Minimum Weather Conditions

[Jaybird180]

What are the weather conditions that we as sport riders should consider as minimum weather to ride? On the street? On the track?

 

I'm usually interested in riding in anything above 49F degrees. I'm obviously more tentative when riding in these conditions and am re-evaluating that protocol. Do tire manufacturers publish data for determining 'safe' weather conditions?

[Cobie Fair]

What are the weather conditions that we as sport riders should consider as minimum weather to ride? On the street? On the track?

 

I'm usually interested in riding in anything above 49F degrees. I'm obviously more tentative when riding in these conditions and am re-evaluating that protocol. Do tire manufacturers publish data for determining 'safe' weather conditions?

 

I don't think you'll get a published list from a tire manufacturer, but I can give you the extremes we had had to ride in:

 

Coldest day I recall was 37 F at Loudon in Oct, and it was raining all day. Not that much fun.

 

Hotest has been 106+, but might have had a hotter one in Phoenix (110). I thnk the UK guys did a Dubai day that was even hotten.

 

If I'm reading between the lines a little, I'm guessing this is about your other post, and what will be good guidlines for riding agressively. There are some variables, so let's get them out as step 1, not necessarily in order of importance.

 

1. Ambient temp.

2. Sunny, cloudy--and how does this effect the asphalt temp--in the end, pavement temp.

3. Humidity, or lack of. How about wind? This can cool tires very quickly, if it's a cool wind.

4. Surface grip, how grippy is the pavement. This can be quite variable, and would include bumps, dips, etc.. For example, we did schools at Laguna Seca years ago (before it was repaved), and it had a reputation for being slippery. It was, when the tires were cold for sure. But, if the tires were warmed up enough, it was fine. This, and other tracks, can get polished from lots of car use, and get slippery. Or another example: at Vegas early this year, a student went way too fast into the first 2 turns adding lean angle and throttle (the deadly duo) on stone-cold tires, on a cool morinng. If the track wasn't as grippy as it is, he would have, should have been on his head, but the pavement saved him.

5. Tire condition. This will have to include wear as well as inflation. We get so many tires incorrectly inflated, it's astounding.

6. Suspension. It only has one job--keep the tires on the ground. If it's way off...less traction.

7. Rider--does he do his job, and does he let the bike do it's job. This is covered in Twist 2 of course (and at the school).

This last point can be quite extreme--one rider makes it through a turn, and another doesn't. A little while back we did a school, one coach was on a stock bike, the other on basically a full superibke (including slicks). The coach went through the turn, the student fell riding right behind him. So, a superior bike didn't handle the turn, with a less trained rider.

 

Seems like this might get a little difficult to put a formula up here like: 68 degrees, no wind, you can lean the bike over 45 degrees.

 

C

[Jaybird180]

I knew it's wishing and hoping to get a recommendation about tires, but if you don't ask you'll never get.

[Cobie Fair]

OK, here is an "over the thumb" I use.

 

If it's below 70, I take more time to warm the tires, might take almost 2 laps (depends on the track how many turns, and if sunny or not, etc.). I pad this if its windy. If using our Dunlp Qualifiers, they come up to temp a little quicker, slicks a little longer. If I pull over, even a short while, re-warm the tires. Won't take as long, but some time needed.

 

If it's wet, might never come up to temp, but I have had to chase guys at Pocono East who were dragging knees in full rain--on our bikes, our tires (Qualifier is better in the wet than a DOT race tire, or cut slick). Also, if it's wet, some turns are more polished than others, you have to check out each turn, not just assume, "Hey, I made it through that one, I'm good for the next ones."

 

If you use the stuff we train in Level 1, you will have good guidelines to keep you out of trouble, and find the edge, without sailing over it (good pun, and a shameless plug for the school).

 

C

[Jaybird180]

And you touched on my follow-on question: What signs do you look for to tell you that the tires are ready? I have my own but I wanted to know if I'm on the right track (pun intended) from a pro.