davez Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 Hi, Im new to the forum and new to this style of improved riding so bare with me please and I hope this is in the right section. My question is simply about chicken strips, I dont mind saying mine are around 1" on my little 400cc sportsbike but in fairness I only do road riding and can take corners ok and even better after taking in TOTW knowledge, although mainly commuting and the odd day out is all I do I dont really need to lay it down like most of you fast boys, also my tyres are perhaps a little rounder profiled than bigger sportsbikes so maybe a little harder to get to the edge, well thats my excuse anyway What it is, unless Im taking this wrong the DVD starts off mentioning chicken strips and the fear of leaning, fair enough and I suppose there is a little of that in me but the problem I have is that through out the DVD its drummed into you that you can get round corners better and with less lean angle and shows you lots of examples such as straight up and crossed up. So is there a reason to go to the edge and not have chicken strips, feeling confused? dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warregl Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 Hi Dave, "Chicken Strips" are one of those things that probably get more attention than they should. I do suppose that if you aren't using all of the tire then there is "performance" being left on the table. That said, if you are street riding, how much performance do you need? On the track...well...that's another story. The idea is to use as little lean as necessary but with all things being equal, if you are going faster you will need more lean angle and eventually ride the tire to its edge. So the oversimplified view is: The smaller the chicken strips = the faster/better the rider However as with all things, oversimplification is the easiest way to obfuscate the truth with the facts. My advice is to continue your education, improve your skills, and the "chicken strips" will take care of themselves as your knowledge and riding improves. Best, Carey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonzilla Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 Carey is right on. They really don't matter that much if at all. If you work on cornering and leaning, they'll be gone in no time and a thing of the past for you. Once you're past the chickenstrips, which will be quickly, what are you going to do so you can gauge your lean? Lap-times? That's the one constant that will tell you if you're improving, if an adjustment to the bike is effective, if a new line or whatever you're trying is effective, or if you're just improving in general because of practice. I'm not sure what the DVD is talking about, but my advice would be to disregard it if it's referring to chickenstrips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobie Fair Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 Hi Dave, First off, welcome and glad you are posting. Is there a reason to go to the edge and not have chicking strips? There are a few factors on this, and we might move this thread to the tires forum, but lets see where it goes first. 1. One doesn't have to use up all the lean angle, as you have learned from the DVD. 2. Some bikes/tires combinations will drag hard parts before the strips are worn out. 3. Not knowing your bike/tires, you might not have really good cornering tires (consider upgrading, cheap investment). 4. Depending on where you ride, and how warm/cold it is there, they might not get fully warm, unless you really get to some curvy roads, and this is key. Please do look at the tires forum for some more data on this, or just ask away. Best, Cobie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davez Posted March 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 Hi and thanks for the quick replies. sorry if my post was not in the right forum, I wasnt sure if it was cornering or tires (tyres, UK ). Anyhow, I have a CBR400, this is my first sports bike and the tyres are 120/150 Pirelli Diablos. In the UK we very rarely have nice hot weather nowadays, infact its around 2 or 3 degrees C at the moment, so tyres dont get warm quickly. I just got it into my head while watching the DVD that something didn't add up and wanted to find out what others here thought about this. I am now gaining more confidence leaning my bike but these chicken strips still look the same, I seem to be riding better without leaning more, very strange but I will try not to dwell on it. thanks again dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorecki Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 FWIW, when situation is primarily on the street I honestly can't see how strips wouldn't happen? I've seen so very few rides in this region where putting a heavy lean on isn't a death wish! Between other traffic, wild life and that ever so shocking downed tree limb in the middle of the road on the far side of a blind curve. There's only *so much* real riding to be had on the street. Just my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faffi Posted March 16, 2011 Report Share Posted March 16, 2011 Depending on the bike and the tyres, my chicken strips range between zero and 6 mm, and I only ride on the streets. It doesn't take all that much lean to get rid of the strips, 40-45 degrees. But you can have little or no chicken strips without being all that fast, and you can have very noticeable strips and be quite rapid - there is more to speed than maxium bike lean. So I think those who say that you should focus on proper technique and actual pace (on a track) are correct - and don't worry about chicken strips or not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Rutter Posted March 16, 2011 Report Share Posted March 16, 2011 Being in the UK, one thing you can do is to hunt out a quiet roundabout (more tricky than it sounds these days). I found one the other day and went round a few times, all the way building the speed and subsequent lean angle up gradually, remembering to constantly look as far through the turn as possible. After about 3 laps a car appeared, so I left the roundabout, when I got home I'd managed to go from 1.5cm strips to barely any (3 or 4mm at most). I've now got the typical roundabout surfer look of a massive left strip and a tiny right one. I've read somewhere that as you run you'll lean, animals all do it too, and