How not to break in a new tire: counter steer

I had my stupidest face plant yet.

Don't do this.

I thought it would be a good idea to scuff up my newly mounted Metzler NEXT Torrance. So, with less than 1 mile on the tire, I counter-steered to the right then to the left. Then I went down.


The front wheel washed out.

My face hit the pavement.


I have it on video too if you want to laugh at me and call me names.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fHUNjzsXm8

I got lucky. I only sprang my thumb and caused some cosmetic damage to the bike.

Speed: 25-30MPH low-side on straight dry road. :huh
Temperature: 37F
Less than 300 feet from my departure to work.


P.S. I still rode to work that day after the crash.

O no!!! How is the bike?? That's an awful story, but at least you can laugh about it. Cold tires are nasty, unscrubbed tires are nasty, but cold unscrubbed tires are...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTNfPdqxuC8

!!

New tires- after mounting I scrub them with a stiff bristle brush and Dawn dish detergent, then hit them with the random orbit sander 60 grit before installing the wheels.

So far, that has worked...

Oops, well at least it was early and dark so nobody saw you, much preferred
over a riding buddy who low sided leaving a tire shop in rush hour traffic.
Glad to see your ok.

I let nature take its course (and drive real carefully for the first 100 miles)

Is it odd that have it on video? Do you always run the video camera or just when you plan to crash.

Not to be an english teacher, but in the youtube description:

"wive's tale" As in gossip. Not sure what a wise tail is.

That one just catches me as pretty funny.

But thanks for the video though - it really doesn't look to me like you were swerving too much - I can easily see that happening to me.

Man, I'll have to train my cat to scrub in my tires for me!

I've done the exact same thing, minus the wipe out... now I'm scared. Thanks for posting, I'll have this in mind the next time I'm on fresh tires.

No. You over steered (or over countersteered) a slick new tire that was also hard due to the cold. What you did was right. How much you did it was wrong for the conditions.

I buff mine on the balance stand after mounting using an angle grinder and coarse wheel. I can also see if the tire is out of round or grossly out of balance. Then I ride as if I am on ice until I get to gravel road. 10 miles of gravel (yes on a R1150RS) and then some speed they are good to go.

I never change both front and back at the same time. I do not need to worry about both ends

Rod

There is absolutely no truth whatsoever to the "slick" new tires.

When ya'll get to the Race track not only will you see people with brand spankin new tires.

All you really do need to do is heat a tire just as normal.

http://www.sportrider.com/tips/146_0810_how_to_warm_up_new_tires/

First off, Knoche quickly dispatched the old wives' tale that the surface of the tire needs to be scuffed or roughed up to offer grip. "Maybe it's coming from the old days when people were spraying mold release on the tread when the molds were maybe not that precise," Knoche speculates, "and the machinery was not that precise. But nowadays molds are typically coated with Teflon or other surface treatments. The release you put in there (in the sidewall area only, not the tread) is for like baking a cake, you know, so that it fills all the little corners and today that is done more mechanically than by spraying. The sidewall is important because you have all the engraving in the sidewall [with tire size, inflation pressure and certifications] and that you want to look nicely on your tire, so that's why we still spray the mold release there."

Read more: http://www.sportrider.com/tips/146_0810_how_to_warm_up_new_tires/viewall.html#ixzz2o3VzOWmF
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I don't think anybody in my neighbourhood saw me crash. I lifted the bike in a hurry. Two minutes after crashing I had my bike in my garage and was getting on my older bike. I had my thumb x-rayed in the afternoon. Luckily, I only sprang my thumb. The next day my back and neck hurt a little but I thought this was from lifting the bike wrong. My gear worked well.

I wear the camera like an accessory. Regrettably, it only captures stupid stuff that I do.

Thanks for this.

In the future, I will use accelerations and breaking to 'scuff' ... [warm] up my tires. It does seem a lot safer.

Thanks. I fixed it with more grammar errors.

It almost happened to me too! New tires, still less than a hundred meters away from the shop, I turned into a corner gently, then I gassed the bike a bit(I got carried away with the sharp steering) then almost high-sided... Yup, funny moments! Glad you're alright!

Hi, when ever I fit new tyres, I ride in the dirt along side a back street near the shop, I did the same thing with the new "next" set, seems to take the slippery stuff of, but, if only I had known how bad they are on dirt I would have been a lot more careful. ignorance is bliss,

I just got a new rear and will give this a shot

Lucky', glad your ok and able to share a laugh with us