

not trying to be a dick, just trying to be analytical about this

So if lots of people on your board thought sticking a red hot poker up their ass was a good idea you'd be for it too?:confused I know a number of guys here who can hit alot of trackdays a year, doesn't make them quicker, or more knowledgeable about some things.

Listen to the previous sage advise about not running worn out tires or don't. Just don't be supprised if you catch yourself in a wet situation, and then on your head. Or when the tires let go at an odd time because they've been cooked too many times. For that matter running race takeoffs is a bad idea because no matter how cheap they may be, you'll never get them to optimum temprature on the street, especially after being "battle hardened"(literally) by a good racer, therefore your not getting the advertised use out of them. But they will give you street cred around the ol' parkinglot so I guess that makes it all alright.[/rant mode]

 

Sorry dude, but I'm another one of the people that says, tires are not the place to save money.

ESPECIALLY THE FRONT TIRE!!!!

I know money might be tight and all, but you can survive a rear tire blowout and keep the bike up. A front tire blowout is almost certain crash. :shake

Man, I don't mean to bring you down, and I'm not saying that you can't run the thing a little longer, but what I am saying is that I've wrecked on old worn out tires

There were other things that contributed to that crash (like the 40 degree weather), but with fresh rubber, and not some D207s with 6k+ on them, I have good reason to believe the results might have been different.

I can feel the tires when going off as they get older, and if you can't, then your not very in tune with your bike. I went down once on old rubber, and it WILL not happen again. I take them down to the wear bars, and I order my new skins

 

For that matter running race takeoffs is a bad idea because no matter how cheap they may be, you'll never get them to optimum temprature on the street, especially after being "battle hardened"(literally) by a good racer, therefore your not getting the advertised use out of them.

how many heat cycles is too much? Is it the length of the cycle, or the number of cycles?

I mean, most of these guys dump their take-offs after only one day, or half-day, at a track.

And then someone else can buy them and get 1-2 more track days, or a weekend in the twisties, out of them.

I mean the point about the heat cycles is legit, I'm just tryng to get a better handle on what constitutes "too many" heat cycles

 

how many heat cycles is too much? Is it the length of the cycle, or the number of cycles?

I mean, most of these guys dump their take-offs after only one day, or half-day, at a track.

And then someone else can buy them and get 1-2 more track days, or a weekend in the twisties, out of them.

I mean the point about the heat cycles is legit, I'm just tryng to get a better handle on what constitutes "too many" heat cycles

It's a feel thing. You should be able to notice the difference as the tires wear and get harder.

 

As long as your not in water, having no tread on the tire by itself is not necessarily death waiting to happen, but you will have less traction.

The issues are as mentioned already:
heat cycles (non race tires this is usually not a problem even when the tires are near wore out) - but you take your chances

Thin tire thickeness on those areas means a puncture is far more likely.

Take your chances if you want, but IMO if you've got bald spots on your tires, replace them, if not take your chances and lets us know what happens.

 

I agree. Bald does not mean slick. Bald means you don't have rubber on your tire. You don't have rubber on your tire, your tire cannot track.

 

The issues are as mentioned already:
heat cycles (non race tires this is usually not a problem even when the tires are near wore out)

is that because street tires can handle more heat cycles before all their "plastimer" is gone?

 

I agree. Bald does not mean slick. Bald means you don't have rubber on your tire. You don't have rubber on your tire, your tire cannot track.

most motorcycle tread patterns don't go in a straight line, they go diagonal, so how would they help you track straight ahead anyway? They do help disperse water, but on dry roads I don't see the point

 

On dry roads more rubber on the ground is better than having grooves, but tires with grooves which have been worn down are not slicks, they're out of rubber. Bald tires can't get traction like a slick, they don't dig into the ground like a slick would or like any tire with tread would.

 

The Natural order of things will weed out the less intelligent first.

He has been warned, let nature take its course.

 

Anyone familiar with Darwin's Theory of Evolution?

I think we are about to see Darwin's Theory in action.



Ok, if you want to run bald tires, that's fine by me. You crash, it's your ass. But don't go trying to file for an insurance check because your front end washed out. You were responsible for keeping the bike in proper operating conditions. You obviously aren't doing so.



Hence, if you crash, it can be very reasonably assumed that...

...DARWIN WAS RIGHT.