Type of tyres you run in this awful weather!
 

I'm running Dunlop 208's and went out yesterday for the first time in ages as it was quite mild
:shock: boy oh boy was it slippy!!
Terminated my ride after about 15 mins as I didn't like it one bit.
Do any of you change your tyre type during your winter riding or is it a confidence thing, as the bike has been in the garage for the last 5 weeks?

After 15 minutes your tyres were probably barely warm. At this time of year tyre temperature is especially important.
I always find on journeys in town I have to ride like a grandma, but when I get out onto the open road I can still have alot of fun, despite the slippery roads, because the tyres get a chance to warm up.

I'm running a Viper front and BT014 back. Last year I ran Road Attacks till Feb or so, then the RA front with a BT020 back.
I've never had any problems with specific tyres in the winter, just some that take a little longer to heat up than others (the BT014 takes a while but is nice once it's warm, the Vipers warms up quickly, for example)

4 tyres are best in this weather...in the car :lol:


SPeeeeDY (dry use only)

I just take it easy in this sort of weather and never have any probs.....with the stock tyres

Z6's at the mo, but 020'' / 010's before that

Never had a problem on either set, just ride to the conditions and the outside temperature and the temperature in my tyres.

As carsick says, just takes longer to get heat into your tyres but once you've done that your sorted 8)

I dont change my tyres for winter

Z6's are cool (wet or dry) 8)

You mean they don't heat up? That's not a good thing is it??? :wink: :lol:

They heat up just fine. Mine were steaming the other day after a spirited ride :thumbsup: :wink:

Managed to lift the back end coming back home from a short blast this afternoon and she's only got D220's on. I hated them on my last SV but they seem fine on this one, once they get warm, anyway.

You need firm straight line braking (with front brake only) to get heat into the front (should feel like the back end is wanting to lift, but not actually leaving the floor). Brisk straight line acceleration to get heat into the rear. Wouldn't advise doing either if leaning over at all. And maybe be a little less hard in the damp/wet but a few of those and you'll warm your tyres up quicker. Works for me.

Thanks for your replies, a font of knowledge as usual from this forum :notworthy:
As you say Carsick, 15mins isn't long enough for my tyres to heat up, so looks like I'm going to have stop out for a longer ride in my armoured string vest, shorts and flip flops :lol:

BigApe, reading how you like to ride, especially when there are unmarked squad cars around, I'm guessing the rear one was quite a bit hotter than the front :wink:

I also run them 1-2psi down (31/34 instead of 33/36) in this weather, to get a bit more heat in them, but that's personal choice and something you should only do if you're happy running them slightly lower.

I wish mine would get warm :(

Are we still talking tyres here?

I'm using Michelin Pilot Powers. I have spun them whilst cold, but they seem ok when they have warmed up. Mind you I don't give it great handfuls in the wet.

Lol. :)

What I meant to say was I don't think I have ever felt my stock dunlops warm. Let alone hot!

You're not riding them hard enough, then. They definitely will heat up.

I'm still on stocks and they are OK when hot. Got the back end up on the A1(M) yesterday in crash avoidance. I will admit they are pants cold though!

the best i reckon if you have the mula

Personally the only time I have found the stock dunlops to be a problem is when the road has dry and damp patches on it, they are horrible then

If the road is dry they are fine, if the road it sopping wet they are fine to

IMHO

I guess my in-town riding isn't suffient to get them up to temperature. I think they are a nighttmare and I am totally paranoid about corners in the wet.

No it wont be, your riding around on cold tyres thats probably why you have lost confidence in them

Take them out on a bit of a run and get them warm then see how different they feel

Yeah I know that's the problem, but I don't have the time to get out for a proper blast at the moment. :(

Joe has used them for some decent riding and says they're fine, but we both agree they have very little feel, and don't hold heat well either.

I reckon this is true for a lot of tyres. Damp conditions always seem far more slippery than proper wet conditions.

Probably, but to me this is the one area where the Standard Dunlops really let themselves down, you go from a dry road under some trees or something where there is a damp patch and then you loose all the feel / feedback from them and then they feel horrible, as soon as you go back to a dry bit of tarmac again then they feel OK.

TBH I never found the 020's to be bad like that or the Z6's I have on my bike at the moment

on my 2nd set of 020,s. no problems whatsoever in any conditions. however, i have a question; when i,m on it i,m a fairly fast rider and have been happy with the 020,s and av45/46 (in dry) and never felt that a stickier tyre would make any difference especially considering the power output of the sv. any opinions from those who have swapped to stickier tyres and noticed a difference would be interesting :?:

Pirelli MT60Rs
http://www.mawonline.com/photos/pire...60_tire_rr.gif

What no metal studs :lol:

The Roadtecs are fantastic for cold and wet conditions... They're better when not warmed up than most tyres, because of the high silica content, and warm up faster. Not as good as Randy's tractor tyres though- he knows things about bad weather riding that I hope to never have to learn ;)

I commuted through my first winter on Sportecs and they were a complete pain... Skitey as anything until they were warmed up, which just didn't happen at all on some really cold or wet days. And white lines, forget about it. Better in the dry of course, more grip than I ever managed to use.

Oh aye, I meant to add... I've been running around with some sort of Avon Azaro- 45/46 I think? Which honestly, I hate in the wet with a passion. But in teh snow, these things are like voodoo, really good.

Type of tyres you run in this awful weather!
 

Switche from the stock Dunlops a few years ago. Looking back, they inspired no confidence at all - even at slow speeds, it doesn't take many leaves on a wet country lane to upset its balance.

Riding all year, I'm n my fourth set of Bridgestones BT020s - I've never changed 'cos I'm happy with them, especially in the wet. The times I've fishtailed from uneven brake pressure, the tyres turn to grip just that much faster. Definitely prefer the Bridgestones BT020's.

It depends where you ride on the road, too - lots of bikers stick on the middle of the lane where it's slippery - stick to one or other of the dry, clean car tyre tracks and you'll get a lot more grip, especially in poor weather.

See, cars ARE good for something after all. :D

Almost 3 pages of advice about warm tyres :shock:

Tyre construction warms tyres up, it is nothing to do with outside temperature. modern tyres are made from chemicals which react with each other, that is how the temperature rises from within.

An old school teacher of mine used a simple exercise to demonstrate physics.

"What is heat?" "a form of energy Sir" if you didnt answer the question correctly he would slap your ear till it got warm :D

Road temperatures do not make any difference to tyre heat, it comes from within, like your ears :P

No man is an island friend Wheelnut- if the road and environmental temperatures are cold, that draws heat away from the tyre. More so in cold, wet conditions. war roads don't heat tyres faster, they just reduce the heat loss- which has exactly the same effect, of course.

As for "chemicals which react with each other", if it were as simple as that tyres would always be warm. There's no exothermic chemical reaction in a tyre, to the best of my knowledge anyway- what warms tyres is their own internal friction. The tyres constantly reshape, which causes friction within them, which causes heat.

Correct, but the chemicals hold the heat in the tyre without it going sloppy or slack :P

Tyre warmers are used to heat the internal carcass of a tyre, then the construction is designed to hold that heat.

I agree with your theory too, because a school teacher slapping your ears was demonstrating how friction works :P