Warming up my tyres

[hsvboy06]

In many posts I’ve read comments along the lines of "make sure your tyres are warm before you ". While I understand that warm rubber gives better grip than cold rubber, I don’t really understand how I know when/if they are warmed up, or how to warm them up.

I’ve hopped off my bike after a reasonable ride and felt the rear tyre and it’s definitely warm, but by no means hot. Is that "warmed up'? Do tyres warm up fully just riding at 50 km/h in a straight line, say? I’m guessing not. Does just going faster make them warmer, or do you have to turn corners to get full warmth into them? Can someone give me an idea such as "30 min at 100 km/h on the motorway and they’ll be fully warmed up"? At least then I might get an idea of how warm is "warm". I have a nice twisty bit of road on my way to work, but only 5 minutes of 50 km/h roads before it, and I have no idea if my tyres are warm or cold when I hit the twisties.

Once the tyres are nice and warm, how long does it take for them to go cold again when you stop? I’m sure that depends on the air temperature or something, but if someone could give me some idea that’d be appreciated. Will they go cold if you just slow down, eg through a town when you’re cruising the highways?

It’s probably fair to say that I ride like a chicken (I have the strips to prove it), but as I gain confidence and push it a bit more around corners, I don’t want to bin it just because I was too stupid to know that my tyres were cold.

Thanks.

[Shadows]

Probably about 20 minutes of riding at or around 100km will have them nice and warm. What I was taught is that the target you need to aim for is a 4psi increase between cold and hot. Test your tyres when cold, go for a nice long ride, test them again. If they are more than 4psi higher then your cold pressure is too low, less than a 4psi increase and your cold pressure is too high. If wrong then you'll have to try again the next day. Once you get that right, the time riding to get you up by 4psi is the time it takes to warm up your tyres. Of course this will all change if you have a pillion or extra gear on the bike. Clear as mud?

[sugilite:Me]

7 to 10 km's on the motorway, but then I cannot think of any corners tight enough that you would lose it on a SV650 on a motorway due to cold tyres anyways (Wet Road aside)

On other roads, it's approx the same.
Straight line running does not put as much heat into tyres as cornering does. Keep this in mind if you have just travelled over a long straight leading into twisties.

At chicken strip pace, you will not have any worries after the 7 to 10 km mark anyways.

I think some riders get into strife if they be a nana for 10 km's then think thats it and suddenly go into gung ho mode and start to just dump the bike on it's side.
So personally, I just keep increasing the pace gradually so there are no unwanted suprises.

[jonbuoy]

Yup don't think that motorway riding will warm the sidewalls as much as the centre - it will a little but not as much as cornering, ease into it.

[MVnut]

It also depends on how good your tyres are in the first place. Good tyres grip better anyway, even when cold, also bike & suspension setup. Lots of factors really. A mate of mine allowed his MV Senna to be used by a British Mag in a comparo test 'best 750s ever' and the tester/racer wanted to see if he could get his elbow down on cold tyres. ....Yes and he didn't bin it, just wore thru his elbow leather.

[GSX-RJIM]

Your tyers will let you know if they are not warm, with a well set up bike you can "feel"what your tyers are up to ie: feel them gripping or loosing traction slightly. The best way to learn this is to ride heaps, always keep in your mind what your tyres are ''telling'' you. Ask some one who is mad about bikes or races to help you "turn your suspension on".
Not much real help for you I know, sorry. Most modern tyers hang on far more then we think they can, unless we ride on big scary tar patches or ice, or even opposum guts.

[hsvboy06]

...aim for is a 4psi increase between cold and hot.

I did an experiment this morning: Checked my rear tyre pressure before leaving home - 36psi as per the manual. Then I rode the 3km from home through the 50km/h area to the start of the twisties. I then stopped, felt the tyre - a tiny bit warmer - and measured the preassure: 37psi. Lesson: No way are they "warmed up" enough for a really serious run through the twisties (although that's not to say that there still isn't more than enough grip for a chicken like me). Carried on: 2km through the twisties following cages at about 70km/h (I can't be a complete chicken because I easily catch the cages!) then 3km down the highway at 80km/h, and I'm at work! Tyres now noticeably warmer and 38psi.

I'll now have to see what increase in psi I get on a longer ride...

Thanks for the replies - I know there's no exact answer, but what you've said gives me a good idea of the ballpark. Previously I had no idea.

[Quasievil]

Alot of it depends on your actual tyres mate, ie if you got some crappy cheap arse Cheng Shins yeah they may never warmn up, if Diablo Corsa,s they will warm up in minutes to handle anything on the road.
I race on GPR70 dunlops, I get one lap to warm up about 1 min, then the flag drops and we are off, the first lap is a slight issue but not much.
Dont get hung up on it, but it all depends on your brand and model of tyre more so than anything else

[Nutter34]

Another thing to keep in mind is that most 'road' tyres operate at lower temperatures than 'track' tyres.
They did a test with PB where they rode in the middle of winter and the 'road' ones worked and gave better feel, purely since they couldn't generate enough heat into the 'track' tyres in those conditions...
Similarly, a lot of people buy the ohh aah race tyres but realistically, not a lot of people ride hard enough to get them to ideal operational temperatures... on the road.

[DEATH_INC.]

Some mag did a test not so long ago and found that accelerating and braking actually warms your tyres the most. The study found that weaving back and forth (like we all do to warm our tyres) dosn't do much at all

[Mr. Peanut]

That makes sense to me, a lot more energy is being put through the tyres under those conditions than merely rolling along.

New information to me though! I cant be arsed with the whole weaving thing anyway, it makes people look at me funny.

I just get a feel for when my tyres are warm.

[Kickaha]

Some mag did a test not so long ago and found that accelerating and braking actually warms your tyres the most. The study found that weaving back and forth (like we all do to warm our tyres) dosn't do much at all

Roadracing world did it,the link no longer works though :spudwhat:

[Zapf]

tires aside. best thing you can do to the SV650 is sort out the suspension on it

[Gremlin]

You'll know your tyres are still cold when you pull out for home, don't even go 100m, and try to nail it past a car, round the outside, getting onto the motorway

You will know this, because your rear just stepped out a foot to the side...