faffi Posted June 7, 2013 Report Share Posted June 7, 2013 Have you ever put on a tyre that instantly tell you it will (not) grip well? When the rear tyre on my old Kawa wore out the other day, I decided to refurbish the rim. Luckily, I have a spare bike with a spare wheel with a half worn old Cheng Shin C199 tyre that will do duty while the proper rim is being restored. Don't have a clue how many years old that tyre is. I were pretty sceptical, but decided I'd rather ride gingerly than not at all while I wait for the rim to be done and a new tyre fitted. But I instantly had faith in this old tyre's ability to grip, and there is not a hint of chicken strips on the old rubber after today's 100 mi ride. We're not talking S1000RR amounts of lean here, of course, but even accelerating through corners at max lean felt reassuring and safe and the tyre didn't flinch once. Not even a hint of sliding or uncertainty. This is not the first time this have happened. I once fitted a Metzeler ME77 on an old Z400 twin that gave that good feeling from the instant I got moving. I also fitted a Metzeler ME550, supposedly superior to the ME77, that never felt secure and would slip and slide all over the place. Those are just two examples of several where I feel like I'm communicating with the tyre in question. Of course, there is no way a tyre can actually talk, but sometimes the message comes through loud and clear. At other times, the feeling is numb. That's the worst; the tyre may be great, but when you cannot tell, you (well, I) don't dare stress it. This kind of communication isn't limited to tyres. Brakes, handling, power delivery - everything can be transparant or foggy. Or inconsistent, which can make life very interesting, if you're into that sort of thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktk_ace Posted June 8, 2013 Report Share Posted June 8, 2013 This is tuning imho on a personal level . I was brought up on the tribilogy doctrine ; how fast the bike accelerated affects nearly everything and if one component is the bottleneck, the whole bike will run on that bottleneck. Consistancy = great results and confidence too, no use if you have a great bike but not so great riding skills and vice versa . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faffi Posted June 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2013 Not quite sure I understood you, but if you mean a consistent rider will struggle on an inconsistent bike and a non-consistent rider will struggle on any bike, I'm with you. Brakes that operate with inconsistent lever travel, tyres that grip fine on asphalt but suddenly turns slippery on tarmac, drum brakes with non-linear action, erratic carburation, suspension that is very temperature sensitive, tyres ditto - lots of possible distractions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktk_ace Posted June 10, 2013 Report Share Posted June 10, 2013 Not quite sure I understood you, but if you mean a consistent rider will struggle on an inconsistent bike and a non-consistent rider will struggle on any bike, I'm with you. Brakes that operate with inconsistent lever travel, tyres that grip fine on asphalt but suddenly turns slippery on tarmac, drum brakes with non-linear action, erratic carburation, suspension that is very temperature sensitive, tyres ditto - lots of possible distractions. Yup ! Consistent bike + consistent rider = Consistent performance! As for tire "feel" , there is a section in the twist 2 book too. Imho getting a new tire means having to relearn a new tire's characteristics and how it affects other components especially suspension; When i personally find a tire I like (overall), I dont usually change it unless it is EOL/not manufactured anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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