Wow, so today I got my tired changed. Replaced the old Macadam 50's with Sport Demons. Holy moly, I guess the old tires were really squared down, because weaving and leaning through curves just got a whole lot easier. I always though I just plain sucked in the corners because the bike would always be hard to lean and feel like it would slide out, but I guess it was the tires. Can't wait to take it out to the twisties this weekend, fingers crossed that it won't rain.
Make sure you take it easy for a while, as new tires have a mold release agent that can reduce grip. A hundred or so miles should work. I read online that it can help to do some easy figure 8s while in a parking lot while progresively getting more aggressive.
Also, check out your tire pressures just to make sure they pumped it adequately when installed and there are no leaks.
Have fun!
Don't the Sport Demons have a very limited life?
Thats just what I heard. They probably do have outstanding grip like you said though
Quote from: Mr.7 on January 17, 2007, 09:34:45 AM
Don't the Sport Demons have a very limited life?
Thats just what I heard. They probably do have outstanding grip like you said though
I changed mine around 6k, but I probably would have gone 1-2k more if I hadn't had a trackday and rainy season coming up.
Man I'm right there with you, just put on a set of demons 70 miles ago... And holy crap!
There's a road close by with a bunch of 25 mph (for a car) curves, it was like riding a yz125 on it, just ripn through the corners!
Have fun, be safe!
I liked the Demons when I first put them on but got put off by the quick wear. If you mainly commute you'll notice the center start to square very quickly. The tread squaring really kills the handling.
Quote from: EdChen on January 17, 2007, 02:22:05 AM
Make sure you take it easy for a while, as new tires have a mold release agent that can reduce grip. A hundred or so miles should work. I read online that it can help to do some easy figure 8s while in a parking lot while progresively getting more aggressive.
Also, check out your tire pressures just to make sure they pumped it adequately when installed and there are no leaks.
Have fun!
This is actually inaccurate, most manufacturers have stopped using mold release compounds on their tires. However, this doesn't mean you shouldn't take it slow for the first 200 miles as it takes about that long for the internal cords to settle into their normal position. When these cords settle, they change the way the tire flexes and obviously a changing tire can be quite dangerous. This combined with the fact that the rubber has yet to be run through a heat cycle which chemically changes the rubber itself, causing it to get much stickier after a few heat cycles. So be careful on those new shoes and if possible, take a steel brush and lightly score the outsides of the rubber in an X pattern all the way around to help get extra grip for those first hundred miles.