Warming up tires on the street?
 

When riding on the street do you zig-zag a bit before hitting turns to warm up your tires? Is this something good to do?

I do a little but it may not be needed...too much you look a bit goofy imho. My Pilot Powers seem to warm up pretty quickly for the street.

The best thing to warm up your tires is a few hard take offs and hard stops. The flexing of the rubber will warm em up quicker than anything. Personally, I use tire warmers in my garage before taking off. :lol:

On the Street?
No

If the tires are cold, then the engine is cold and if the engine is cold...I'm a little cold.

Revs are down, speed is down and I'm not hustling around every corner while warmup is going on. Nothing special needs to be done, just ride casual for about 5-10 minutes.

:bowdown: :lol:

Don't have the link at hand but our local board had a big "debate" about the zig zagging.

In tests it has been shown to actually decrease tire heat rather than helping. It's nothing more than a personal routine and serves no real purpose in warming up the tires despite what everyone will tell you. :idk:

I don't do anything special. I take it easy for the first few and move myself around a bit so I'm warmed up. Other than that it's business as usual and I've never had issues.

Amen! :lol:

Or.... you can warm your engine to temp in the garage, do some stretches/jumping jacks and zig zag your bike for a second to warm, clean or scuff your tires before hitting the twisties...:wink:

All that zigging and zagging are bullshit on a bike. If you've ridden the bike for 30minutes or so, the tires will be plenty warm.

Just go easy for the first few miles. And T-rock is right.

I zig zag a bit, not so much to warm the tires, but like Tig said, to knock or scrub off any hanging on debris...out here in FL, theres alot of sand, even in the non beachy areas, and some of the back roads have dirt and mud driveways, riding in formation on the edge closest to that, you pick up some crap...and its a mental thing for me too I guess...if I do it comfortably and loosely, I know Im ready to have a little fun, if Im all jerky and rough, that tells me my head isnt in the game and I need to warm myself up a bit. :shrug:

30 minutes? I give them about 3 or 4 miles then give 'em the berries.

Agreed.

Even the tire warmers part.

I was joking about the tire warmers. It'd be nice though.

No shit, huh? :whosr:

I live in S. Florida.

The only time I care about warm tires is when I'm heading to pit out.

I've never used em in my life. I've also only been to the track once.

Nope. The closest twisties to my house is about 4 miles away, byt the time I get there, the tires are warm. It's the damn blind hills that are the problem. Cold tires and blind hills don't go well together.

I just take it easy for the first 7-8 miles. Helps get me into riding too and prevents me from riding outside my limits.

When it's cold out, I just take it easy for the first few minutes before taking any turns with gusto.

Weaving around will not warm your tires enough to do squat. It will help clean gravel and crud off, but that takes one little S. Anymore than that is just letting people know to watch out for you...

Hmm... well I honestly don't know... I like to zig zag a little to get a "feel" for my bike...

I am wondering for my specific situation, if I need to zig-zag or if it's just wasted effort.

I do not have a garage. I start my bike and let it warm-up while I put my gear on. 9 times out of 10 I am jumping on the freeway to get where I am going. They freeway entrance is just a few blocks from my condo, so I do a quick couple zig-zaps before taking the freeway entrance, which is one of the sweeping circles. :shrug:

Thoughts?

In your situation I wouldn't bother unless you want to scrub some dirt off. :idk:

Like I said before, it does absolutely nothing to warm your tires up. If you want to do it for "feel" go ahead....but that's not quite the same thing.

Zig zag does nothing, you never really get over far enough to really "dust off" the outside of the tire, but I do it cause it's fun. The best way and the way that makes you look like a huge squid at the gap has been mentioned. Take off really hard and slam the brakes before you go into the first turn. Hard accels and heavy braking warms up the tires quick like already mentioned.

SHHHH! Goober, not everyone has the control to do that kinda maneuver, they could end up ass over head...

I don't think he meant stoppies.

:lol: I know he didnt, but having seen some newbies attempt that little manuever, like at the track, and FAIL...better to post a disclaimer! Someone could sue Trip for bad advice on the interwebz...

:lol:

If you could sue for bad internet advice, we'd all be in the poor house!:lol:

:lol: Thanks for the heads up Rae! ;)