hairy tyres

[audiomick]

As I mentioned elsewhere, I rode the V35 Imola today for the first time in several months. A couple of times in curves, I had the feeling that the front tyre was squirming a bit.

The tyre is one of these

https://shop.heidenau.com/en/zweiradreifen/motorrad/k34.html?___from_store=de

The rear, which is a couple of years old and has some miles on it, is one of these

https://shop.heidenau.com/en/zweiradreifen/motorrad/k36.html?___from_store=de

 

and yes, they are a blatant copy of the Michelin M38 from back in the day. The bike had the Michelins on it when I bought it, more than 20 years old, and it was obvious when I bought the first Heidenau tyres for it that Heidenau had "oriented" its design to the Michelins.

Anyway...

the front tyre has only done about 200 km, and is covered in extrusions from the moulding process. "Hairy", so to speak. It ocurred to me just now that the squirminess might be caused by the extrusions. I'm inclined to remove them purely for aesthetic reasons (doesn't look cool...), but am now thinking there might actually be a practical reason to take the time to do that.

Opinions?

Edited Monday at 11:52 PM by audiomick

[docc]

The front tire has zero riding time (no miles) on it ?

Brand new tires tend to be "squirmy" until they heat cycle and wear in a bit. Those mold sprues should go away very quickly. Verify tire pressure, as well.

What is the production date of the front tire? Here, in The States, that is a four digit (week/year) code after the "DOT" (Department of Transportation) stamp on the sidewall . . .

[audiomick]

7 minutes ago, docc said:

The front tire has zero riding time (no miles) on it ?

Not zero, but not much. A bit over 200 km. . Tyre pressure was ok; I checked it before I started. Don't know the production date, but I bought the tyre new last December, so I am assuming it is new enough. Date stamp is the same here, i.e. week and year.

The sprues (didn't know that word till now. Collins dictionary has some interesting alternative meanings for it.... https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/sprue)

will go away in time, I know. As I wrote, I find them aesthically unpleasing, and am inclined to get rid of them with the side-cutters for that reason alone. If they might be affecting the handling, even temporarily, all the more reason to take the time.

[po18guy]

Even though those are copies of Metzeler, are they known as sticky enough? Is the tire literally covered with these "teats" as some Yanks call them?

[Grant]

9 hours ago, audiomick said:

Not zero, but not much. A bit over 200 km. . Tyre pressure was ok; I checked it before I started. Don't know the production date, but I bought the tyre new last December, so I am assuming it is new enough. Date stamp is the same here, i.e. week and year.

The sprues (didn't know that word till now. Collins dictionary has some interesting alternative meanings for it.... https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/sprue)

will go away in time, I know. As I wrote, I find them aesthically unpleasing, and am inclined to get rid of them with the side-cutters for that reason alone. If they might be affecting the handling, even temporarily, all the more reason to take the time.

We used to get warned by the shop we got tires from they had a coating on them.  It's more than just the sprues.  For the first couple hundred miles we "scrubbed tires in".  Take it easy for the first couple hundred, then the bike gets back to normal.  

My favorite loop always has gravel on it.  People just wander off the road onto the gravel which throws it on the pavement which is like riding on marbles which make what kind of tires you're riding on largely irrelevant.  I still want good tires on my bike. 

 

 

 

 

 

[gstallons]

7 hours ago, po18guy said:

Even though those are copies of Metzeler, are they known as sticky enough? Is the tire literally covered with these "teats" as some Yanks call them?

Well , the Southern yanks (if there is such a thang) call them "tits" . 

[Pressureangle]

36 minutes ago, gstallons said:

Well , the Southern yanks (if there is such a thang) call them "tits" . 

It's a Dairyland expression. 

[p6x]

@audiomick

In the 70's, I used to install either retreaded tires or tires that I would get from a wreck yard. I do not know if you are familiar with the wrecked car lots. This was a place where you would go and look for spares for your car. Most of the time, you would have to remove it yourself. You could also purchase wheels with used tires.

