Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

Hi Jaco, You just pull the front brake hard, let the clutch out and spin till the tire smokes, if you see flames you have spinned for too long! Cheers

Hi, You will have to show me sometime! (he..he) That still leaves the front "untreated"! Fitted the Heidi's back and front, and would like to prepare them properly before Klipbokkop training next week! Played in the Elgin mountains last week, and will do it again tommorrow. The Heidi's are amazing (up now that is!)

Contact Freak at Biketique, he will explain the right way.

OK,, but I need to know WHY (and not how) it is done - I guess I must be a 'newbie'! :) thanks http://www.themanorcottage.co.za

Hi Jaco, This was posted on WD forum . Hope it helps with you question. Cheers http://www.wilddog.za.net/forum/index.php?topic=7.0

Thanks for that pointer Herman. In summary then, to heat-treat your tyres (knobblies specifically), so that they are a bit harder and less sticky: # Ride on tar for 10 - 20km at 100 - 130km/hr at proper road pressures until the tyres are properly warm. # Stop and allow them to cool down. # Repeat several times. To me, that sounds almost like: * Ride to work, * work while the tyres cool, * ride home again. Which means that if you commute, and do not do a long trip on brand-new tyres, chances are you will end up heat-treating your tyres anyway. It comes down to 'running-in' your new tyres with short rides for a while before doing a long trip at high speed. Website Administrator [http://honeybadger.net Honey Badger IT Services]

Hi Charles, Sounds about right. I do near 30Kms to the office between 100 and 130 (read 120 and 160) and then home again at night - so a week worth of runs like this and the tyre should be ready for a longer run / trip?

I got 17000km out of an Avon Gripster rear and the same front is still on after 24000km, so it looks like the "heat treatment" work. ( I am 30 km from my workplace)The only problem that I would like to solve is the flat area in the centre of the rear tire. Any suggestions? Had any of you guys had the front tire wear un even, with the nobbies wear of to an angle. It seems that when the tire pressure is a bit low it tends to be more severe. ???

The front of the knobs on your front wheel will wear off faster. It is a sign that your front is close to needing replacement. When you ride, the front of the knob is hit by the tar as it spins the wheel around. Also, when you brake, the front of the knob digs in and gets abraded. Not much you can do to stop it other than keeping tyre pressures correct. Website Administrator [http://honeybadger.net Honey Badger IT Services]

that flat bit in the centre can be easily solved by doing wheel spins in a standard drain pipe. Else - just corner a little faster.

I find track days to be a brilliant way of rounding my tyres again. Lets Ride!!!

Ja, and your footpegs too ;-) Website Administrator [http://honeybadger.net Honey Badger IT Services]

Heat cycling really works!

I have, during the past year, come to fully appreciate the value of properly running in a new tyre through the process of heat cycling.
I have long ago dispensed with ad hoc swapping of on/off-road tyres, settling instead on always wearing knobblies or, at the very least, tyres of a more off-road persuasion. Given the frequency with which I went on rides - in addition to my 200km weekly commute to work - I was happy to get approximately 10 000km per tyre, especially when compared with the 4 000km - 10 000km lifetime often quoted by others. This mileage also aligned very well with the regular 10 000km service interval for the R1200GSA.

The above photos are of a Karoo 3 front tyre which has quite clearly reached the end of its useful life, but only after a pretty impressive 25 197km (and counting). The rear, also a Karoo 3, is currently still in good nick after more than 9 900km. Its predecessor was replaced after close to 15 300km and I expect the current one to achieve a similar distance.

So what am I doing differently?

1. I fit new tyres at least 2 weeks, not 1 or 2 days, before embarking on a major trip, especially not one where I am going to high-tail it on tar for > 700km, such as from Cape Town to the Namibian border.
2. I treat the new tyre(s) with respect during those 2 weeks (or roughly 500km), going on short rides which allow enough time for the tyre to heat up (slowly) while riding and, most critically, enough time to cool down over an extended period. 

Following are URLs to some of the logic behind the concept.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=66

https://www.tyreleader.co.uk/tyres-advices/tyre-heat-cycle

 

For me, just a few weeks of my ordinary commute to work and back is perfect heat-cycling.  A gentle ride through the cars, a bit of 100km/hr freeway, slow down through the cars and parked for the day before the reverse trip.  After two weeks you have done the job.