Getting rid of chicken strips on the road

How many actually do this?

I have never quite gotten my tyres to the edge (right now there is a 5-ish mm band of untouched tyre each side) and this year I found a nice route near me which I intended to use to try and get rid of my strips (I'm in London btw so good routes are not that near and there may be others - I just looked it up on a map and tried it out).

However I cannot get rid of the last bit, but it's not really my confidence in cornering as such - it's just it'd be too quick for the roads for me to be happy with what I was doing - given none of the corners I can see all the way round (trees, etc).

I'm sure there are some roads out there that might be better (specifically, ones with 'sighted' corners) but speaking to a couple of people recently (one of whom used to race 2 strokes of some kind) they don't believe it's something you could/should be doing on the road.

I haven't done a track day yet - high on my list, just avoided it due to cost so far. Not stopping me for long though, it just needs me to convince myself.

So, is it me? Should I be going round faster? Or is it correct that you shouldn't try to get to the edge of your tyre on the road...

Never been able to do it myself either.

I usually find that unless I know a road REALLY well, I don't read the corners well enough to hit them a maximum speed. I slow down to what I think is a decent pace but half way round realise that I could have gone much faster.

Roundabouts are you're friend here.

Sand paper.... Applied right to the edge of the tire will get rid of them do it weekly as not to make them come back lol !

Or

LEAN THE BAD BOY OVER LAD! lol!

Originally Posted by sv_rider1990

Sand paper.... Applied right to the edge of the tire will get rid of them do it weekly as not to make them come back lol !

Or

LEAN THE BAD BOY OVER LAD! lol!

Lol - this is my point - I can lean it over further but it wants to turn quicker (as you'd expect). Thus, I need to go faster through the corner - however that puts me outside of my comfort zone w.r.t. how much I can see, etc, and how safe it is. I think to get to ~5mm left it's not really a leaning issue...is it?!

Originally Posted by Woz

Never been able to do it myself either.

I usually find that unless I know a road REALLY well, I don't read the corners well enough to hit them a maximum speed. I slow down to what I think is a decent pace but half way round realise that I could have gone much faster.

Roundabouts are you're friend here.

This is a good point and certainly is how I feel coming out of the corner - I just can't bring myself to go in any quicker - going in quicker I am more committed to a particular line and compromise my ability to adjust should there be anything I need to avoid. Did have a quick go on a nice roundabout but it was too busy & in any case I feel liike it's cheating lol.

I do know the roads fairly well but as above it puts me out of my comfort zone (considering safety) going round any quicker...

Don't worry about (IT) Muffles!!! Mine are about the width of the tyre, I just put it down to only having riden my for commuting purposes so I really don't know where the limits are.

If any of those runs go through Greenwich/Dartford give me a shout and I wouldn't mind trying to keep up!!!

[Stu]

For ****'s sake ride the road & not to your chicken strips.
Some tyres you can't get to the edge of. Nothing wrong with 5mm IMO.

I've been getting more confident on my commute home from work and leaning it further, but still don't think I'm ever likely to go right to the edge of the tyre on the road, though it's nice to know there probably is more grip / lean available, should I need it one day.
My tyres get squared off in next to no time though anyway, with all the motorway miles I do each week, so by the time I got rid of any chicken strips they'd just grow back after a week!

Originally Posted by krhall

Don't worry about Muffles!!! Mine are about the width of the tyre, I just put it down to only having riden my for commuting purposes so I really don't know where the limits are.

If any of those runs go through Greenwich/Dartford give me a shout and I wouldn't mind trying to keep up!!!

What? Who's worrying about me?

The one I've been using is this http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=9867741485536747334,51.3029 90,-0.323900%3B1983186439161982562,51.301985,-0.329883%3B15703112228820142479,51.302814,-0.345352%3B15787814234975946391,51.340163,-0.455416%3B8497312190854109348,51.337600,-0.504050%3B2366881179342380307,51.418805,-0.641706&saddr=A245%2FBypass+Rd+%4051.302990,+-0.323900&daddr=A245%2FKingston+Rd+%4051.301985,+-0.329883+to:A245%2FRandalls+Rd+%4051.302814,+-0.345352+to:A245%2FByfleet+Rd+%4051.340163,+-0.455416+to:A245%2FOld+Woking+Rd+%4051.337600,+-0.504050+to:51.435711,-0.655403&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=5&sz=13&via=1,2,3,4&s ll=51.425116,-0.634804&sspn=0.048381,0.138187&ie=UTF8&ll=51.3151 64,-0.414047&spn=0.193989,0.55275&z=11

It's reasonable but isn't solely corners, however it's the best I could find on the map, that was near (ish) to me!

I was keeping an eye on that other thread of yours...would deffo be interested in finding a good route around Kent area so might just give you a shout ...maybe plan something from your other thread!

Originally Posted by Addicted

For ****'s sake ride the road & not to your chicken strips.
Some tyres you can't get to the edge of. Nothing wrong with 5mm IMO.

That's what I'm doing Stu! I am not saying the 5mm is "wrong", in fact I know it requires a fair bit of lean, but I am questioning whether I in fact have plenty of "room to spare" so to speak. Sounds like people are agreeing with the others I've spoken to that this isn't the case, which is fair enough - I just didn't know if it was just me.

Originally Posted by muffles

That's what I'm doing Stu! I am not saying the 5mm is "wrong", in fact I know it requires a fair bit of lean, but I am questioning whether I in fact have plenty of "room to spare" so to speak. Sounds like people are agreeing with the others I've spoken to that this isn't the case, which is fair enough - I just didn't know if it was just me.

I should clarify - obviously it does depend on the road, but the question maybe could be put as "how common are roads where you could reasonably get to the edge?".