New Tires are slippery....AAARRRRGGG!

[hooliken]

It's Monday and I am gettin my 205 on!! OH YEEEAAAHHH!!!



Thought it was completely appropriate though.....

[crofrog]

Originally Posted by Pantah

I am pretty sure that modern tires don't use release compounds any longer. At least not in the last 12 years or so. We don't even take the stickers off our race tires. Just heat 'em up in the warmers and take your sighting lap. You can hit T1 as hard as you want.

You would know better than me since you were there, but my guess is it was more slippery surface than slippery tire. What kind of tire was it? You can probably go right to the distributor to learn if their new tires are slippery and need to be scrubbed in.

I think allot of it has to do with the things people use to mount tires. You put Ru-glyde all over the tire and it's going to be slippery for it a bit until it's dry or worn off...

[gmk999]

Originally Posted by crofrog

I think allot of it has to do with the things people use to mount tires. You put Ru-glyde all over the tire and it's going to be slippery for it a bit until it's dry or worn off...

Back in the day , I would use pledge to slide them on and off easier.used to take them for a ride in the dirt to get them ride-ready. Finaly they became so slick I spun a tube going between snow and asphalt and tore the valve stem off . Needless to say.. no more spray wax.

[crofrog]

Originally Posted by gmk999

Back in the day , I would use pledge to slide them on and off easier.used to take them for a ride in the dirt to get them ride-ready. Finaly they became so slick I spun a tube going between snow and asphalt and tore the valve stem off . Needless to say.. no more spray wax.

Ru-Glyde seems to dry nicely with out staying slick, as does windex. Although windex doesn't seem to stay slippery for long so you need to be quick when mounting.

[Pantah]

Originally Posted by crofrog

I think allot of it has to do with the things people use to mount tires. You put Ru-glyde all over the tire and it's going to be slippery for it a bit until it's dry or worn off...

Shops have tire machines. They don't use lubes. Nah, new tires are not slippery because of mold release chemicals simply because they aren't used anymore. At least from the major brands.

I've probably spent $50,000 on motorcycle road race tires in recent years. This thread is pure baloney. The last tires I ever had to have scrubbed, were Michelin's in 1998 for a Ducati Superlite. The very next season we tried racing Michelins for a couple rounds of Aprilia Cup. No scrubbing required. We moved on to Dunlops after that. Dunlop even gave us tires for awhile.

Nah...

Dropping motorcycles is very common among us sporting types. It ain't the tires bonehead.

[crofrog]

Originally Posted by Pantah

Shops have tire machines. They don't use lubes. Nah, new tires are not slippery because of mold release chemicals simply because they aren't used anymore. At least from the major brands.

big shops sure, but I've seen some smaller shops using tire spoons.

I've probably spent $50,000 on motorcycle road race tires in recent years. This thread is pure baloney. The last tires I ever had to have scrubbed, were Michelin's in 1998 for a Ducati Superlite. The very next season we tried racing Michelins for a couple rounds of Aprilia Cup. No scrubbing required. We moved on to Dunlops after that. Dunlop even gave us tires for awhile.

With race tires and the "performance tires" I agree completely dunlop slicks are ready to go as soon as mounted and warmed up. I've had some other rubber like pirelli scorpion mt90's that if they didn't have mold release they had something else on them a nice even oily film that was gone after the first heat cycle.

[ragtoplvr]

Originally Posted by Pantah

Shops have tire machines. They don't use lubes. Nah, new tires are not slippery because of mold release chemicals simply because they aren't used anymore. At least from the major brands.

I've probably spent $50,000 on motorcycle road race tires in recent years. This thread is pure baloney. The last tires I ever had to have scrubbed, were Michelin's in 1998 for a Ducati Superlite. The very next season we tried racing Michelins for a couple rounds of Aprilia Cup. No scrubbing required. We moved on to Dunlops after that. Dunlop even gave us tires for awhile.

Nah...

Dropping motorcycles is very common among us sporting types. It ain't the tires bonehead.

Try Shinko Ravens. I never dropped one, but I did a nice slide once. I buff them now.. And when I get it mounted, I can see the stains from the Ruglide. At a motorcycle shop.

So maybe your preferred brand has no issue, that is NOT true for all brands.

