I am a fairly new rider and have just recently started taking curves a little faster than the posted speed limit. The reason I hesitate to jump headlong into this is simply because I hear so much about "making sure my tires are warm before-hand" Why do the tires need to be warm and how can I tell when they get that way? Sorry if this falls under the id10t questions but I'm not willing to lean anymore until I know what I need to know! Thanks

 

The dumbest question is a question never asked.

The reason your tires need to be warmed up before aggressive riding is so they stick to the road better and you dont lowside your bike. As far as knowing when they are warm enough to do so all depends on a few different factors, ie: road temp, outside temp and what kind of compound tire you are running. The warmer the road and outside temp the faster your tires will heat up.

As far as being able to tell when the tires are warm enough, there really is no way without finding out the hard way (if they arent). You could always buy some chicken hawk tire warmers (waste of money if you ask me), quite usefull for racing though.

If you know what kind of tires you are running you can do a little bit of research on the web and find out what compound they are and see what kind of rating they have. I myself am running Michellin Pilot Powers 2CT they are very sticky tires and they heat up faster than most tires, I dont ride aggressively for about the first five miles on an average day.

Hopefully this will help you aout a bit.

 

^ thanks for that post! very helpful...good to know info.

 

As mentioned before alot of factors come into play here. Air temp, road temp, what kind of riding you are doing. Something you can do, and I do is when I get off my bike to rest or fill up, if Im uncertain of my tires because its cold outside I will feel my tires. Do this several times and you will begin to feel the difference in heat according to days. Yesterday I was riding the twisties and took a break and my tires were HOT and STICKY but I also run the PP which I LOVE and only use.

Also if you are just going a little over the speed limit and really not leaning the bike to the extent where you have the minimum road contact you shouldnt have to much to worry about. It is a good thing to be thinking about and shows responsibilty.

 

do you have stock tires? id try not to ride too agressively with stockers, cause they are hard, and wont support you once your leaning over past a certain distance...ive got first hand experience