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Scrubbing in new tires.

gimmeshelter

New member
I just had new Pirellis installed on Rocky, my Rockster.

I was warned to take it easy for a 100 miles as the tires are slippery when new.

I guess just riding around is straight forward enough, but what about "scrubbing the sides of the tire as when cornering?

Any ideas on how to do it?
 
For sure, take some curves, but don't get anywhere the edge. In other words, ride like the road is wet, but get some turns and curves in.
 
When I install new tires, I wipe them down with alcohol to remove the mold release agent, then go over them with a wire brush to roughen up the surface.
 
I just ride around for 50 miles or so and don't try to get a lot of traction out of the tires. Once most of the middle is cleaned off, leaning over a bit more will take the rest of the original coating off.

I have a bike I keep in Germany, and once I needed a set of tires while travelling through Austria. In Europe, you can generally buy tires at a tire dealer. I watched as the tire guy changed my tires and then put them on the balancing machine. Before actually balancing each one on his machine, he ran them up in speed, picked up a coarse file, and ran it back and forth across the tire. Instant break-in!
 
Electric Belt Sander with course sand paper. The method seems to work better after about two six-packs. I have not tried this method on my bike, but it seems to work fine on my neighbors, or at least it will until he pays his gambling debt. :whistle

Easy :german
 
Burn it in:)

Front tire up against the garage wall and burn that baby in! I'm fun'in here of course, but ever seen a drag racer do this! A little chlorine down on the pavement and spin them wheels for the smoke effect. Really tacky tires this way, but shortens the life:). Randy:thumb :usa
 
I have been told by several people in the m/c tire industry that it is HEAT, and ONLY heat, that removes the chemical compunds that makes new tires slippery. otherwise, you would be endlessly finding new, unscrubbed parts of tires, for nearly the entire lifespan of the tire (unless you're tracking your bike).

So- run your tires, being aware that until they get up to temp (which would likely take 50-100 miles on a "normal" riding day), they will be a bit slippery. fwiw- in 30+ years of riding, i've never had a new tire slip on a clean, dry road.
 
It shouldn't be a big deal. For 50 miles or so ride like its wet. Think about how you ride in the rain. You do everything you'd normally do, but a bit slower with a bit more caution. After I get a new tire I'll also swerve in my lane a bit, traffic permitting, to get a little wear someplace other than the absolute center of the tire. Remember that all you're doing is getting rid of that first slippery layer.
 
Did it this weekend on a new set of Pilot-Road-2's.. first 100 miles they felt a bit snakey.. that was right after getting them installed and rubbing them down with carb-cleaner (not much came off actually..) Next day, I adjusted the tire pressure (rear was about 3PSI higher than I normally run it) - took them out to a club ride which in spots ended up being an extreme twisties ride. By the time they had 300 miles on them - they felt great, and my lean angles got to within 1/2" of the edge (about as far as I ever get..)
 
I have been told by several people in the m/c tire industry that it is HEAT, and ONLY heat, that removes the chemical compunds that makes new tires slippery. otherwise, you would be endlessly finding new, unscrubbed parts of tires, for nearly the entire lifespan of the tire (unless you're tracking your bike).

So- run your tires, being aware that until they get up to temp (which would likely take 50-100 miles on a "normal" riding day), they will be a bit slippery. fwiw- in 30+ years of riding, i've never had a new tire slip on a clean, dry road.

This is interesting. I've always thought that the scrub-in has to do with wearing off the release agent used in the vulcanizing (production) process. The release agent meaning the stuff used to keep the tire from sticking to the mold. On just the surface of the tire.
 
okay, time to end the debate. i learned a bit too.
Here's from Avon:
"Prior to moulding, m/c tyres used to be sprayed with a solution. This would help the rubber flow during the curing process and reduce defects.
This solution could also make the tyre slippery when new. Avon now uses water based solution or in many cases, no solution at all. Water based solution dissolves into the rubber and will not have any effect on a new tyres grip.
Avon m/c tyres do not now need scrubbing in due to moulding solution. This may not always be the case with other manufacturer's tyres but many are reducing or eliminating this solution, often refered to as tyre dope (not the sort you smoke!).
However, all tyres should still be scrubbed in. If too much power or load is put through a new tyre, large tears can appear on the tyre's tread surface. This is called low frequency graining. These tears will remain larger than normal and the tyres grip and mileage will suffer. If the tyre is scrubbed in properly, these tears will be much finer and mileage and grip will be optimised (high frequency graining). This same effect can happen if too much throttle is used when the tyre is cold. This is called cold graining i.e. the tyre surface will tear up as the compound is trying to grip before it has reached its optimum operating temperature.

Putting new tyres through a heat cycle also helps. In simple terms this basically breaks down the tyre at a molecular level and lets all the molecular strings reform in a more neutral state. This eliminates soft and hard areas of the tyre, effectively conditioning it.

