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glutton

glutton

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I had a little accident yesterday. After putting about 3k miles on my gen I FZ1 it was time for some new rear rubber. I inherited a Pirelli Diablo Strada on the front and a battlax on the back. I went into the shop thinking I would just match them up and throw a strada on the rear. The mechanic I know at the shop told me they didnt have any in stock and suggested a dunlop sportmax. This mechanic was my motorcycle safety course instructor and has been riding since he was 9. He said he puts these on his bikes and usually gets close to 10,000 miles out of them. I have never ridden on a brand new tire before. I was warned while walking out of the shop that it would be slick until broken in. I rode straight home at a moderate pace. Yesterday I took it out to break it in. I live in Cocoa Beach which is currently waist deep in tourists. Until yesterday I have been indifferent to them and their constant lane changing. Not ten minutes into my ride the truck in front of me gets cut off by a tourist who suddenly realizes she needs to cross two lanes of traffic to get into the left hand turning lane. I brake to avoid the truck and have my first bad encounter with new slick rubber. The rear tire locks up and sideways momentum takes over. So I pick my bike up and walk off the road. The guy in the truck comes out and explains what happened in front of him and asks if i need any help. Another sportbiker comes over to check me out as well. Shame and anger begin to set in and I dismiss them both quickly saying im fine. The front fairing has a large crack above the headlight and the right inner panel is no longer attached. A few other scratches here and there. As I have no experience with this I felt I should ask. How long will it take to break in the tire? Approximate mileage? I have locked up the rear wheel many times before but have never went that far sideways before. I have always been able to steer it straight and stay up. Is it just an act of pride to blame it on the new tire or has anyone else had this happen to them?
 
with new rubber I go nice and slow.
Really you want to get the shine,new off the contact point of the tires, if you use more lean, go slow and dont push/load the frt susp. too much.

Sorry to hear of your get-off, but I am glad you are OK.:bowdown:
 
tire "break-in" doesn't have a set mileage. If you go out and ride 100 miles in a straight line... only the center of the tire will be broken in... if you gently work the tire back and forth in some turns, you can have it broken-in within 5 miles ... on the track, tires are consistently "broken-in" on the first lap....

put easily, tires are "broken-in" when the mold release is no longer on the rubber... how long that takes depends on the road type and conditions, temperature, and your style...

However, it sounds like you hammered the brakes a bit hard, lightened the rear-end, which allowed it to lock, and then didn't let off of it... at the same time, as the rear was locked you were trying to steer... this is what made it go sideways.. braking hard in a straight line will not result in you going sideways... until you put pressure on one side of the bars....
 
I just bought my bike 3 weeks ago and the sales guy told me that the tire needs to be broken in since it has some silicone on it and will be slick, he recommended 100 miles and doing some swerving while not in traffic so I can hit the sides of the tires. Had he not told me that I would have never known. I don't remember the sales guy telling me that when I bought my cruiser in 07, unless this is only a sportbike issue. But sorry you went through this hope the damage is not too extensive
 
Don't let your pride beat you up too much. Whatever you did, you're still alive so you must have done something right. The new tires didn't help matters but I think Va Rider nailed it. You may have been trying to steer out of danger and bearing down on the breaks hard at the same time and that probably caused the bike to go down. Cars with anti-lock brakes can steer and maximally brake at the same time. Us, not so much. But this was an urgent, no time to think, type scenario so you did what you could. There are articles and books about such situations but I always appreciate people like yourself sharing a difficult situation because mostly I'm reminded to slow down and increase my following distance as much as possible. It's something many of us, including myself, are guilty of forgetting.
 
Again, the only way I know of scuffing up your tires sufficiently and removing the shiny/greasy of the tire is to lean it over on both sides. So.....how to do that and be fully in control...... Take it to a large parking lot somewhere close, determine there's no sand or silt/dirt on the asphalt and slowly start riding low speed in larger and larger, then smaller and smaller circles. Clockwise then counter clockwise. You will be going slow enough that you wont fall or slide out, try going no more than a jogging pace or as slow as you can so that you dont face throttle snach/jerk, just easy circles. Within a fiew minuates you should see the tires become scuffed with a DRY rubber surface, devoid of the greasy/slick surface. You might spend 10-15 minuates doing this and a fiew odd stares, but who cares, it's your safety were dealing with here.

