newbie - tyre wear...

[cammo]

Hey there, i recently bought a new bike, but i have noticed that the rear tyre looks to be almost dead! I only ride in the rain if i have to and avoid it at all costs (im more of a weekend rider, then a commuter). just wondering if i need a new tyre, and if not will frosty let me on the track, come track day with a tyre like that?

Also is it normal to have scrapped the road with my feet round tight corners after only riding for a week?

[Paul in NZ]

Dunno about Frosty....

But I wouldn't let you and I would not ride it on the track like that. As for scraping stuff. Kinda depends on the bike.... And how big your feet are... :yeah:

Paul N

[scroter]

put your toes up on the pegs in the corners and they wont touch down so easy, and your boots will last longer.

[cammo]

yeah after the first time it happened i put my feet up, but then i did i again...

[bugjuice]

yeah, keep your feet up and back, then they shouldn't scrape so much. Good on ya for having the balls tho, many newbies take a while before getting that confident, but don't go overboard.

You might want to consider a new tyre. The photo shows the wear marks are now part of the tread - not so great. Hacking your bike round a track is a sure way to finish it off, so you might only get a couple of sessions on it (not the whole day) at best, so you might as well cough up. Piece of mind too, that you can trust what you're sat on. Go easy on a new tyre for the first 50-100k's, the silicon layer on it has to scrub off (just done this myself)

[Mr Skid]

yeah after the first time it happened it out my feet up, but then i did i again...
That's incredibly close to requiring a 'Garble' nomination.

If you've got your toes on the pegs *and* are scraping your toes still I suspect you've got sasquatch sized boots, or painfully custom rear sets.

I've had my pegs scraping (which isn't that much of an achievement on my bike) and still haven't touched my toe sliders.

And as BJ said, bin that rear tire.

[flyin]

like everyones said get up on ur toes.... put all your weight on the pegs too, it lowers the C.G....= more traction....

shift your body weight too, get right off the side of ur bike and "get that knee down.." , means you dont have to lean the bike as far..... untill you're really fast and are scraping your boots, pegs and knee all at once :niceone: ...... lil faster and you join the party tho :confused:

one thing to watch on the ZZR is scraping the exhaust when riding 2up, my JMCA pipe scrapes before the pegs on some cambered corners when ive got the girl on the back.... scares the shit out of her.:laugh: .get some mean sparks too... . but i get a clip round the ear and im nearly through the pipe :doh:

they are primo bikes a!, i scraped my boots the day after i got it and the pegs two days l8r (2up) on pi cocks :rolleyes:
workin on ma wheelies now, still cant get into 2nd tho........

[cammo]

they are primo bikes a!, i scraped my boots the day after i got it and the pegs two days l8r (2up) on pi cocks :rolleyes:
workin on ma wheelies now, still cant get into 2nd tho........

i cant even get my bike up first....? mind you i havent been trying tooo hard....maybe a new tyre will help...haha

[erik]

It's only just got to the wear indicator things, by the looks of it. I think it'd last the track day, I mean your bike is a 250 and it's probably not that soft a tyre, so I don't imagine it'd go through it that quickly.

Have you guys with zzr250's tried adjusting the rear preload? My brother has a zzr250 and we increased the rear preload on that and he reckons it rides a bit better. It would help with when you are two-up as well. It's a bit of a pain trying to adjust it without the right tool though.

[Two Smoker]

That tyre is brand new by KK's standards lol.... Dont know about frosty, but i reckon that tyre would be sweet... But new rubber on the track is great... Maybe look at whacking on a Pirelli sport demon??? They are fairly reasonably priced...

[Hitcher]

Gahhhh! Buy a new tyre. Immediately!

[Racey Rider]

If the track days gunna be fine - that tyre will be fine. (Use it up!)
If the track day gunna be wet - put a new tyre on now.

How do you know what the weathers gunna do?

Just ask Frosty what weather he's got planned
He's got Everything sorted! :2thumbsup

[cammo]

ok then, so i gots half of ya telling em to get a new tyre and half saying itll be sweet for a bit more...im going to wanganui on wednesday and there;s a cycletread shop down there, so i will have a look! maybe ill just get a new tyre in a couple weeks b4 the track day and wear it out a bit more, that way i dont waste the little wee bit of tread left (gotta get your moneys worth :2thumbsup ). ohh and incaes your wondering its a bridge' battalax bt010. thanx for all your help!!! :niceone:

[flyin]

Cycletreads in wanganui is the cheapest place I could find south of the bombay hills for tyres(incl free install!?!?) for the ZZR so I'd grab one while you're there, just make sure you thrash the old one on the way and do a nice burnout before you hand it over! :niceone:

you really have to make it wheelie, unless 2up then the occasional hard launch pops it up..... i like to (on a private road no where near cheering m8s...) start rolling in first till bout 10km, while standing onthe pegs, pull in the clutch, raise the revs a little..... drop the clutch and tug the bar a tad and it pops up nicely...

like erik said - adjusting the rear suspension makes a big difference.. (10%faster or some shite.......) feels heaps better through corners and really helps with those monos!! and yeah you really want the right tool or it's frikin annoying...... I have mine set on one off the hardest as i ride 2up most of the time, i like to leave a bit of play because the road surface is so varied/screwed in places and stepping out (unintentionally) is not heaps of fun......

