What rear tyre to get?

[biketimus_prime]

pls respond

[george formby]

pls respond

Que?
I'm guessing you went for the pair. T'is good. Not sure your reading the tire feedback right, though. Your on new tires, reasonably nimble ones at that. What you think is the tire is more than likely your input, or lack of, to controlling the bike. I'm not dissing you. If you close the throttle briefly mid corner then the bike will lean more in response & it feels like the front is tucking a tad, you give it a little gas & think, "oh, bit of a fronty moment". T'is not so. They will feel very different to your old square tires, too. If had a $ for the times I've heard somebody say "my new tires are fantastic" I would have spent them. New tires always feel different & betterer.
Bare in mind that new tires can be slippery as a greased eel before they get scrubbed in. Covered with mould release goo from the factory. Got to be smoove & gradual scrubbing them in. Some say 300k's or so is appropriate, I reckon less on our granite chip roads.
Enjoy, keep it rubber side down.

[biketimus_prime]

Que?
I'm guessing you went for the pair. T'is good. Not sure your reading the tire feedback right, though. Your on new tires, reasonably nimble ones at that. What you think is the tire is more than likely your input, or lack of, to controlling the bike. I'm not dissing you. If you close the throttle briefly mid corner then the bike will lean more in response & it feels like the front is tucking a tad, you give it a little gas & think, "oh, bit of a fronty moment". T'is not so. They will feel very different to your old square tires, too. If had a $ for the times I've heard somebody say "my new tires are fantastic" I would have spent them. New tires always feel different & betterer.
Bare in mind that new tires can be slippery as a greased eel before they get scrubbed in. Covered with mould release goo from the factory. Got to be smoove & gradual scrubbing them in. Some say 300k's or so is appropriate, I reckon less on our granite chip roads.
Enjoy, keep it rubber side down.

Oh sorry I forgot you asked before, I only got the new rear BT45. Front is a Sport demon with less than 1000km.

I think what you're saying about my input making me think it's a fronty moment but it isn't, is true (so Akzle was right, I am an idiot
) The way you describe what I would have done, is what I did... Let of the throttle mid corner, and it leaned more and cornered better and got back on the gas it felt like the front slipped.

I know nothing of bike suspension and dynamics, a whole new world to me. Still getting my head around how it should feel, and even just recently when I started really thinking about counter-steering as I'm cornering, my cornering has improved so much, but it feels so weird to do! I used to just lean a bit but go slowly around the corner and it felt like the bike didn't want to turn because I was fighting the feeling of counter steering all that time.

Cool, I will take it easy for a while and get them scrubbed in, thanks for your knowledge and input, I appreciate it.

[george formby]

Keep an eye on the wear front & back. The strip of unused rubber should be wider on the front than the rear. I may be repeating myself.

You mentioned the "c" word. As somebody on here says, you're all ready doing it otherwise you can't turn. But. When it becomes conscious it's easy to get stiff on the bike & fight against it, grip the bars to tight, muscle bars etc.
If you keep your head up & fully turn it to look through the corner you end up pushing the inside bar naturally, your body position does it. Stay flexible in ze hips. Where you look you go.
If you want to understand the dynamics of it go find an empty car park somewhere & practice a big slalom. Turn your head with each direction change & gently push the inside bar to instigate the weave, rinse & repeat. 30kmh or so should be safe & give you the feel for it. The bike should turn effortlessly, nay, magically. Keep your head up. Did I already say that?
For 99% of riding it should not be a conscious thing but a bit of practice to gain understanding won't hurt.

[biketimus_prime]

Keep an eye on the wear front & back. The strip of unused rubber should be wider on the front than the rear. I may be repeating myself.