Best regards,
Peter J McNally
M/C Technical Product Manager
01225 357753
www.avonmotorcycle.com"

--
and from Pirelli (albeit 2nd hand):
"The new issue of Sport Rider has an *excellent* (but short) article on tires, with an interview of the manager for the Pirelli Global motorcycle tire program.

This guy has been in motorcycle tire design for like 20+ years, so as far as I am concerned, he is THE expert.

Some myths/facts that he pointed out, that I wanted to share with you:

1) Mold release is no longer used by any major manufacturer. This stopped years ago. Today, they only use mold release on the SIDEWALL to ensure that all the little numbers, text, and company logo come out flawless.

2) "scrubbing" in tires is a myth and completely useless. There is NO coating on the tire surface that needs to be "scrubbed" or worn off at all. New tire break-in is ALL about tempartures. That little wiggle you see riders do leaving the paddock, or heading out to the twisties is 110% useless and gives false confidence. It does almost nothing to help prepare the tire to grip.

3) New tire break-in is all about temps. A new tire should be at 165F for at least 10 minutes before you push it, and it should be at that temp for an hour before you really trust it. If using a tire warmer, he recommends one hour at 165F before you hit the track. If not, he recommends about 10 laps of a 2 mile circuit before you can trust the tires. On the street, figure about 20 minutes of hard riding. The ENTIRE purpose of this as new tire break-in, is to get the carcass warm enough that the oils and chemicals in the rubber leech out completely.

4) If you are interested in warming up a non new tire for spirited riding, the same basic rules as #3 apply, but in this case its about getting the tire carcass to the right elasticity, not about getting chemicals out of the rubber.

5) The best way to break in or warm up a tire is as follows: Hard acceleration and braking in a straight line, with the bike NOT leaned over. He said that this should get the maximum amount of heat into the tire with the shortest possible effort (and its probably safest too)."
 
I ride them gently at first, gradually working them harder and heating the carcass. I run them through a couple heat/cool cycles before I ride them hard.

In order for tires to become "sticky" they need to go through a couple heat cycles to complete the vulcanization process, if I understand correctly.
 
Thank you gentlemen and ladies for your time and consideration to answering my inquiry.

I feel I have more of a handle on the situation now and will not ride around waiting for the unknown to snap at me.
 
Thank you gentlemen and ladies for your time and consideration to answering my inquiry.

I feel I have more of a handle on the situation now and will not ride around waiting for the unknown to snap at me.

Welcome aboard, man.

Don't be a stranger. :buds
 
scrubbing tires are fun and dangerous

I don't know if it is correct to do, but I gently weave within my lane on quiet country roads.

I do this too. I feel the sides need scrubbing before I take any corners tight.

I just did it tonight coming home on 80 mile old tires with a policeman couple cars behind me,

bmw 1150 rt
 
Not to be a contrarian, but, heat being the ONLY factor in preparing a tire for full traction is not entirely true for ALL tires.

Case in point, Metzler Lasertec tires. You could run them for weeks, starting and stopping and generating all the heat you want. But once you lean it over onto the section of tire that still has all the "hairs" ( the dozens and dozens of 3/8" long rubber hairs that are molded to the tread) you will not have maximum stability.

With newly mounted tires you always want to be smooth braking and accelerating for the first couple of hours to allow the tire mounting lube to dry out. Otherwise you run the possibility of the tire rotating slightly on the rim thereby throwing off the balance. Same as on cars.

On tires that have "hair", 100 or so miles of twisties while GRADUALLY increasing lean angles and speed about every 10 miles, will have them ready to keep up with your buddies. Most of the "hair" should be gone except for the bitter edges (oh yeah, bitter edge of the tire. My favorite part.:thumb )

Also, rubber not in contact with the ground will not run as hot as rubber in contact with the ground. On a race car tire with 3 degrees negative camber you can see as much as 50 degrees temperature difference across the tread until the car is really pushed through the corners.

The swerving that racecars and bikes do actually does two functions: it helps heat the tires up in classes that do not permit tire warmers (pre-heating blankets) and equally important: it helps clean or scrub off any "pickup" (sand, gravel, rocks, bits of other peoples tires) that the slow moving hot tires have picked up. If this is not done, you run the risk of spinning your tires on the restart or not having maximum traction going into the first couple of turns.

Basically, no matter what your theory of tire break-in is, it involves being cautious at
first and GRADUALLY using more and more of the tires capability until you are SURE what the tire will do. Running it through a heat cycle by just going straight does NOT guarantee that it will have the maximum cornering capability that you are used to the first time you really throw it into a corner.

A good rule of thumb is not to go riding with your buddies until AFTER you've really run your tires to their limits by yourself. That way you won't get enticed into exceeding the limits of your tires before they are ready and you know what to expect.

Your opinion may vary.:dunno

:dance :dance :dance
 
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