[Night Rider]

Yesterday when I came back from the ride I checked my tyres. Rear tyre was marked 10mm from the edge. Without repositioning myself on the bike how much further do I have to lean to get to the edge? Put simply, how far am I from the edge in real terms - allot or not much? If on the road I would get to the edge of the tyre – is it very dangerous and will I be scraping pegs etc...?

:?:

 

[Upshift]

Are you hanging off the bike currently?

 

[YellowRR]

Go to a track day to explore those limits/ area of the tire.

 

[quasi888]

That virgin part of the tire is popularly known as a "chicken strip," and you really need not be concerned about it if you're a street rider. You have plenty of lean angle and traction left; don't worry about it.

 

[westhondapons600rr]

To add to the chicken strip explanation, here's what I posted in another thread on this forum. Note: obsession with lean angle is dangerous on the road.

Chicken strip is the term bikers use when referring to to edge of the tyre not scuffed by road contact. The inference is that you aren't doing it right until you have the whole tyre used. For road riding this is macho s**t. The art of cornering is to minimise the lean angle of the bike, and to get it upright, to apply power, as soon as possible.

 

[corner worker]

This is senseless. I don't know why people are so concerned with how much tire they are using on the street. I could go out and scuff the whole thing in a parking lot never going any faster than 10 mph or I could ride 1000+ miles under normal street conditions and still have unuesed portions of tire. It has absolutely nothing to do with how good/fast of rider you are.

 

[CBRBob]

This is senseless. I don't know why people are so concerned with how much tire they are using on the street. I could go out and scuff the whole thing in a parking lot never going any faster than 10 mph or I could ride 1000+ miles under normal street conditions and still have unuesed portions of tire. It has absolutely nothing to do with how good/fast of rider you are.

+1

 

[mikesduc]

To add to the chicken strip explanation, here's what I posted in another thread on this forum. Note: obsession with lean angle is dangerous on the road.

Chicken strip is the term bikers use when referring to to edge of the tyre not scuffed by road contact. The inference is that you aren't doing it right until you have the whole tyre used. For road riding this is macho s**t. The art of cornering is to minimise the lean angle of the bike, and to get it upright, to apply power, as soon as possible.

I am a good example of this. I have only been riding for three years and the first year riding I used all the tire. Now I ride much faster and safer and have chicken strips left on my tires. I am going to my first trackday in May and will getto explore the limits there. Remember it only takes one mistake and you're screwed so just have fun. Mike

 

[Night Rider]

This is senseless. I don't know why people are so concerned with how much tire they are using on the street. I could go out and scuff the whole thing in a parking lot never going any faster than 10 mph or I could ride 1000+ miles under normal street conditions and still have unuesed portions of tire. It has absolutely nothing to do with how good/fast of rider you are.

:?: 10mph - scuff? I am not concerned with the amount of tyre used on the street just trying to establish limits. The further you lean the greater the contact patch right up to the edge. I am just trying to work out how near the limit I am if the tyre scuff is 10mm of the edge. If an emergency arrises how much further can I tip the bike; alot or not much before I lowside?

 

[Camo]

The whole idea is to get your body's mass to the inside of the turn(thus hanging off your bike) to keep the bike more upright which is where the most traction is. Even with the bike more upright, you will corner faster than if you stay on top of the bike and lean further trying to use up your "chicken strips" Have fun.

 

[Night Rider]

The whole idea is to get your body's mass to the inside of the turn(thus hanging off your bike) to keep the bike more upright which is where the most traction is. Even with the bike more upright, you will corner faster than if you stay on top of the bike and lean further trying to use up your "chicken strips" Have fun.

I thought the idea of hanging of the bike is that as you lean with the bike eventually you will lean to the point of scraping pegs etc. - clearly not good. So when you change BM you can go faster as bike will turn with the same speed but more upright thus you not scrapping anything else but your knee.

:roll:

 

[nj600rr]

This is senseless. I don't know why people are so concerned with how much tire they are using on the street. I could go out and scuff the whole thing in a parking lot never going any faster than 10 mph or I could ride 1000+ miles under normal street conditions and still have unuesed portions of tire. It has absolutely nothing to do with how good/fast of rider you are.

+1

Phew... that's a relief! :wink: I can stop those midnight visits to the AutoZone parking lot... j/k

 

[pharaohf4]

I am just trying to work out how near the limit I am if the tyre scuff is 10mm of the edge. If an emergency arrises how much further can I tip the bike; alot or not much before I lowside?

for the most part, these bikes will outride us. they can lean more than we ever could. I think you will only lowside if you hit gravel or jam on the throttle in a lean. (can someone back me up with this or refute it if i'm wrong.)

 

[powerranger]

When I first started riding, I was trying to get rid of those strips as fast as I could.
I'm going faster through the turns, comfortably, but still not using 100% of the tires.
I have settled with the fact that the rest of the tires are only going to be used on the track. If I continued to lean further when not necessary, just to get rid of some strips, I would put me and my bike at risk. Canyons are not the place for pushing limits

 

[corner worker]

I would put me and my bike at risk. Canyons are not the place for pushing limits

+1

 

[westhondapons600rr]

10mph - scuff? I am not concerned with the amount of tyre used on the street just trying to establish limits. The further you lean the greater the contact patch right up to the edge. I am just trying to work out how near the limit I am if the tyre scuff is 10mm of the edge. If an emergency arrises how much further can I tip the bike; alot or not much before I lowside?

If you corner smoothly on a good road surface, assuming no braking/throttle closing, and you drive through the turn on a slightly positive throttle, you will scrape something on the bike before you run out of available lean angle.

In an emergency: look through the corner to the exit, keep a positive throttle even if just a couple of hundred revs, and lean more if nothing is scraping.

In the UK the most common fatal bike accident is a single rider loosing it on a left hand bend, and sliding onto the other side of the road, to be hit by oncoming traffic. (We drive on the other side, remember). Moral: don't panic and keep leaning. Go to the track and learn how far over a modern bike will lean. BUT don't forget road surfaces aren't as good as racetracks. Less grip inherent in the road surface, more mud/leaves/mown grass/diesel, and 4 wheel morons.

 

[Bushman66]

I didn't buy a bike because it DIDN'T have chicken strips. I ended up buying the bike ('02 F4i) that had nice WIDE chicken strips. You tell me...which one do you think got ridden harder? Yep, i thought the same thing. :lol2:

the funny thing was, the kid that was selling the other F4i was trying to convince me it was a commuter only bike. His idea of commuting and my idea of commuting are vastly different....

 

[spike78]

The whole idea is to get your body's mass to the inside of the turn(thus hanging off your bike) to keep the bike more upright which is where the most traction is. Even with the bike more upright, you will corner faster than if you stay on top of the bike and lean further trying to use up your "chicken strips" Have fun.

I thought the idea of hanging of the bike is that as you lean with the bike eventually you will lean to the point of scraping pegs etc. - clearly not good. So when you change BM you can go faster as bike will turn with the same speed but more upright thus you not scrapping anything else but your knee.

:roll:

This is not technically true. The farther you shift your body weight to the inside of the turn, the quicker the bike will turn with the minimum of lean angle. The more upright the bike is, the greater contact patch you have with the road. The greater contact patch you have with the road, the greater your traction. The greater your traction, the faster you can go.

 

[maztheman]

strattle the gas tank, counter turn, point your inside knee, ride the corner, accelerate and do it again!!