You mentioned the "c" word. As somebody on here says, you're all ready doing it otherwise you can't turn. But. When it becomes conscious it's easy to get stiff on the bike & fight against it, grip the bars to tight, muscle bars etc.
If you keep your head up & fully turn it to look through the corner you end up pushing the inside bar naturally, your body position does it. Stay flexible in ze hips. Where you look you go.
If you want to understand the dynamics of it go find an empty car park somewhere & practice a big slalom. Turn your head with each direction change & gently push the inside bar to instigate the weave, rinse & repeat. 30kmh or so should be safe & give you the feel for it. The bike should turn effortlessly, nay, magically. Keep your head up. Did I already say that?
For 99% of riding it should not be a conscious thing but a bit of practice to gain understanding won't hurt.

The strip of unused rubber is wider at the front than the rear so that's good!

I know we do it naturally when we corner, but previously when I started, I was too heavy handed on the bars and I instead felt the need to turn into the corner rather than let the natural thing happen. Now I am more fluid and accepting of the steering behaviour and my cornering has improved a lot as a result.
Even the guy who assesed me for basic handling kept telling me to look where I want to go and I am doing it more now, however I do catch myself looking at the ground in front of me at times. I will try the slalom thing, hopefully I can attend NASS soon. I've also been able to look at certain things on the road and avoid them by pushing the bar for the way I want to go, before I'd just try lean over but it wouldn't be quick enough. Make sense? Anyway yeah I see my riding improving everyday as I go along, I just have to make sure I always remain alert and not get into a false sense of security.
But then again when all your non-biker mates say stuff like "did you know everyday you ride to uni is a day you cheat death?", "you fallen over yet brah?" you kinda hate them but it sits at the back of your mind as a warning...

[george formby]

Your mates are unimaginative, feelingless, fucktards. Cagers! No idea what swinging through a corner is. The scum you find in kitchen sink u bend. Afraid of liberty & freedom with eye watering acceleration.
Anyway.
Get some masking tape & stick it somewhere above your clocks. Write "Head Up" on it. I've been riding since flint was invented & happily discovered just that bit of tape on my bike after doing some training awhile back. Cheeky but effective.
Your just starting a life time thing, bikes are mint. Avoid learning bad habits.
See if you can get a mentor from this wondiferous forum & get out to NASS, pro rider, etc.
Get the skills & do the practice to be safe & handle your bike well & speed will become inconsequential. It just happens. Safely.
Sorry, I should have said pace. Might get me head kicked in! Speed is dangerous.
The quicker steering thing, jinking, comes from flexibilty in ze hips, shoulders, bits, anatomy etc. Relaxed & comfortable position. Use your head, none of this action man eagle eye stuff. Your U bend cager mates do that. The old scone weighs 4 or 5kg apparently, it's also right at the top of everything so when it moves from one side to the other it has a big leverage effect on everything. Google some moto GP pics. Those guys are like owls.
Enjoy.

[biketimus_prime]

Your mates are unimaginative, feelingless, fucktards. Cagers! No idea what swinging through a corner is. The scum you find in kitchen sink u bend. Afraid of liberty & freedom with eye watering acceleration.
Anyway.
Get some masking tape & stick it somewhere above your clocks. Write "Head Up" on it. I've been riding since flint was invented & happily discovered just that bit of tape on my bike after doing some training awhile back. Cheeky but effective.
Your just starting a life time thing, bikes are mint. Avoid learning bad habits.
See if you can get a mentor from this wondiferous forum & get out to NASS, pro rider, etc.
Get the skills & do the practice to be safe & handle your bike well & speed will become inconsequential. It just happens. Safely.
Sorry, I should have said pace. Might get me head kicked in! Speed is dangerous.
The quicker steering thing, jinking, comes from flexibilty in ze hips, shoulders, bits, anatomy etc. Relaxed & comfortable position. Use your head, none of this action man eagle eye stuff. Your U bend cager mates do that. The old scone weighs 4 or 5kg apparently, it's also right at the top of everything so when it moves from one side to the other it has a big leverage effect on everything. Google some moto GP pics. Those guys are like owls.
Enjoy.

