hot tires + cold roads=

[Revolution]

a bud of mine says warm tires stick better to cold roads, says race "car" drivers prefer colder roads for quicker lap times because the tires stick better...??

i know he said "cars", does this make any sense for bikes...i dont think so.

 

[captainraymond]

the hotter the better.

 

[Revolution]

yeah, hotter tires AND roads, but the way it sounds from what he said is hot tires on COLD ROAD...?

 

[GSXTacy]

I think they like the track temp hot, but the air temp as cool as possible. Thats why the nascar drivers hope it gets overcast right before they qualify.

 

[vman1300]

Cold pavement WILL pull heat out of your tires. Experienced it many times.

 

[Revolution]

ahh...now that makes sense vman!

 

[Revolution]

gsxtasy my bud is a nascar freak, that must be what he was talkin' 'bout.

 

[dangerous dave]

cold enough road and the tire dont get hot.

 

[Revolution]

Mike and his nascar tech

wait till i get a hold of him

 

[Sloto200]

Hot tires and a cool road temp = great grip but like vman said if the road is cold then it will suck the heat out of the tires and your back to cold tires cold road = slippery

 

[Zoinks!]

I agree, if he's sayin a cold road is better for grip then he's full of crap. . . Why do you think in cold weather the NHRA track prep guys HEAT the track before the cars start runnin?

Hot track+hot tires+cool air=Awesome performance!

 

[Revolution]

it seems from what i read hot tires on cold road stick better AS LONG AS the tires STAY HOT.

cold roads will suck the hot off the bike tires as posted above.

 

[dewie]

NASCAR guys like cool pavement for more grip. Not cold but cool. thats why they can run qualifing times at night, not when the sun is out. And like stated above the engines like cool air also. A warm tire with a cool pavement would provide max grip.

 

[dangerous dave]

ive found that on bike tires when temps get into the 40s your tires will barely get any heat into them .
In a car you can drive harder to get the heat up . So what, if it slides a little you've got 4 wheels. You dont have that luxury on 2 wheels.
Lowering the tire pressure helps a bit.

I'll wait for warmer temps to rail the bike.

 

[kennym4]

At what temp would the cold road start sucking the heat off the tires to where it's dangerous ?

 

[dangerous dave]

At what temp would the cold road start sucking the heat off the tires to where it's dangerous ?

I dont know for sure but temps in the 50s feel pretty safe if you give em a little more time to heat up.

 

[IG.]

I ride year around, and will go for at least 20 - 30 min ride if it's above 15 deg. I do have www.smartire.com/motorcycles installed and know for a fact that tires do get warm even at freezing temperatures, and can tell you that at those temperatures (and dry conditions) traction is better than in the wet (and warm conditions). The temperature readings I see on display are consistent with the feeel when I touch the tire.

I rode a few days ago in 35 deg in dry conditions. Cold tire pressures were 33 front, 35 rear. After 5 min or riding at... well, you know what speeds... the front was at 37 psi/60 deg, the rear was at 39 psi/75 deg. During the ride I reached the lean angle of no more than 35 deg (zero being vertical).

I've also ridden (in the past) at 20 deg with a reasonable lean angle. No sliding.

My estimate is that there is a marginal loss of traction, but not as much as one may think, and definitely better traction than in the wet but warm conditions. Even tar snakes don't give me any trouble in the cold.

 

[dangerous dave]

I ride year around, and will go for at least 20 - 30 min ride if it's above 15 deg. I do have www.smartire.com/motorcycles installed and know for a fact that tires do get warm even at freezing temperatures, and can tell you that at those temperatures (and dry conditions) traction is better than in the wet (and warm conditions). The temperature readings I see on display are consistent with the feeel when I touch the tire.

I rode a few days ago in 35 deg in dry conditions. Cold tire pressures were 33 front, 35 rear. After 5 min or riding at... well, you know what speeds... the front was at 37 psi/60 deg, the rear was at 39 psi/75 deg. During the ride I reached the lean angle of no more than 35 deg (zero being vertical).

I've also ridden (in the past) at 20 deg with a reasonable lean angle. No sliding.

My estimate is that there is a marginal loss of traction, but not as much as one may think, and definitely better traction than in the wet but warm conditions. Even tar snakes don't give me any trouble in the cold.

interesting post ..I didnt even realize there was a devise to  tell you all that info .. ,temps and all.
 I hope I didn't give anyone the impression that its unsafe to ride at cold temps ..   Maybe should have said  unsafe to ride hard at very low temps ..  

I save that kind of riding for weather that lets me get a  tire so hot I can barely touch em .
What kind of tire temps do you see on a hot day?

 

[dadofthree]

No guru, but with the cooler air and road temps I'm having a ball with the Shinko Advance 005 I had to purchase a few months ago.

No traction at all.

In professional racing it's important that they get the set up perfect. They basically don't like changing conditions. During the day a cloud can change their world. At night you don't have that problem.

 

[WWJD]

Very interesting discussion. Anyone have any numbers on this? Why would warm tires stick to cooler surface, than a warmer, more plyable surface? I can see the cooler road cooling the tires and not really helping. I've awlays preferred a warmer road... felt stickier to me. Anyone know the science behnid all this?