Quote from Forbin :

FWIW, I've seen tires where that's the intended direction of the tread.

Metzeler Lasertecs:

That's pretty interesting. I've just read something about Metzelers tyres. In order for the tyres not to rip into pieces the same tyre has to be mounted in different directions for front and rear wheels because at the front the main stress comes from braking, at the rear wheels the main stress is acceleration.

I know a bike is usually not something you'll choose to go by in the rain but even for an unexpected weather change I wouldn't risk riding those rubbers. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out they won't drain the tyre but instead 'collect' it thus forcing aquaplaning at low speeds.

If they're indeed designed to be mounted in that way, I'm fairly sure it's been tested in all sorts of weather conditions.

Metzler are basically Pirelli and it's not every day you hear of them cocking up.

Quote from S14 DRIFT :

If they're indeed designed to be mounted in that way, I'm fairly sure it's been tested in all sorts of weather conditions.

Metzler are basically Pirelli and it's not every day you hear of them cocking up.

Then again, a light rear is not impossible to control but as long as you're not doing a wheelie front tyre grip is nothing you want to loose on a bike I can imagine... So in some way it has to work out but I just can't imagine how it should.

The force of the tyre imprinting into water pushes the water through the tread groves, I'm no tyre engineer but I know roughly how they work.

The main reason for the tyre rotational fitting is to do with how the tyre is manufactured. Most of them have radial steel "belts" which are crossed at 45 degree angles (or 90 degrees). The rotational force of the tyre when fitted correctly helps push these together. when mounted the opposite way around, it in effect is trying to push them apart and could rip the belts away from the tyre itself.

Quote from S14 DRIFT :

Tyre stuff

As I wrote I also read about that. What I don't understand is how they can work in the rain and why they don't just make tyres for both front and rear with the correct profile.

What do you mean by profile?

Profile is the shape of the tyre, for example a sport touring tyre may be shaped like a U, which gives smoother steering, where as a super sports tyre may be more V shaped which gives for a faster turn in and more grip at larger lean angles.

If by profile you mean tread, it's because the force of the tyre imprinting the ground in it's forward motion pushes the water out through the tread and along the channels. There is no "perfect" tread pattern, there's a balance between appearance and water dispersion. The front tyre channels most of the water out of the way, as it's obviously the first thing which hits the puddle, and thus the tread needs to push water from the centre to the edges, or outwards at least, which is what they all do.

Ordered my new summer toy today, made all the more affordable (justifable!) by the ever increasing rise in fuel costs

Quote from S14 DRIFT :

Not for a long time, paying off the finance and then I'll see..

That is why finance is a silly idea if you don't plan on keeping what you buy. You either have to pay the buyer to take on your finance, or keep on paying for something you no longer have.

Quote from danowat :

Ordered my new summer toy today, made all the more affordable (justifable!) by the ever increasing rise in fuel costs

I read a study about bikes not too long ago, the upshot was unless you enter high ranks of cycling (Olympic hopeful), expensive bikes are a waste as you'll never get anywhere faster or gain any benefits health wise. The study actually had a slower average time for the expensive bike but it was only a few seconds attributed to one journey on the cheap bike being much faster than normal due to light traffic and without that trip they would have been a few thousands of a second in it.

You just look like a cock in Lycra with too much disposable income. And if you don't have insurance on it (which few do for road use, only when it is stored at home), if you get taken out by an even bigger cock in a white van you end up with nothing but a handful of carbon fibre confetti.

I did plan on keeping it, for 2 or 3 years at least, unfortunately my plans were forced to change.

Quote from 5tag :

That's pretty interesting. I've just read something about Metzelers tyres. In order for the tyres not to rip into pieces the same tyre has to be mounted in different directions for front and rear wheels because at the front the main stress comes from braking, at the rear wheels the main stress is acceleration.

I know a bike is usually not something you'll choose to go by in the rain but even for an unexpected weather change I wouldn't risk riding those rubbers. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out they won't drain the tyre but instead 'collect' it thus forcing aquaplaning at low speeds.

Dosn't matter which way. When I was racing proddy 250 we all had the Dunlop 207GP front tyre mounted the "wrong" way. When doing so the front tyre lasted much longer. to keep the costs down we also had to use the D207GP in the rain, and I didn't loose the front one single time...

Quote from P5YcHoM4N :

I read a study about bikes not too long ago, the upshot was unless you enter high ranks of cycling (Olympic hopeful), expensive bikes are a waste as you'll never get anywhere faster or gain any benefits health wise. The study actually had a slower average time for the expensive bike but it was only a few seconds attributed to one journey on the cheap bike being much faster than normal due to light traffic and without that trip they would have been a few thousands of a second in it.

You just look like a cock in Lycra with too much disposable income. And if you don't have insurance on it (which few do for road use, only when it is stored at home), if you get taken out by an even bigger cock in a white van you end up with nothing but a handful of carbon fibre confetti.

Yup, the law of diminishing returns, everyone who cycles knows that bike A isn't going to turn you into Bradley Wiggins, but bike A sure looks nice, and makes you feel good riding it, so thats all that matters

As for looking like a cock in lycra, meh, who cares, I certainly don't!!!, hopefully fuel prices will continue to rise, and said white van will no longer be a viable form of transport and the roads (and world) will be a much nicer place

As for disposable income, hell yeah, I am saving between £150-£200 a month on fuel, and that saving is only ever going to increase as fuel continues to rise.

Girlfriend and I went out to the beach yesterday.

Nice pic.

Just found another picture of my Aprilia RS250.
Event is Scandinavian Championship on "Jyllandsringen" in 2002. Wet race ended in highsider from 2nd position Not a good day...

Sold my lovely Russian junk, now i'm looking forward to buy enduro bike. Found Yamaha XT 550 cheaply. Did anyone ever owned XT? I want to know more about it.

With diesel at 136.9p a litre, I cracked out my old bike. Touch of WD40 on the moving parts and away she went. Though to be fair, I'm not likely to give up compression ignition to get around as it is just too damn far and I don't fancy arriving at my destination sweating like a fatty who just walked up a stair case. But now I go for a bike ride to wind down, rather than tearing around the Moors.

My rocket

Your bike is quite nice. Want to trade?

Meh, not as good as it looks, love the quick gear shifting tho. And no thanks

Mine had quick shifting, but years of neglect has caused it to slow down quite a bit. I now have to select a gear way before I need it. May have to scrap it and buy a new one.

Haha, I can imagine.

Hopefully your brakes are the same Then you'd need to see an idiot women with a phone 5 mins earlier

Some shots of my bike which I had washed last weekend.

Quote from PoVo :

Haha, I can imagine.

Hopefully your brakes are the same Then you'd need to see an idiot women with a phone 5 mins earlier

The front brakes are cable operated discs, so utterly shit, the force you need to get them to work is murder. The rears are blocks, so naturally lock up all of the time.

Quote from P5YcHoM4N :

The front brakes are cable operated discs, so utterly shit, the force you need to get them to work is murder. The rears are blocks, so naturally lock up all of the time.

huh? you have shit discs then or just shitty pads or both. cable operated are much much better in my opinion.

Hydraulic are better, go away we don't want your advice you murderer.