I remember the retreaded tires would always squeal in turns... then the squeal tires disappeared in the modern world. But I am sure you remember if going too fast in a curve with your Opel Manta, or Rekord, or Kadett, or Olympia, the tires would whine plenty...

This kind of place:

[gstallons]

In Ky that is Valhalla !

[audiomick]

12 hours ago, po18guy said:

Even though those are copies of Metzeler, are they known as sticky enough? Is the tire literally covered with these "teats" as some Yanks call them?

Yes, they are good enough, although not "hyper-sport" tyres, of course. The company Heidenau is known here. They have, as a small manufacturer, concentrated on niche markets a bit, and on of them is classic-styled tyres with modern rubber compounds. I would not necessarily use them for track days and such, but they are fine on the road.

And yes, the tire is covered with the "teats". I'll try to remember to take a photo.

 

 

[Tomchri]

7 hours ago, gstallons said:

In Ky that is Valhalla !

Well, I woudn't be suprised to know some earlier squareheads had another Vallhall in KY  .

Cheers Tom.

[audiomick]

18 hours ago, po18guy said:

... Is the tire literally covered with these "teats" as some Yanks call them?

 

5 hours ago, audiomick said:

... I'll try to remember to take a photo.

Here's a picture:

 

What the arrows are pointing at are the remains of the almost completely scrubbed off row next to the the groove in the centre. The dots that are visible are the stumps of sprues that are gone. When it was new, it had stand-up-and-be-proud sprues all over, four to each tread block, more or less. Not very elegant, but as I wrote further up, it is a small manufacturer, and the tyres are relatively cheap for the more than adequate performance they offer.

Looking at it again today, I can't imagine that the sprues have absolutely no effect. There are so many of them. How much effect is, however, difficult to guess.

What @Grant mentioned

13 hours ago, Grant said:

We used to get warned by the shop we got tires from they had a coating on them.

is something I am aware of. The coating is a silicon compound that is put in the mould (sprayed in, I suppose...) to allow the tyre to release easily from the mould. The shops here, and in Australia if I remember correctly, generally tell you to take it easy for 100 km or so. I had already done about 100 km on the tyre, but nearly all of it at in-town speeds, and temperatures below 10°C, so the tyre wasn't likely to have been really warm.

I'm thinking the squirming was likely a combination of the remains of the sprues and some still not quite scrubbed off remains of the silicon stuff. I'll take it a bit easier next time out, and give the tyre a chance to scrub in a bit more.

Edited 6 hours ago by audiomick

[Pressureangle]

8 hours ago, p6x said:

@audiomick

In the 70's, I used to install either retreaded tires or tires that I would get from a wreck yard. I do not know if you are familiar with the wrecked car lots. This was a place where you would go and look for spares for your car. Most of the time, you would have to remove it yourself. You could also purchase wheels with used tires.

I remember the retreaded tires would always squeal in turns... then the squeal tires disappeared in the modern world. But I am sure you remember if going too fast in a curve with your Opel Manta, or Rekord, or Kadett, or Olympia, the tires would whine plenty...

This kind of place:

 

I still have two you-pull-it junkyards nearby. The best one is "Snake Road Auto Salvage".

Snake Road in South Florida wasn't, and isn't, a joke. 

My first car was a beat-up '66 MGB I bought for $35 in 1978. I shod it with bias-ply junkyard tires, and they really got attention drifting corners on the wire wheels.

Edited 6 hours ago by Pressureangle

[audiomick]

10 minutes ago, Pressureangle said:

... you-pull-it junkyards...

They're called "wreckers" in Australia. They exist in Germany too, with names like "Autorecycling" or "Autoverwertung".  "Verwertung" means things like "utilisation", "recovery", "reutilisation" and so on.

[p6x]

3 hours ago, Pressureangle said:

I still have two you-pull-it junkyards nearby.

I was shocked to find out that here, nobody changes their tires themselves. You call for help...

Maybe there aren't any spare tires any longer?