Yeah I know they are, to anyone who doesn't ride bikes, it's a world they know nothing of but love to have opinions on. Annoys the hell out of me! I've not talked to him since he's said it.

I have recently stopped looking at my gear indicator and tried to remember and shift without looking at it as I've heard it's a bad habit to get into as other bikes don't have the indicator. I'll attend the training courses and stuff for sure. Got one coming up next sunday too.
Tried actively looking out of the corners and where I want to go, relaxing my riding position and using my hips today when I rode around, feel very stable and more confident now Can't believe I went from fearing and sometimes avoiding (took different routes) tight corners to absolutely looking forward to them! Thank you for your advice

By the way for seating position, should I sit up against the tank or space my butt out a bit further back? Bike seems to be more stable and comfortable at high speed when I space my butt a bit further back but around town the natural position feels to be sitting further up towards the tank. Felt a bit odd cornering around a roundabout when I sat further back though, but maybe because I'm used to sitting closer to the tank.

[george formby]

Your seating position should be the most comfortable which gives you the best contorl of hand & foot controls. I tend to travel sat in the main part of the seat & move forward slightly on "interesting" roads. Again flexibility is key. Bikes are dynamic so you can move around to a certain extent in anticipation of what your going to do next, not in reaction.. We're on the road so exaggerated body shifts like hanging off the seat are pointless, potentially dangerous & only impress 4 year olds. Same with moving mid corner, not good. Your braking & any body shift should be done before the corner.
As your time on the bike builds up things like sitting position, gear change etc will become second nature.
Again, practising bike handling in a safe environment will develop your feel & skills quite quickly.

[biketimus_prime]

Your seating position should be the most comfortable which gives you the best contorl of hand & foot controls. I tend to travel sat in the main part of the seat & move forward slightly on "interesting" roads. Again flexibility is key. Bikes are dynamic so you can move around to a certain extent in anticipation of what your going to do next, not in reaction.. We're on the road so exaggerated body shifts like hanging off the seat are pointless, potentially dangerous & only impress 4 year olds. Same with moving mid corner, not good. Your braking & any body shift should be done before the corner.
As your time on the bike builds up things like sitting position, gear change etc will become second nature.
Again, practising bike handling in a safe environment will develop your feel & skills quite quickly.

I have downloaded Twist of the wrist 1 and 2 and am currently watching the Twist of the wrist 2 video on youtube, my riding has already improved after taking on some pointers from the first half I watched last night! Keith Code looks like some old Jedi master haha
Cheers, all good advice and matches what I've been reading/watching so far

[george formby]

I have downloaded Twist of the wrist 1 and 2 and am currently watching the Twist of the wrist 2 video on youtube, my riding has already improved after taking on some pointers from the first half I watched last night! Keith Code looks like some old Jedi master haha
Cheers, all good advice and matches what I've been reading/watching so far

Twist of the wrist is not necessarily road focused. And it's really, really cheesy. Get your basics right, maximise your observation & enjoy riding your bike. Your upcoming training & ongoing (hopefully) practice will do far more for you than Keith Code. Not knocking him just trying to keep an open perspective.

I guess a good example would be the t bone thread, Suzuki meets Toyota, Toyota wins. Niorra lot from Keith on that scenario. IYKWIM.

Any hoo. Open minds & onwards & upwards.

[biketimus_prime]

Twist of the wrist is not necessarily road focused. And it's really, really cheesy. Get your basics right, maximise your observation & enjoy riding your bike. Your upcoming training & ongoing (hopefully) practice will do far more for you than Keith Code. Not knocking him just trying to keep an open perspective.

I guess a good example would be the t bone thread, Suzuki meets Toyota, Toyota wins. Niorra lot from Keith on that scenario. IYKWIM.

Any hoo. Open minds & onwards & upwards.

Thank you for all your advice. Onwards and upwards for sure