Another Question From The Inquisitive Idiot

[Lucky_Devil]

Soooo… I’ve been wondering something about tire warm-up / heat cycles for a while now. I’ve tried to research an answer on my own… but if you search “tire warm up” or “heat cycle” in any motorcycle forum you get 50 million threads. Apparently, tires are a hot topic. :)

So my question is this:

Approximately how long does it take to warm up ones tires? Is it measured in miles, or saddle time? (i.e. 10 miles, or 10 minutes of riding). I know the answer to this really depends on the type of tire your running as well, I’m just looking for a general rule of thumb here. Also, I’m assuming that the type of riding you’re doing is also a factor… like 10 miles/minutes of stop and go traffic would not be as affective as 10 miles/minutes of freeway riding. Oh, and weather is a factor as well… it’s just that someone told me it takes 30 miles to warm up your tires, and well… I was shocked. I didn’t think it took that long. Someone please enlighten me. TIA

[ersigh]

I don't know the technical information but I've found that relatively new tires take me at least a session to be really nice and warm on the track (t-hill) and that at 20 minute intervals, they hold their heat well enough that after 2 laps or so (approx 6 miles i believe) they are where I left them.

I've been told that the heat cycles kill the tires and tire warmers help with that. It makes me want a set so I get more life out of my tires (and don't need to worry about tire warmth when I go out).

I don't pay much attention to tire warmth when I'm riding on the street so I'm not sure how long they take. I'm able to feel that they are warm or not warm enough to ride within the limitations.

[YammiGirl]

There are so many variables that go into your question, tire compound, riding style, temperature, and riding enviornment - I am not sure that there is any one right answer. Race tires (like Doug's) are made of a soft compound - designed to heat up & grip the riding surface and corner well in a short period of time - but only last through a handful of heat cycles. Street tires are normally made of a harder compound therefore take longer to "heat up", and are not designed to corner as hard as race tires, etc.... but designed to last through more heat cycles.

From what I've learned (and it's not a lot) the answer to your question is "it depends".

Your friend (who said 30 min to heat up) may have been thinking of "heat soaking" - that has to do with the temperature of the entire tire including the compounds and layers inside. It's why some racers use "tire warmers" ... to maintain a consistent temperature of the tire, and reduce the number of heat cycles between races.

[Vivace]

Yep, you picked one of those topics that everybody has a different answer for, its almost as bad as the "which oil is best" topic...

Anyways, like some of the folks said, the reason for so many different answers is that it really does depend - on the riding type, the tires, the air temperature, the road temperature, yada yada yada.

Soooo, that being said, here's my two cents:

Acceleration and deceleration cause friction on your tires - these actions will get the most heat into your tires. So if you want to get the most heat into your tires in the shortest amount of time, ride really erratically - accelerate hard then brake hard with both brakes, repeatedly... JUST KIDDING!!! :lol ... braking really hard on cold tires could have unpleasant side effects.

If you're riding on the track, most tires will be fine in a couple of laps unless its really cold out - then give it one or two more.

On the street, its really going to depend on how cold it is outside and whether you're doing continuous riding or stop and go traffic stuff. If its cold and you're in traffic, they'll probably never get fully warmed so be careful.

For continuous riding, I usually give it around 10 minutes before I go nuts, this should warm up pretty much any type of tires and gives you time to mentally warm up too.

[Lucky_Devil]

Thanks for the info everyone...

I guess my answer is: there is no answer :tongue

Too many variables I suppose. I just thought 30 miles was incorrect, and it appears I was right (depending on conditions).

[Nikki]

Always depends on
1. what type of tires
2. Weather temp
3. What type of riding
4. What type of bike

;)