[henrymartin]

I've had tires mounted in four different shops. and each time they came back with milky-white residue on the sides. So, they are using some lube, even with tire machines. Anyway, I found Anakees to be slippery for a while, MT90 the same, and my new set of TKC80 was really slick the first few miles.
I usually take it easy (speed limit) for the first 50 miles, then ride as usual. Haven't gone down because of tires yet. Gone down for different reasons, but not tires.

[Snapper]

I change my own tires now, but I've watched many many tire changes at shops with tire machines and I don't recall ever seeing someone not use lube. Makes no sense not to use lube - less chance of gouging or friction-burning the tire bead (which will cause air leaks), bead seats much fast and with lower air pressure, less stress for the machinery, etc.

Having said that, I've never seen anyone use so much lube that it coats the tire treads enough to cause a slide out. Sidewalls and rims may get coated but lubes applied while the wheel is horizontal will all drip away from the tread and towards the rim.

I don't know if its mold release or some sort of preservative for rubber to prevent drying out while the tires are waiting to be sold, but I know there is something on them that makes them slippery when new... just put on a set of Anakees and got a bit of power slide going on the first corner in my neighborhood. Or maybe there's no contaminate on the tire, but the glass smooth rubber simply does not have the grip that the pock-marked (micro lands and grooves) scrubbed tire has.

Anyways, my normal ritual is about dozen tight parking lot circles, pushing the bike down while leaning the opposite way, followed by three passes (with progressively steeper lean angles) of the tightest twist road I know. I'm good to go in 5 miles.

[sagedrifter]

On a heavy bike like a FJR I feel new Pilot ST tires slide around more when cool. After a few miles to warm up they are fine. One a DS tire I don't notice anything. The more powerfull and high reving the bike the more careful you need to be with cold new tires just put on. Seen many sport bikes dumped at low speeds when the rider dumps the clutch with even moderate rpm on new tires. Instead of feathering the clutch they want to show off and pull out quick in first gear with the engine in the power band. Its more of an issue when a camera is present.

[Kt-88]

I was a tire tech for six years. Maybe I can dispel some over complicated thinking.
1.)You use soap and water as lube on a machine mounted tire. Too much soap and it stays slippery.
2.)There's generally a film on new tires. We were always told it was to help preserve new looks of the tire in shipping. It's slippery as hell. Walk into a high volume tire shop and look at the floor next to the tire rack- it will never need to be waxed, I promise you.

Yes. New tires are slippery. They haven't abraded any and the rubber is only contacting on the slightly less flexible first .001" of rubber than every bit of tire beneath it.

If you heat the tire first that's generally fine too as it softens that exterior just the way it does the rest of the tire. Guess what- recreational amateur riders don't heat their tires before leaving a store and the store sure won't heat them, either.

Simple green can degrade some rubber compounds a bit excessively for this purpose. 1:10 dish soap and water and a soft scrub brush is absolutely just fine for the film and the mildly tougher first .001" of tire won't be so significantly different as to be dangerous without it.

[NorCalslowpoke]

I've probably posted this prior. But I always wire wheel or 60 grit sandpaper my tires now. Only takes about 1 minute per tire. Maybe there are better ways of doing it.

I had once brought my Guzzi wheels home after getting new rubber, early on in my riding life. I Installed the wheels and took the first corner on a downtown city block. Both wheels started sliding, almost lost it. I pulled over and freaked out a bit. I went back to the house, 1 block away, sanded the tires, no problem after that.

I'll never forget that brief "riding on ice" feeling.

[Ohio_Danimal]

That's a hell of a first post.

you'll heal. She won't

[bob393]

I change my own tires and never had a problem.
Perhaps my short ride on the gravel out of the garage scrubs them a bit.

WOW another thing to be aware of.

[RidingAgin]

Originally Posted by Snarky

When I had my new TKC80's put on the other day, I noticed they were "different". At first I assumed it was because I was going from stock tires to something approaching knobbies. The funny thing is though, they seem normal now. I don't know if it just took a couple of days to get used to them, or if they had something on them, but they are night and day now compared to when I first got them.

I put TKC80 on my F650GS twin and took it easy for 30 miles till I could hit some dirt and gravel. After that rubin, they tires seems to be a lot better. No issues with knobs on slab yet

Black ice time already in WA.