Chicken Strips

So the riding season is pretty much done in this part of the world, and it's time to set up for winter maintenance in the basement. Having parked up the bike I was inspecting the tyres, Avon Storm ST's, and noticed something odd. The rear chicken strips are about 1/4 inch wide, more or less half of the AVON logo at the edge of the tyre is scuffed. The front strips on the other hand are about 21/2 inches wide. Now in the past, and on all my other bikes, the front strips have always been wider than the rear strips, but never by anywhere near this much, maybe three or four times wider at the front on average. I might add that the Avons stick like shit to a blanket in any kind of weather, and on almost any surface, and never a hint of sliding from either end at any speed or lean angle (except maybe one steep, downhill motorway exit ramp where they do back in if I'm hard on the front brake, but this is with the bike almost upright). And I do like 'spirited' riding.

Rear stock shock is on second to the top (hardest) notch, and rebound is on the stiff side. Front compression is again on the stiffish side. Tyre pressures are 36lbs front and 42lbs rear.

This is not me, but a local road that we usually ride similarly.
YouTube - SV650 , SV Riders on T* Road

Any opinions?

 

tire profiles have been changing and that is part of the reason
also lower your tire pressure 32-34 front and 36-38 rear .. max pressure as listed on side wall of tire is for max load.

 

I've got Michelin PR2 on back, and Pilot Powers on the front.
I've got 0 chicken strips on the rear, and still a good inch or so on the front.
It's normal. If you look at the profile of my two tires, the PR2 has a much rounder profile, not nearly as long as a 'sidewall' than the front tire. From the edge of the sidewall (I'll call it maximum lean point) on the front tire, to the contact point in the middle of the tire, there is a long way to lean the bike over. I doubt I will ever get to that point on the street where I've used all of the chicken strip on the front Pilot Powers.

 

Personally I wouldn't drop the tire pressures. I am 200lbs with gear and find even a couple of lbs less pressure messes with cornering stability. maybe if you are on the lighter side.

 

Your setup is almost identical to mine and my chicken strips are almost identical. Mostly it seems to me to be related to the different profiles front and back. And yes I really like the Avons, very smooth and stable. Just don't notice the tires at all under any normal riding situation.

 

you might want to send your tire manufacture a e mail or check the web site for tire pressue.

you will get better grip running lower then max pressure.

I run M-3's and have gone as low as 30 front and 32 rear with no ill effects.
again tire psi as listed on tire is max load pressure.

also ck suspension you might need differnt springs for your weight.

 

One thing that I've generally noticed is that under "normal spirited riding" I will have no rear strip and about a 1/2" of strip in front. While trully riding aggresively (track or otherwise) I have no striping at all. It is not because I am leaning any more or less with either stlye it's that when I am really going heavy on the throttle, driving the motorcycle as hard as possible at the apex, it seems to create more force on the front causing the sidewall to compress, bringing the remaining 1/2" of tire into contact with the pavement.

That's the working hypothesis anyway.

 

Thanks y'all for the replies.

A second look after reading these posts does show a pretty high and rounded front tire profile. So I guess that the profile of the tire is at least part of the reason for the different wear patterns.

I have another question though........Both Avon and Honda recommend the 36/42 psi pressures front and back. I have had zero issues with grip so far, so why would I need to lower the tire pressures further?

 

For normal, spirited street riding, I leave my pressure to what Honda recommends for my bike. I have had zero traction issues with this. Track use, a little lower for more grip/traction.

Many articles state that if you have too little air in your tires, (for street use), it will actually generate more heat. (I'm not a scientist here, but I did sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night, and that makes sense to me!)

 

once again that is max weight psi rating for gross weight .. so if you pack a ton of stuff on your bike that is the pressure to use.
I never run max pressure and if you go to tire manufacture web site they will give listing of psi for your tires and differnt uses like track days and solo riding.

cold weather lower and rain lower psi.

ask bbwong about full psi while riding in the rain.

you will get more grip running lower pressure then full psi. just my opinion the choice is yours

I run M-3's for example so click on link below and scroll down you will see they list a min and max pressure range, if you really want to get into it ck pressure cold then go ride and ck hot pressuse sould be about 10-15% increase of cold psi.

http://www.us.metzelermoto.com/en_US/browser/attachments/pdf/2008_METZELER_FULL_LINE.pdf

you can also e mail them w/ type of riding you do and they will recomend psi.

 

^^^^^

Plus 10,000

02 knows what he is talking about.

On the street I run 34-36 front and 36-39 rear depending.

On the track I run 27-30 on the front and 28-30 on the rear, or some combo of depending upon weather, etc.

Max tire pressure is for MAX load.

BZ

 

I just went out to the garage to look at the tires on my two 5th gens. One bike has BT021's, the other has Pilot roads. Air pressures are the same for both bikes, 36 PSI front, 42 PSI rear. I have been riding both of them often lately and I try to ride them the same.

The bike with the Bridgestone tires has no chicken strips on the rear, maybe
1/4 inch on front. There is a big difference between bikes, as the one with the Michelins has 1/2 inch strips in the back and more than 1/2 inch in the front. Funny thing is that I feel like I can actually ride the bike with the larger chicken strips faster around turns. Eyeballing it says the Michelins have a taller profile--maybe that accounts for the difference.

Jon

 

if 36- 42tire pressure is working for u i wouldn't change it. lower tire pressure= more heat and faster tire wear.
don't worry about chicken strips its a sign of intelligences.

 

Short version: because your tyres tell you to. Easiest way to find optimum pressure for a given suspension setting is go and ride your favourite twisties, read your tyres. Then make small changes one at a time.

 

I like my chicken strips about an inch wide and about four inches long dipped in BBQ sauce.........

 

I just like to watch my chickens strip







Or, About 1 1/4 feet wide and 5 1/2 feet long.






I'll try lower pressures next year when the riding season returns.

Until then ....... Mmmmmmm, wonder what's for dinner?

 

If the bike's recommended tire pressures are 36/42 for the front and rear, respectively, that's not the max. If the tire's max pressure is the same as the manufacturers recommended pressure, what are you going to do? If Honda recommends the pressures it's doing so based on normal riding conditions, not track days or bad weather (which are better navigated with lower tire pressures). I generally keep my tires at 36/40 front/rear. I agree with Havcar: the width of the chicken strips may be caused by the force generated during the curve; therefore, the faster, more aggressive you're riding, the less chicken your strips will be.

 

My chicken strips are very different on my current tires(shinko 005's) than they have been on other tires. Just about zero chicken strip on the front and only a 1/4" or so on the rear. I was surprised when I saw the front. Guess every tire profile is different, btw, I definitely recommend these tires. Been great!

 

How do the 005 shinkos go in the grip department? How much spin do they need to work? I've been considering trying a set.

I used to run the 003 on a 05 cbr600rr. Excellent tyre on a damp road. But you have to be riding at about 4-6% spin to make them work.

 

I've only got about 1k miles on them so far but I've ridden as hard as I am going to ride with them and they haven't skipped a beat. I have not felt like I was going to lose traction even once. Granted I might not ride as hard as you do, I've still pushed them pretty hard. They turn in great and my next set of tires will be another set of 005's.