your in-built sense of balance tells your brain that anything further than around 34 degrees of lean means you'll fall over. The big trick with leaning a bike is managing to get past this in-built 'safety net' and realising that a bike will lean some way beyond that angle. Once you've done a bit of roundabout practice (or some time on track) you'll get over this barrier and then notice that you've got a lot more flexibility in how you take a corner. I'm looking forward to getting out on track again next week at Silverstone, hopefully it will be nice and dry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmj120 Posted March 16, 2011 Report Share Posted March 16, 2011 Hiya Dave. Some good thoughts so far. If I could add my 2 cents. Chicken stips are a mute point. I have em, and haven't drug a knee; but yet pass those who ride to edge and drag a knee whenever "possible." I used to worry about this sort of stuff - I'd be the one looking at his tires reveling at my 'achievement'. Now, however, I look at my tires to try to read the wear patterns to see what suspension changes I can try or where I might have been off throttle. Point being: If I'm around someone really concerned about chicken stips (good natured ribbing aside), I ignore them and/or toss out a little "listen squidly..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davez Posted March 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 Hi, thanks for the extra thoughts on this subject. I have tried the roundabout method but there are too many cars, very rarly can you try things on the road at the minute due to cars, poholes and black ice to name a few. But I will perservere to get things right without worrying about chicken strips, roll on the summer. cheers dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonzilla Posted March 19, 2011 Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 What I've noticed since I tried to learn suspension set-up through inspecting tires is a line on the tire where what appears to be hard acceleration occurs. There is usually a line of very ground up tire on faster riders bikes, and I'm trying to see if that is anything worth monitoring as far as throttle control and gauging improvement. Anyone else notice this or already know something I don't? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick448 Posted March 19, 2011 Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 In my opinion it is pace not chicken strips that matter. Much like getting your knee down. You see people hanging off going slow just to scrape their knees down. Same with chicken strips. If you are fast then they will go naturally but just trying to get rid of them may affect your style and maybe safety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyrod Posted March 21, 2011 Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 As said above, and again by Rick, don't worry about it. On my bike (SV650) I always have a few mm of virgin rubber on the back, but just before the pegs ground out the front starts vibrating as you run onto the very edge of the front tyre - no strips whatsoever. I don't advocate trying that sort of thing out on the road, there's too much to hit and the grip is variable, plus you'll be using up a chunk of concentration just on your lean angle, which is important but not the be-all and end-all of riding fast round corners. If you want to shred our sliders and lose the strips, I'd recommend a day at Rockingham! Jason, this is one for the experts really but i've been told that if the rubber has wavy patterns like a sandy riverbed then the tyre has got good and hot and moved around a bit. If the patterns are bold then it's being battered too much, and take this futher and it'll tear up properly. The wavy patterns should come from suspension that's not rigid and tyres that are warmed up before you let them have it, as I understand it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridiculefr35 Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 Agree with most said up there. I think that corner speed needs to be set before lean angle is set. Lean angle determines how far you get over the tyre's edge and removes the chicken strips in so doing. Using the hanging off technique, you don't need as much lean for a given speed, yet having saved lean, means you could perhaps go faster, exploiting that lean which remains....I think this part is best done on a track, incase you don't bring it off! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faffi Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 There are also things like quick vs. slow turn-in, making the corner long vs. short etc. that will have impact upon how far you need to lean for any given time it takes to ride through section of road. I still remember an article in Performance Bikes ages ago where one of their test riders crashed after decking the bike har enough to lift the tyres off the road, when another rider went through the same corner on the same bike at a slightly higher speed with only grazing a peg feeler lightly. Both were hanging off. Hence proper technique counts for more when it comes to speed than width of chicken strips, apparently. Which may explain my lack of strips and not such blistering pace... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comptonchinee Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 There are also things like quick vs. slow turn-in, making the corner long vs. short etc. that will have impact upon how far you need to lean for any given time it takes to ride through section of road. I still remember an article in Performance Bikes ages ago where one of their test riders crashed after decking the bike har enough to lift the tyres off the road, when another rider went through the same corner on the same bike at a slightly higher speed with only grazing a peg feeler lightly. Both were hanging off. Hence proper technique counts for more when it comes to speed than width of chicken strips, apparently. Which may explain my lack of strips and not such blistering pace... Those differences in technique would summarise as turn point, quick turn, throttle control (all determining line through the corner) as well as hook turn, and the amount and position of hanging off, am I right?? Your point makes me rethink having fixed footpegs!!! Jason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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