Scrubbing in new tyres?

[granty92]

so as the title says i have my new tyre on but they said i need to wear it in for 100 miles, the roads are cold and icy by me and im scared haha could i just sand the top layer off or do i really need to ride it in?

[jambo]

Just ride. But don't try to scrape the pegs round the local bends for a bit. I've ridden home from having a pair of fresh tyres fitted in torrential rain in winter and been fine. Just be aware that until they're scrubbed in they won't be at their best.

Jambo
Sent from my thingie

[coopesh56]

Definitely wouldn't sand it down mate, like jambo said, just take it easy for a while

[Galviniser]

He's right, just go round corners slow, forget about everybody else. upright you won't notice a thing

Sent from my XT890 using Tapatalk 2

[granty92]

cheers guys, what about when i do need to corner a bit lower down? or should i wait for it to dry and warm up?

[jambo]

The tyres do not have a coating of explosives or banana skin on them, just ride normally, and build up the lean over the miles. As you build the lean up you'll gradually scrub them in, and they'll be fine.

Or to put it another way, these are new, just get to know them for a bit before trying anything heroic and everything should act as you'd expect.

Jambo
Sent from my thingie

[granty92]

ok cheers :)

[Fallout]

Scrubbing in-o-phobia! I hate that they even tell you to scrub them in. Makes you paranoid they're coated in grease! :) It has to be a load of tosh in my opinion, cos any one portion of the tyre will not be scrubbed in until you use it. The portions used at high lean are never gonna be scrubbed in until you lean the bike over at speed and actually use them. Yeah, they might get some slight weathering/dirt in a few hundred miles, but the surface won't be 'scrubbed'.

I believe (or so I've been told) that tyres used to have factory grime or protectant or something on them. Also in the showroom new bikes might have their tyres polished (bloody fools!), but I've never had any residue on new tyres. The only thing I can see you doing to give the tyres a chance is no throttle or brake at lean, so you can hit that portion of the tyre with minimal forces exerting on it. Aside from that I think the whole scrubbing in thing is somewhat scaremonger-ish. What Jambo said about getting to know the tyres makes far more sense to me.

[granty92]

cheers fallout but yes it definately is scrubbing in-o-phobia

[jambo]

It's not complete cobblers, more than one person has ended up on their back side within sight of a tyre fitter. But I think it gets over stressed and over stated in some people's minds.

Tyres used to use a release compound to make sure they came out of the mold cleanly, which would leave a sheen on the surface. I'm not sure this happens anymore at all, some manufacturers have confirmed they don't and I'd expect the others have followed suit.

Part of a tyre's grip does come from the surface being rough, which it isn't out of the mold. And if you add lean gradually most of the contact patch will be rough, with only a little of the fresh rubber introduced at a time and roughed up. If you go from 90 to 45 degrees of lean on corner one, then 100% of your surface is smooth, which would probably have an effect on available grip.

The getting to know the tyre argument also comes in. If you're used to riding squared off, worn out tyres, it can be a surprise how fast the bike drops into corners now that the profile is something like right.

For all these reasons it's a good shout to take it easy for a little bit, but they don't go from greasy to safe as you tick over the 100th mile, and riding bolt upright won't ease the edges in either.

Jambo
Sent from my thingie

[Fallout]

Tyres used to use a release compound to make sure they came out of the mold cleanly, which would leave a sheen on the surface.

That's what I heard too.

Part of a tyre's grip does come from the surface being rough, which it isn't out of the mold. And if you add lean gradually most of the contact patch will be rough, with only a little of the fresh rubber introduced at a time and roughed up. If you go from 90 to 45 degrees of lean on corner one, then 100% of your surface is smooth, which would probably have an effect on available grip.

That makes sense. Good point actually. So gradually increasing lean angle over time does make sense. However pootling around upright out of paranoia is probably excessive.

[Chris199]

could just wait a week or a couple of days to ride it when the roads arnt cold and icy but yeah if you go out just take it easy

[otaylor38]

Just keep calm and ride steady. Worst thing you can do is tense up while riding. Just relax and go slow, then get faster over the miles.

Just remember that like Jambo said, the turn in is a lot faster. Also, gonna be more difficult to get them up to temperature anyway in this weather.

You'll be fine.

[Biker Biggles]

More important than getting a bit of roughness on the surface is to get the tyre hot.It is heat that gets rid of the slipperyness of a new tyre more than scrubbing every bit of the tread.

[Fraser1200]

really old video but gets me everytime!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9zNUPDmnz4

[coopesh56]

Seen that before still gets me wincing everytime too

[Fallout]

really old video but gets me everytime!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9zNUPDmnz4

Seen that loads too and still find it hard to believe those are clean tyres. I'm sure they've been polished or something. He literally had no grip at all!

[NedSVS]

I don't often fit a brand new tyre these days, the ones I like are really stretching my budget - anyway, in general it saves me the trouble of scrubbing them in. I have just bought a "used" Sportsmart front that isn't even fully scrubbed in and you can see the scuff where it let go! Someone pushing too fast to soon. Just take it easy - there's no great rush.

[NTECUK]

Fitted a new back to mine last summer .Next day did the BBQ ride out through all the twisty lanes .I just steadly built up the pace .
Had more drama from stuffing two drinks under the seat hump !
Man that was very difficult to get off.

[granty92]

yeah i went for a long ride to weymouth last night and slowly leant further over, will still go steady over the next few days before i go to the mcn show in london

[Dicky Ticker]

The heat cycle on new tyres is everybit as important as surface scrub.
Think about it----New race tyres are kept hot so that they come up to temperature on the"Parade" lap giving a bit of scrub but it is still a couple of laps before they have full grip.
At this time of year with such low ambient and surface temperature unless you are riding like a racer it is highly unlikely that you will get tyres up to there optimum.
Just ride steady and let them bed in over a couple of decent rides before you start pushing them to anywhere near your limits.
I have had a 2-300 mile tyre spit me off pulling away from a junction. On looking at the tyre it was wet where condensation had built up while parked due to the heat cycle and atmosphere.This plus newness resulted in the back sliding out from under me even with normal acceleration.
Take it easy while it is cold,bit warmer at the weekend 10c so bide your time but even that is not going to generate a full heat cycle

[NTECUK]

Its gona be nice over the week end plus the rain thurs will help wash the salt away.

[NTECUK]

Its a bit frowned on but lowering the base pressure 3 or4 psi seams to help me .

[yorkie_chris]

I was quite happy to ride on a storm ST at full pace within 30 miles or so, this was on nice clean grippy roads in North Wales near Aber. Once it is hot you're golden.