new tyre traction?

[A Toad 2]

I RECENTLY PUT ON 2 NEW IRC TYRES ON MY 400 CUSTOM AND FOUND CORNERING SQUELCHY AS THOUGH THE TYRE PRESSURE WAS LOW .PRESSURE WAS OK AND AFTER A FEW MORE KMS SEEMED TO IMPROVE SOMEWHAT.PUT 2 NEW METTZLERS ON THE WIFES 400 AND SHE COMPLAINED OF THE SAME THING.IS IT NORMAL TO HAVE TO RUN IN TYRES OR ARE WE JUST A COUPLE OF MORONS.

[Two Smoker]

Yep you need to scrub in the tyre, takes about 100-160kms (depending how hard you ride) the initial squeakyness was probably the silicon mould on the tyre..... after the above km's everything will be fine

[FROSTY:Me]

tyres need scrubbing in before they work propperly. gently easing the bike lower and lower in corners.
And they will be slippery as heck untill ya do

[Motu]

You need to put a few kms on a gravel road with new tyres - this scrubs the whole surface of the tyre,no gently going further over each time,just hit the gravel - job done.

[pete376403]

If you don't want to ride slow and careful straight afer fitting the tyre, ou can clean the tyre mould release agent (slippery stuff) off with acetone (nail polish remover) or isopropyl alcohol

Lots of people bin their bikes just after fitting new tyres.

Tyre fitting shops (some do - I have been warned by Wgtn MC after collecting a newly fitted tyre) should inform owners that new tyres don't, initially, stick very well, until the crap is cleaned off.

[aff-man]

Yip definatley sounds like a case of the good old silicone. a certain KBer showed me an ingenius method for getting rid of it........................... the burn out round the back of the shop, it worked perfectly

[Bob]

Yup - as everyone says, about 160kms (100 miles) should do for scrubbing in a tyre.

Never tried any other way of scrubbing in rather than putting the miles on the clock - the idea of using chemicals on a tyre (which are chemical compounds after all, so using another one on them? No idea what the chemical reaction could be). I've also heard of people trying to sand off the silcone coating, but this also sounds risky to me - you could do an uneven job or dig in a little too deep and damage the tyre wall.

Bike shops should tell you to take it easy and gradually increase the angle of lean - throw it into a corner on cold, brand new tyres and you will be watching the bike disappear away from you as you lay there on the road...

Great surface for scrubbing in is called 'Shell-Grip' - it is used quite a lot on roundabouts over here.

[What?]

Yep - 100 to 200 careful K's on the tarmac , or 10K's of giving it shit on gravel.

[moko]

Problem is the stuff tyre companies slap on so they dont stick in the moulds.I`m sure in this day and age there`s no excuse for them not being able to find some way of cleaning this shit off but at the moment they dont.SO,you have to scrub in new tyres and take a great deal of care in the wet.Guy in the tyre shop told me that they get so many idiots falling off within sight of the shop in the wet with new tyres despite being warned it`s un-real.And they are idiots,LISTEN to the guy that fits your tyres,he`s not wasting his breath,tyre shops here will without exception tell folk to take it easy for 100 miles,many dont and they fall off,tough shit,try listening.

[Mongoose]

Yep, gotta agree the gravel road method is the bestest mostest fastest way to get the slippy stuff off a tyre

[toads]

hi thanks guys this is very helpful, I will definately get some mileage onto the tyres before I think of attempting any exploits of a hoonish nature. I am a self confessed Granny on a bike anyway so I'll be well suited to running tyres in I would imagine

[aff-man]

hahaha maybe you could start a scrubbing in business, "i'll ride your tyres for the first 200km and then you get them all nice and scrubbed in "

[Marmoot]

I RECENTLY PUT ON 2 NEW IRC TYRES ON MY 400 CUSTOM AND FOUND CORNERING SQUELCHY AS THOUGH THE TYRE PRESSURE WAS LOW .PRESSURE WAS OK AND AFTER A FEW MORE KMS SEEMED TO IMPROVE SOMEWHAT.PUT 2 NEW METTZLERS ON THE WIFES 400 AND SHE COMPLAINED OF THE SAME THING.IS IT NORMAL TO HAVE TO RUN IN TYRES OR ARE WE JUST A COUPLE OF MORONS.

You are just a couple of morons *doh*
Lucky ones at that too.....

Sorry, j/k
Seriously though, new tyres don't grip at all. Period.

It's not just scrubbing the shiny bits, really. The rubber needs to be worked (kneaded) to make sure the chemicals inside binds correctly and there is no other way to do this than riding it and work some heat into it slowly.
If it is heated up too fast it's no good either, though. It will turn blue and will be just as slippery. Then you'll have to let it cool down and "re-scrub" it again.

[dangerous]

Well being a chippy, I get the sand paper out and give the tyre a wee rub down, 1st around the tyre 2nd across the tyre theres no way that you can do any damage as you are only realy rubbing it down.
I never used to worry about this I'd just take it easy for a while, but one day I came out of the tyre shop after paying for the tyre just fitted (rear) and had other shit on my mind, jumped on the Guzzi and took off as normal........ well fork me if I dident end up facing the way i'd just left from, so I then released the clutch and took off in the other direction like it was all planed. So now I find it easier to give the tyre a quick rub down when I get home.