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cold tires

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Old Oct 29, 2010 | 02:14 PM
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LJ Harp's Avatar
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Default cold tires

On my way to work this morning it was 45°f i was leaving my apartments and as i was leaning i lost traction and almost laid my bike down luckly i regained control and took it easy s are me though just wondering if the temperature can affect my traction because formula one cars swerve to warm their tires up
 
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Old Oct 29, 2010 | 02:21 PM
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Yes the temp will affect your tires, no swerving like race cars wont warm them up any faster.

When its colder you have to be more careful especially when first leaving out. Accelerating n braking will help warm the tires
 
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Old Oct 29, 2010 | 03:25 PM
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I didn't try the swerving thing using it as a reference but that would be funny lol. And thank you
 
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Old Oct 30, 2010 | 09:34 PM
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Most bike tires follow what we refer to as the dreaded "below 50 rule"...they don't stick very well at all below 50 degrees. So be extra, extra careful if the ambient is less than 50 when first starting out (even if above 50, ALWAYS be careful when you're first starting out 'cause your tires are cold).
 
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Old Oct 31, 2010 | 12:50 AM
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That's awesome to know thank you so with brand new tires could that pose more of a problem or would it be about the same
 
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Old Oct 31, 2010 | 08:10 AM
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All tires won't have their maximum traction until warm. How quickly they warm depends on the brand of tire and how you warm them.

A couple blocks of quick starts at the light and firm braking (not maximum) on straights and my stock tires will be ready for some harder braking and turn ins. I still won't push them for at least a mile or so. That means leaving enough distance between me and anything I might have to brake for (stop lights, cars).
 
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Old Oct 31, 2010 | 10:37 AM
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Originally Posted by Lj 900RReno
That's awesome to know thank you so with brand new tires could that pose more of a problem or would it be about the same
New tires have never been warm, so they aren't very sticky at all until they've been heated up at least once. People have all kinds of reasons for why new tires are slick, but you just need to heat them up.
 
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Old Nov 4, 2010 | 10:12 PM
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thank you all for the help and advice.
 
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Old Feb 12, 2012 | 06:02 PM
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I had a similar experience with cold tires. The previous set of tires I had were more grippy with less warm up and I had become used to this. Normally by the time I had ridden out of town and hit the interstate on ramp they were ready to bite asphalt with no problem. After installing a new set of tires of a different brand, I didn't have a chance to ride them in cooler temps until maybe a month after putting them on. I left one night in the summer, ambient temp probably 68F, and rode out through town headed for the interstate. As I hit the on ramp I throttled hard and intended to be running the posted speed limit as reached the merge lane (I could see clearly that nothing was coming so there was no reason to keep slow and yield) as I reached the end of the ramp the rear of the bike kicked out ever so slightly when I crossed the painted white line. This was not terrifying, but was unexpected since I had entered this particular stretch of interstate via this particular on ramp the same way 1,000 times before and never had this happen. Needless to say, I didn't push and hard corners until I had ridden at speed for another 10 miles or so. Know your tires and don't assume that they all react the same.
 
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Old Feb 12, 2012 | 07:57 PM
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Originally Posted by HandFullOfThrottle
Know your tires and don't assume that they all react the same.
+1 on that.. know your tires and your bikes throttle like peanut butter and jelly
 
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