cornering and conflicting chicken strips

[TulBusa]

I have been hitting the twisties more recently with the addition of Jinkster's settings, minus rear spring setting using stock setting(awesome setup by the way!).  I have noticed on the right side of the tire, the front chicken strip does not match the rear chicken strip.  Is that caused by me diving into the corner and then chickening out and not continuing to drive the corner(thus chicken strips..haha)?  I am not as confident turning right.  I just want to make sure that the alignment is not out or do I just need to quit being a wimp?

Forgot to mention that the front has less chicken strip than the rear, that's the problem!



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[Charlesbusa]

The front chicken strips always seem to be bigger than the rear's. I "think" it's the higher profile the front has over the rear profile. Could be wrong...

 

[TulBusa]

I forgot to mention that the front chicken strip is smaller. The right side of the front tire is almost to the edge and the rear is not as close....left out the most important part!

 

[Devil Dog]

I'm no expert.....Is the rear wearing the same on the left and right side? For example....I am more confident in a right turn , thus my right strip is thinner than the left. I never look at the fronts but I imagine that the rear lop-sided tire wear is is same in the front.

 

[Charlesbusa]

What are your air pressures??

 

[Devil Dog]

Chicken strips are always wider in the front than the back due to the narrower tire up front....more radius angle....

 

[TulBusa]

I'm more confident turning left than right. That's why I was puzzled to see my right side front almost to the edge of the tire and the right rear not as close.

 

[TulBusa]

My air pressure is 35 both front and rear.

 

[Charlesbusa]

Assuming they're the same type tire with the same mileage, I'm stumped...

 

[Devil Dog]

Don't look at front tire anymore.........I don't think it matters.

 

[Charlesbusa]

Don't look at front tire anymore.........I don't think it matters.

 

[vincent]

did you check the air pressure or is that what you put in there origionally?

 

[IScream]

I forgot to mention that the front chicken strip is smaller.  The right side of the front tire is almost to the edge and the rear is not as close....left out the most important part!

That's just the opposite of mine, and most others I've seen. I don't have any on the rear tire but I have about 1/4" on the front. I assume the difference in tire radius explains mine, but I don't know what would cause the rear to have a wider strip than the front. Sounds like the air pressure questions are on the right track. Do you still have the stock tires on it?

 

[TulBusa]

Yep....good ole stock Battlax(sp?). I just checked the pressure a day or 2 ago.

Would my theory of diving into the corner and then letting out be a possibility?

 

[shenoyp]

 

[nitrousjunkie]

Don't look at front tire anymore.........I don't think it matters.

 

[stkr00]

This is not a flame.  Just my opinion.

If you are riding on the street, and trying to remove all traces of your chicken strips, then you are riding too hard.  If you keep pushing it that hard, either the front end is going to wash out on you, or you're going to cross the centerline into oncoming traffic.

Don't worry about the front.  If you still have "wisdom" strips, then that means you still have tread available for traction should the need arise to lean it harder.  This could save your azz one of these days.  If you're riding on the street at the very edge of the tires limits, then what options do you have if you misjudge your corner entry speed? NONE...that's the point.

At the track, I usually run about 30 psi front, and 29 psi rear.  This allows the tire to flex more and gives you a larger contact patch with the road.  BUT...This also causes a lot of heat to be generated in the tires, and the wear is accellerated.  35 psi is a little low on the street, but it can work...you'll just wear out your tires faster.

The wear on your rear tire is usually greater since you normally accellerate out of the turns (right?

).  This causes the front to lift up on the front tire, which is what causes riders to drift wide when exiting a turn if they don't watch their throttle control.  This is also what can cause your rear tire to break loose and cause you to low-side...if you're lucky.  If you're unlucky, the slip of the rear can also cause you to high-side when the traction comes back.

Here's a couple of pics to show you the difference in front and rear after a track day.

Rear:



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[stkr00]

Front: (previous track day)

 

[stkr00]

After the last track day, the front is balled up more like the rear, but still has about a 1/8" strip.  I didn't get a pic of the front after that day.

This was WAY too much fun

 

[TulBusa]

I understand about riding too hard on the street, but I'm actually on some back roads that I NEVER see cars on and am very careful not to go over the line. I don't actually accelerate out of the corners because I want to learn the cornering right now and I don't really need to be blasting between turns. I accelerate a little around the corner, or at least keep a constant speed. I understand that accelerating out of the corner is what you normally do, and I do that sometimes, but I'm not on the track.

So, back to my original question.....could you have less "wisdom" strips on the front tire because of being to aggressive going into the turn and then slowing down to much and not driving the corner?

Thanks for the inputs....Brian