[cammo]

hmmm i shall give that a try...as for the rear shocks, ill try read up on how to change/ajust them, what kind of tool do you need and where can i buy one?. and i spose i shouldnt wait n just get a new tyre!!! better being able to ride then watch other poeple ride from my hospital window huh...

[flyin]

your bike should have a tool kit with a spannery lookin thingy, if you bought the bike without, any parts shop will have one for ya. fairly easy to work out/adjust to harder however i've found it a real c*** to soften it up again?!? oh well i'll jst leave it firm and harden up i guess....

[cammo]

cool, ill have a look and see what i can do! cheers mate

[vifferman]

ok then, so i gots half of ya telling em to get a new tyre and half saying itll be sweet for a bit more...im going to wanganui on wednesday and there;s a cycletread shop down there, so i will have a look! maybe ill just get a new tyre in a couple weeks b4 the track day and wear it out a bit more, that way i dont waste the little wee bit of tread left (gotta get your moneys worth :2thumbsup ). ohh and incaes your wondering its a bridge' battalax bt010. thanx for all your help!!! :niceone:
Bear in mind (as some of your 'helpers' haven't) that a tyre's grip is more than just a function of the amount of tread left. Oftentimes, a tyre will go 'off' before it's run out of tread. Tyres have a finite number of heat cycles in them, and the softer the tyre compound is, the fewer heat cycles before it's 'used up'. So you can't really judge how good the tyre is by just looking at it; some tyres will still be good with little tread left on, while others will be still road-legal and be well knackered.
It's sometimes a subtle thing too, so you don't notice how your tyre's performance has deteriorated, until you fit a new one and go, "Wow!! This feels like a new bike!" Other times, you'll notice it feels unsettled and you don't have confidence in it any more.
Best option is to just replace it when you can, as it's a very small area of rubber that's all there is between you being safe or lying on the road. :confused:

[Racey Rider]

Go On!
You read that somewhere didn't you! :shake:

[GSVR]

Also is it normal to have scrapped the road with my feet round tight corners after only riding for a week?

How far does your suspension sink when you sit on the bike and how much damping do you have? Soft suspension can sink into corners. Are you heavy or light?

Having sorted that out try climbing off the side of the bike and sticking your knee out. This way your bike won't lean so far over.

Just ideas. Personally I've never gone fast enough around tight corners to scrape my toes except for a few times when I've fallen off. The edges of my tyres still have those little molding dimples on them.

[cammo]

How far does your suspension sink when you sit on the bike and how much damping do you have? Soft suspension can sink into corners. Are you heavy or light?

Having sorted that out try climbing off the side of the bike and sticking your knee out. This way your bike won't lean so far over.

Just ideas. Personally I've never gone fast enough around tight corners to scrape my toes except for a few times when I've fallen off. The edges of my tyres still have those little molding dimples on them.

naa im super light weight, only bout 65ish... but yeah the susp. sags a bit and soo ill need to have a look at adjusting that when i figure out how too.. and yeah ive been experimenting with with sliding around on my seat. its windy the entire way to wanganui tmrw so ill test it a lil more. i tihnk ill get a new tyre tmrw also as i better not risk using a worn tyre!!!

thanx for all your help guys!!

:2thumbsup

[GSVR]

Take it easy and get some miles up on the bike or you may get overconfident and drop it before youve really got to know the bike well. (been there done that)

If your planning on riding hard out I would suggest you look at getting some frame sliders as even a low speed off will ruin your fairings and they arent cheap.

Cycletreads in Wang are good but don't carry a huge amount of stock (like anyone else except big shops Wellington/Auckland etc) and get stuff in overnight.
I was all set to buy a set of Michelin Pilots from there at a very good price until we found out they weren't available in the size my bike takes.

[moggy]

Definitely get a new tyre. The first biggish bike that I bought (Yam SZR660) had worn tyres. Unfortunately I didn't know enough to know either that they were worn or how it would affect the bike. I struggled with the bike for a couple of months. I couldn't corner it for toffee. I even went back and got some lessons on cornering. Finally someone told me to change my tyres and suddenly I could corner the the thing. However it was a bit of a lemon, so I ditched it shortly afterwards and bought a new SV

[erik]

cammo, if you haven't got the right tool, you should check with a bike mechanic to see how much it'd cost for them to adjust the rear preload for you. I'd imagine it'd be almost free if they've got the right tool, since all that needs to be done is the notched ring thing on the rear shock needs to be twisted a bit.