[wildtwins]

Hello all, I got a question....
Relatively new rider (4 years). And this was a new experience for me. Yesterday I fired up the Daytona for a short 40 mile ride. It was 58 degrees out, so I took note that the tires wouldn't grip until they were warm. Pulling out of driveway and turning right, like always do, the back tire lost grib and I almost dumped it. Barely caught it with my foot. Like I said, I knew the tires were cold and thought I was prepared, but obviously wasn't. So, in your experience, have you noticed cold tires given such a dramatic difference in grip? I assumed a high-lean turn would cause this, but i was going 5mph and thought I was in control. Needless to say, the rest of the ride was white-knuckle and I hate that.

 

[mpusch]

How are your tire pressures?

 

[TheEssence]

And what kind of tires. If you're running some Pirelli sp's or something, those things are like cardboard when they're cold. Especially pairing cold tires with cold asphalt.

 

[wildtwins]

Thanks for the replies. I will check tomorrow night and let you know.

The tire lost grip SO fast and at such slow speed that it freaked me out.

 

[Victor Ward]

I've done this three springs in a row taking my race bike for a spin in the neighborhood in early May.
I came close to dropping it each time. We'll see if I've learned my lesson for 2016...

 

[Glocken]

Why don't you switch to sport touring tires.

 

[Razgreeze]

Unless you gave it half throttle they should have been able to grip. I would suspect that the issue is more of a gravel or sediment issue.

That being said the above advice is solid regarding tire pressure, temperature, asphalt temperature.

Also consider the age of the tire, if they are "expired" they will not grip as well.

 

[wildtwins]

Thank you all. Here are more details:
35 psi rear
32 psi front
3mm tread on rear
METZELER SPORTEC M3

 

[fastway racing]

I think for every 10 degrees in Temp drop the air pressure drops 1 PSI. This would have to be relative to the temp it was initially set at I believe.

 

[pavmentsurfer]

This happens to me alot as I live on a gravel road and I work at a place with a gravel driveway. Every time I leave either spot, I have to turn onto the paved road and if I hit the throttle too aggressively (not even hard... just too abruptly) the back end will slip just for a second. I know to anticipate it and Im good on a bike in the dirt so it doesnt scare me... but its a good thing to understand. Even a thin layer of gravel or dirt, sand, anything on your tires is preventing the rubber from fully contacting the asphalt. Until this gets worn off (just takes a few rotations) your grip level will be very low. Also good to note, if youve turned at all not the dirty surface, the sides of your tires likely have junk on them. So the first time you corner once your rolling can be a bit sketchy.

 

[pbkid6974]

I was riding home from school on Monday and got caught in the rain. Stock supercorsas in the rain is bad enough, but as Billy mays always said, THERE'S MORE!!! My ride home is generally a straight road, turn off then another fairly straight road, but the soil near me is very sandy (fukkin pine barons). So I come up to the turn off the first road, and there's usually some sand on the inside so I take it wide, this time some ******* cage driver decides to drive over the corner and pull a 1/4 inch deep line of sand across the lane. Had it not been raining so I was going slow and keeping it as upright as possible, I would've definitely went down because you can't see the sand until you hit the apex of the turn.

The only time I dropped a bike was on a roundabout that was under construction so there was sand/gravel/mud on the inside of the lane, cater cut in forcing me into the death trap and I lowsided. ******* didn't even stop.

Point is road debris is bad and you always need to be on the lookout for it. It will definitely cause your rear to slide out in a turn or straight.

 

[losichu]

I would agree, road debris sucks. I've also found that certain types of asphalt behave differently under tire. There is a spot near me that is always treacherous even in the car, the grip just disappears even when perfectly dry. I've also had issues with chip n seal and oil slicks, so I'm extra careful on roads nowadays. I just chalk it up to life, it happens and its unpredictable. Best you can do is be ready for anything and hope for nothing.

 

[Simplythebest]

Just to add that I've found that just immediately after it starts raining is the most dangerous.
All the rubber, oil etc on the roads 'surfaces' and is real slippery. 10-15 mins of a good rain seems to wash it off

 

[windyrun]

Supercorsas on the street doesn't seem very logical to me. i was actually happy when my oem sp's wore out so i could put on some proper street tires. i went with metzeler m7rr and have been very happy in their performance in wet and dry and cold (above 30F anyway).

However, nothing but your skill and instinct and luck can do anything about gravel and sand - treacherous stuff.

Happy to hear nothing bad happened to you

 

[675GP]

Happens to me every time I leave my driveway and get to the bottom of the street this time of year, and
it doesn't even get that cold here! Anytime its below 55 the tires seem to be lacking grip while cold, forget braking on the cold rear. Running Dunlop Q3s.

I would agree, road debris sucks. I've also found that certain types of asphalt behave differently under tire. There is a spot near me that is always treacherous even in the car, the grip just disappears even when perfectly dry. I've also had issues with chip n seal and oil slicks, so I'm extra careful on roads nowadays. I just chalk it up to life, it happens and its unpredictable. Best you can do is be ready for anything and hope for nothing.

Have to agree on this, some roads have areas that are prone to traction loss for whatever reason. I used to hit this spot on my way to work during the winter months and every time I would hydro plane. Didn't have to be raining or have standing water, didn't matter the speed.