Being my first season, and im sure many others first, im curious how temperature is going to affect traction with the cold weather moving in. So, for you seasoned guys, please share ! When the asphault is 100+ degree's i put a lot of trust in my tire, but the nights are getting cold here, and i wonder how much it play into traction on these bikes. When it's real hot you can see the rubber on the tires chessin up after some twisties, it makes you confident the tire is warm and sticky.

Do tires still get up to temp in the cold ? If you could peg a turn close to max lean mid summer, is that just not possible in colder weather ? Do you have to back down some or will the tires still grip ? Is tire choice more important if your riding in the winter ? Say putting on some softer tires that might warm up faster ? Drop a few PSI ?

thanks for any input, this isn't something i want to guess with. If you can still drag knee in the middle of winter i apologize for a dumb question, but i can't be the only one wondering!

 

Good question.

 

Don't know 100%, but here's some information on heating up tires and weaving:
http://www.tlzone.net/forums/what-i-...-up-tires.html

 

Actually, this is a good question for tire manufacturer's. Make some calls & send some e-mails. Who knows, maybe someone that works in that industry can help. Sorry, I can't.

 

Great info in the above link ^^^^^^^

I dont know much, but here is what I do know. My father has been racing stock cars my whole life. When asphalt heats up the oils in it creap to the surface making it slick. This is not noticable to everyday drivers but on a racetrack it makes a difference. I was at a race in Nashville a few years ago on an unseasonably cool night (around 45 degrees) and around 10 cars in the field qualified faster than the previous track record. Let me put that in laymans terms. 10 cars went faster that night than ever before.

So to answer the question yes, but no. The problem is that HOT tires grip cold pavement better than hot pavement. The problem lies in getting your tires hot enough. Like I read in a previous post: cold tires + cold roads = no grip.

So after reading the link above, unless you have tire warmers or are able to bust a few warm up laps it would be best to slow it down a little bit during the winter time.

Just my two cents, take it or leave it.

 

As long as you aren't thrashing your bike around hairpin corners when it's 40 degrees outside, you should be fine. It will get slippery the colder it gets. I usually take it easy during the cooler months. (which is the end of November to early January for us here in NM........and even then, it still stays 65 degrees in the afternoons in mid-Dec.)