Wearing In New Tyres?

[gsbiker]

Finding my new bike quite twitchy on some roads. Bike's only done 400 miles from new. I have the Metzeller tyres on my GSA and have notice the very edges of the tyre walls have not yet worn in. My experience of riding so far has been quite anxious when riding on wet or even damp A or B roads. A couple times the bike has felt like it's twitched on the road but only slightly when leaning - puts my heart in my mouth and feels unsafe. I'm concerned the front wheel will slide away. Spoke to a good tyre company here in Plymouth today who told me it's probably to do with the tyres not getting warm enough in these cold conditions and the roads are abit slippery plus the tyre edges may not be worn in completely yet.

Anyone with similar experiences?

 

[Wapping]

Don't worry about it.

Don't worry about the chicken strips, they will go.

Take your death grip off the bars, as you will only be fighting the bike. The best bit of advice I ever received was to hold the bars as if you are holding a pint of beer. Flap your elbows if you feel tense, like a chicken, it losens the grip. You can see some racers at a very high level doing it, particularly after a 'moment' at the TT.

Forget the twaddle about tyres not getting up to temperature. Just run them at the pressure Metzler suggest is best. Metzler (and any main stream tyre manufacturer) knows how to make road tyres that will work in all and every temperature / weather condition you will ever encounter at home or abroad.

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

Just like the the good man said - use the tyre manufacturers pressures NOT the ones quoted by BWM in the handbook (unless, of course they are the same!).

Also, try one notch less preload than standard on the front shock and wind the preload up to near max on the back - this will give more controlled feel from your front end.

Andres

Edit: Some more paranoid ramblings here

 

[Big Lee]

Metzler (and any main stream tyre manufacturer) knows how to make road tyres that will work in all and every temperature / weather condition you will ever encounter at home or abroad.

I agree, just cos they`re not hot to the touch doesn`t mean they aren`t within their working temp.

 

[colinw]

I had a similar issue a few weeks ago, i agree check and run to the tyre manufacturers pressures not those of BMW, it maye be a suspension issue though, I increased rear preload to put more weight on the front and it all stopped, check your settings to the book, then add some more rear preload and try that, also if it is your first bmw with the telelever front it will feel slightly more vague than a normal frok springed bike, start with t/pressures and suspension settings and go from there...

 

[gsbiker]

Thanks guys! where do I find the manufacturers tyre pressure settings? I have the ESA model so the preload is different. I've only used the basic settings - Normal - Conf - Sport - so far.

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

Thanks guys! where do I find the manufacturers tyre pressure settings? I have the ESA model so the preload is different. I've only used the basic settings - Normal - Conf - Sport - so far.

For your pressures have a look here

With regard to ESA I'm not sure but guess that 'sport' would be most likely to give settings similar to those I mentioned.

As has been mentioned, and it's a good point, if you're not used to the telelever front end then it can take a bit of a 'leap of faith' to get used to trusting it as there is not as much feedback as tele forks. Once used to though you will be amazed by just how well the front end works

Andres

 

[Paul Wakefield]

Almost certainly 36(F)/42(R).

Tourance and Tourance EXP are 2.5bar and 2.9bar (which is 36/42).

If you want to look them up, go to the Metzeler site and work through the Fitment option.

 

[gsbiker]

Thanks for the tyre pressures - in regard to the telever I always thought it just reduced front fork dive so at the moment I'm not sure if what I'm experiencing it linked to that or the tyres just need more mileage before I get my confidence back to corner with confidence. Being so high up as well doesn't help when riding.

 

[John Armstrong]

Re the chicken strips. Get the Bridgestone Battlewings, makes every rider look like a cornering god

 

[kbada]

Re the chicken strips. Get the Bridgestone Battlewings, makes every rider look like a cornering god

Strange ain't it......My current steed came with Battlewings as OE and to start with they were fine - 60-70% of their life later, I would'nt give ya shit for them - the bike started doing weird things and after lots of head scratching I change d to Tourance Ol'style and everything went back to normal

 

[Brian ROSEN]

".....My experience of riding so far has been quite anxious when riding on wet or even damp A or B roads...." I would say this is pretty normal if you are on a 'big bike' for the first time. In fact you have a huge margin of error - just don't brake viciously nor accelerate furiously, particularly when banked over. Don't hesitate to get out in the rain and you will soon get used to it!