Front chicken strips

[duc996]

Very interesting inputs,i use to worry about getting those strips before,but then i realize it's better to focus on getting in and out of corners smoothly than scraping the tires.I think in time you will eventually get them naturally. I'ts just too bad that riders gauge you by the look of your tires.

[TCK!]

I've got some 120/70, 180/55's BT-002 Streets, take off's if someone is interested in some Chicken Strip free tires.

[misti]

Also, chicken strips aren't as telling as one might assume.  You can take a lot of lean angle off your bike by positioning your body so your weight is inside the turn.  So for the same turn at the same speed, you'd use less lean, and have wider strips.  Conversely, a nervous rider who shys away from the turn and puts their body on the outside will require more lean for the same turn and speed, and have smaller strips as a result... Ponder than one.

Very well put.  This is something that we coach at the Superbike School, how to get your body in a good riding position so that you go through the turn with LESS lean angle but more speed.  Usually when I first suggest this, the students look at me and say, "Less lean angle? But I want to lean the bike over MORE?" 

Do you really?

Having less lean angle means more rubber of the tire is touching the pavement and this directly influences the amount of traction you have.  Wouldn't you want to have the most traction available for a given speed around a corner?  I would.  Like YUU said, if you position your body so that it is leaning with the bike into the direction of the turn you can keep the bike more upright while going the same speed through the corner. This means that if you do find yourself in a not-so-perfect situation, you have lean angle available to you if you need to lean the bike over further.

I'd try not to put too much attention on how much rubber is left on your tires, and more on improving your riding so that you are faster and safer out there!

Cheers
Misti

[silentbob]

While I agree that hanging off will allow higher cornering speeds I don't think that a round tire will have more traction at one lean angle than another until you completely run out of tire of course (which due to the tire carcass flexing will be way beyond the point at which chicken strips wear off).  The ability to brake and accelerate harder when the bike is more upright is because you are typically generating lower lateral G forces and not due to a greater contact patch.

[TCK!]

While I agree that hanging off will allow higher cornering speeds I don't think that a round tire will have more traction at one lean angle than another until you completely run out of tire of course (which due to the tire carcass flexing will be way beyond the point at which chicken strips wear off).  The ability to brake and accelerate harder when the bike is more upright is because you are typically generating lower lateral G forces and not due to a greater contact patch.

I respectfully disagree.

[silentbob]

Roll a basketball around the room and try to find the spot that has a greater contact patch.  Better yet, put a motorcycle tire on a piece of glass, roll it back and forth until it reaches the edge and look at the contact patch from the bottom.  If the tread is a constant radius it will not change at all.  If the tread has an increasing radius from the center, the contact patch will actually increase as it rolls to the side. 

[TCK!]

Roll a basketball around the room and try to find the spot that has a greater contact patch.  Better yet, put a motorcycle tire on a piece of glass, roll it back and forth until it reaches the edge and look at the contact patch from the bottom.  If the tread is a constant radius it will not change at all.  If the tread has an increasing radius from the center, the contact patch will actually increase as it rolls to the side. 

This doesn't account for increased contact patch due to weight of bike/rider while in the vertical position.

Doing a simple free body diagram and mass acceleration diagram can show how this vertical force is reduced while leaned over.

[silentbob]

The tire actually flattens out more in a turn than while running in a straight line.  I have seen photos of my bike on the track.

[silentbob]

Also for the purposes of this discussion we are talking about two bikes running the same speed, same radius turn, but different lean angles due to the rider hanging off more or less.  This would still put the center of gravity in the same place the force vector at the same angle.

[blue tiger]

I'ts just too bad that riders gauge you by the look of your tires.

I hope most ridrs really don't do this.I tend not to guage other riders period anyway because I tend to ride alone. I could care less about the strips on others tires as long as they ride competently and wihin their limits.