You should then be good to go, now mind you there might not have been sufficient 'heat' while doing this scuffing if the asphalt's cold, so the hotter the better(asphalt) ......STILL beware for just a little while and go semi-cautiously, you should be fine after a scuff-up session

And you will have been in total control, a pluss when the tires have you squeeming a bit.
 
I feel your pain.
Out of 35 year of street riding. I have only been bit by new tires 2 times.N Nenther were bad. Got up, brushed off my pride. Rode off like I'm ok I'm ok I meant to do that...lol. :doh2:
Good to hear you ok.
I may also have a right inner faring for you as well as a red faring. I'll have to look. I'm trying to clear out my extra parts. I'll PM you if I do have it.
Good luck
 
I've had new tires and the 100 mile take it easy while gradually increasing lean has worked for me - but I'm just wonderin' is there a way to just wash this stuff off the tires? Or maybe just scrub em down once with sandpaper? Just thinking out loud... seems like there should be a better way to deliver tires to a new rider who may not know or be able to scuff them up properly. - oh, just realized this is my first post here... been lurking for a minute... what up everybody.
 
DCrippa said:
I've had new tires and the 100 mile take it easy while gradually increasing lean has worked for me - but I'm just wonderin' is there a way to just wash this stuff off the tires? Or maybe just scrub em down once with sandpaper? Just thinking out loud... seems like there should be a better way to deliver tires to a new rider who may not know or be able to scuff them up properly. - oh, just realized this is my first post here... been lurking for a minute... what up everybody.
Click to expand...

I had a buddy that used to scrub his tires with brake cleaner and steel wool before riding on them.... until one day we both put on tires at the same time... I put mine on, and I'm edge to edge in 5 miles... after that, he stopped scrubbing his tires with steel wool.

Point being... it's easy to scrub in new tires. It's not some mythical wonder...
 
fair enough - that's been the consensus from others I've spoken to as well on the matter... but you still hear about people going down every now and then, just figured there may be a product out there that would do it.

What kinda irks me about scrubbing it through riding - is say you have a cm or two of that slick stuff still on your chicken strips and then one day you lean a little further on a higher speed turn and are sliding b/c of a non scrubbed part of the tire... Would just seem to me prudent to get rid of all of it. Not trying to be a p*ssy but the thought of wiping out because of it isn't very comforting...
 
DCrippa said:
I've had new tires and the 100 mile take it easy while gradually increasing lean has worked for me - but I'm just wonderin' is there a way to just wash this stuff off the tires? Or maybe just scrub em down once with sandpaper? Just thinking out loud... seems like there should be a better way to deliver tires to a new rider who may not know or be able to scuff them up properly. - oh, just realized this is my first post here... been lurking for a minute... what up everybody.
Click to expand...

Welcome. I hear you but I think it's the better of two evils, either you get a dry rotted tire or one with protection in the hopes that you know it's there or the sales/service go over the bike with you and notify you of the silicone infested tire. To be honest with you that's the only thing my sales guy told me, then the service guy came out and went over basic controls with me but it wasn't my first bike just first sport bike. I really had no questions so if Mr sales guy didn't mention tires i would have been screwed.
 
Sorry to hear about the off. It happens to most people at some point. All's you can do is thank God you are OK and get back in the saddle with this new-found experience. As Aaron stated though, it wasn't the tire being scrubbed, it was a lightened rear after a big grab of front brakes and then trying to steer.

The best thing to do now since the bike is in need of repair but first making sure it is 100% drivable, is to go out and practice avoidance and emergency stops until muscle memory starts to kick in. :D
 
Thanks to everyone for the advice and the well wishing. Looks like im headed to a parking lot in the near future. The important thing is the damage is only cosmetic and that Im fine. This forum is amazing props to everyone for building and being part of such a great community.
 
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