Tire Profile Changes

[256rotax]

I use Michelin Pilot Power on My CBR1000RR. They have a very tall center as viewed on the shelf and when they are new. When I had my most recent ones put on, after being used to my worn out old ones, I was amazed at how good they felt from the standpoint of having an entirely progressive feel from straight up to full lean. No surprises, no tendency to either want to fall over or stand back up. As soon as they got some wear on them (and lets face it, most of the time the center is going to wear away first, no matter how you ride) the ride is back to a bit squirrely while transitioning into lean, compared to how good they felt when they were new ( and they have lots of miles left in them). Does anyone ever shave tires to keep the ideal profile? You are not going to shorten your tire life if the center is going to be gone first anyway.

[ThomasDark]

Chuck,

 

The quick and most enjoyable fix is to go get yourself a couple track days. I ride the Pilot Power 3's, Power Pure's before that, and have never got that mysterious flat spot in the middle of my tire... And I only do about 2 track days a year. I actually wore the sides out before the middle on my pures through canyon riding and mountain roads. It has a lot to do with the where and how you ride. If you're hard on the throttle off of the line at every stop light and obsessed with doing 30mph-90mph+ pulls whenever possible to show those pesky cars who's boss then you aren't going to avoid a flat spot. In the end tires are tires. If you're feeling squirrely in the transition to lean you're probably spending too much time in that transition... It's called a quick-flick because it's quick... quick enough you don't have time to feel squirrelyness. If it doesn't feel stable when leaned then maybe you're rolling too much tire pressure.

 

just my $0.02

 

have fun out there and keep the rubber side down, no matter it's profile.

[lwarner]

Hey Chuck, I haven't heard of people shaving tires before. I know the feeling you're getting at, when your tire starts to get a squarer profile and you lean onto that edge it can feel less stable, like it wants to run wide or fall in. Like Thomas, I would also be curious what pressures you run and also how often you check pressure? Do you have issues with the front and rear equally?

[Hotfoot]

One thing you can do is make friends with people who do a lot of track days - then you can get take-offs that are worn on the sides but have very little wear in the middle.

[Cobie Fair]

I thought I'd heard some car guys that did tire shaving, but never heard of it on bikes.

[Stroker]

Perhaps they can be sanded as needed? I used to reprofile my guitar picks when they were getting round to make them more triangularish again.

[YellowDuck]

If they are getting flat enough in the middle to noticeably affect the feeling on turn in, then there is probably not that much wear left in them anyway. Probably you are going to need new ones soon no matter what.

 

My Q2s have never seen anything but the track, so they are getting a bit tall and pointy...sides are down to the wear bars, centers have plenty of meat.

 

The "do some track days" suggestion is probably not that practical, unless you have access to one track that goes clockwise, and another that goes counter clockwise.....

 

Can you learn to do rolling figure 8 burnouts? Then you can profile your tires how you like. (Kidding! Don't do this!)