Tassie Riding in Summer

[Ward P]

Anyone else from the big island interested? I'm leaving Tallangatta Friday morning 14th for a "leisurley" ride thru the Mountains to arrive at the Ferry 5.00pm in Melbourne.

[mozzie26]

Bike is just about ready for my trip down to Tassie in Jan. Have fitted Ventura rack and bag, Garmin GPS and usb socket, Suzuki Gel seat, Kaoko cruise control to give the right hand a rest every now and then. Also fitted new front tyre and Goodridge brake shoes. Gave the discs a hone with 400 wet and dry then a clean with brake clean, the brakes have alot more bite now. Have Also fitted new Iridium plugs. Just need to change oil and filter.

   
   
   
   
   
   

[bazman]

Have fun, mozzie.....Tassie is the perfect place for a busa at that time of the year!!

But just one quick question for you and any others running PR3's....

Re: that pic of your front hoop......is that tyre mounted the right way round?!? The tread doesn't look right to me, can any ppl that usually run this rubber confirm that that is the correct fitment?!? (If it IS.....it REALLY makes no sense to me at all!!?!!)

Anywho....keep it fun!!

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I just watched an official Michelin test video on the PR3....and it was mounted the same way as yours is, Mozzie.....so I'm going to assume that that is the way it should be!!!

But I STILL don't understand WHY it is mounted this way, because it just doesn't seem to make any sense!!!

Could one of our smarter-than-me (and that wouldn't be too hard) rubber tech-heads please help me to understand why they mount it (to what I truly believe) backwards?!?

[Batfink]

I'm with to if that's the front wheel baz.... All I see is that as the wheel turns the grooves are forcing water into e centre of the tyre???? Can some real smart rubber heads please help us dumb f&$ks???

[CeeJay07]

That is correct fitment of the front hoop.

[Batfink]

hey baz.. now I am at work I got time to research

found this

Hi, I'm from Dunlop motorcycle tyres and I hope what follows explains why front and rear tread patterns are in opposite directions to each other. Brummmie and mojitomax have got the right idea but this is the full expanation.

Tread patterns have several other duties other than evacuating water. One of which is to contribute to even-tread-wear characteristics, i.e. not wear out in a stepped manner that can affect a bike's handling towards the end of the tyre's life.

In order to give smooth, even wear the tread grooves need to be aligned with the forces acting upon the tyre. With the rear tyre the forces are accelerative (from the engine) and cornering. The further the bike is leaned over the less effect the accelerative forces have because the amount you're on the gas reduces as lean angles increase. But as the bike is leaned further over the more the cornering forces come into effect.

So in the centre of the tyre the grooves tend to be more circumferential in order to align them with the accelerative forces pushing the bike forwards at more upright angles. But the grooves gradually arc outwards towards the tyre's shoulders as the cornering forces come increasingly into play. Hence, even though most tyre tread designs differ from each other you will usually find large elements of arcing tread design. And those tyres that don't follow this principle tend to have poorer wear characteristics.

Because bikes are not 2-wheel-drive vehicles, the forces acting upon a front tyre are not accelerative and cornering but braking and cornering. Braking forces affect a rear tyre a little but they are overwhelmed by the accelerative forces. The vast majority of the bike's braking is done by the front tyre and braking forces are in the opposite direction to accelerative forces so in order the align the tread grooves with these forces from upright to leaned over they need to be in the opposite direction to rear tyre tread grooves.

This principle holds true for all of our road and race radial tyres: Roadsmart, Qualifier, Qualifier II, Qualifier RR, GPR Alpha-10, GP Racer D209 and D211GP.

If it's the thought of poor water evacuation that's concerning you, don't worry. When it's raining, research with our development riders has found that on the road, riders rarely lean beyond 28 degrees. 25 to 30 degrees being the usual range, depending on the rider's experience and riding style. So the grooves that clear the majority of the water are concentrated in this zone of the tyre and you'll notice that the grooves in this area of your tyres are largely circumferential on both front and rear, so no problems with water evacuation straight out from the rear of the tyre's contact patch.

New developments in compounding are also having a greater effect on a tyre's wet road grip. The Qualifier RR has as much wet road grip as all-round sports-touring tyres of just a few years ago, despite having far less tread grooves.

When the road dries out you use bigger lean angles so we reduce the amount of grooves further out towards the shoulders, where there is reduced need for water clearance. By having less grooves on the tyre's shoulders, and hence more rubber in contact with the road, dry road grip is increased.

I hope that helps.

the clarity has gone from mud to very silty/brown water.... LOL

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oooh and the directional arrows re also there due to tread splicing as well.. so don;t try to turn around even a slick tyre otherwise you can cause a catastrophic failure of tread peeling off carcase..

the things u learn ;)

[Dale]

Bike is just about ready for my trip down to Tassie in Jan. Have fitted Ventura rack and bag, Garmin GPS and usb socket, Suzuki Gel seat, Kaoko cruise control to give the right hand a rest every now and then. Also fitted new front tyre and Goodridge brake shoes. Gave the discs a hone with 400 wet and dry then a clean with brake clean, the brakes have alot more bite now. Have Also fitted new Iridium plugs. Just need to change oil and filter.


Mozzie,
When I loaded my bike (Gen2) up for the Normanville trip, I had my bag on backwards (as you have) to take the weight off the Ventura rack and I had that same gap between the seat and the bag as you do. To take the weight off the rack (they have a tendency to crack), I packed my pillow and joggers into a waterproof bag (garbage bag) and sandwiched that between the bag and the rear seat.
Just an idea mate, as they are prone to cracking over prolonged bouncing. Also .. keep an eye on the front 2 bolts (the ones that replace the Frankenstein bolts), as one of mine vibrated out on the Adelaide trip and I didn't notice until I got home.
Another tip if you are doing super long distance .. Airhawk !!
Have a safe trip mate ..
Cheers .. Dale
P.S .. I wish I had of had a Kaoko cruise control, I will have one next long trip I do.

[David]

i would be keen for a club ride down there in feb so if something going on let me know

wayne

Can't wait Wayne Tassie in Feb should be great

[Batfink]

Hey Foot.. U coming down too? We got a few in mid Feb and going back for PI races... Once I know numbers and rough itinery I will organise some rides on north and east coast

[Batfink]

Okay guys n gals.. if we can get numbers and dates set then I will start to organise a 2 day ride.. Currently checking to see if a beach house will be available and on what dates...

so far this is what I have worked out
Mozzie is coming over early Jan 6-16
WardP is over Feb 14-21
Volvi is over Feb 15-22

I have heard big kev was thinking of coming over and wayne & foot has shown interest

I have virtually every weekend off so can always work something out...

when I know the most will be here I want to see about doing a 2 day ride with an overnight stop in Swansea... no real big days and lots of pic stops... see some unusual sights of Tassie

[David]

Hey Foot.. U coming down too? We got a few in mid Feb and going back for PI races... Once I know numbers and rough itinery I will organise some rides on north and east coast

Yep coming down with Wayneb60 can't wait

[Batfink]

Any idea of dates???!

[GOOFTROOP]

Hey Tony..I should be back on the bike for Feb ride. Already told work if I can ride i'll be taking time off.
Jan ride would be nice but I not off crutches till next week..fingers crossed.

[Batfink]

Just say the word mate.. I have yet to take the candy cane to west coast lol

[GOOFTROOP]

Just say the word mate.. I have yet to take the candy cane to west coast lol

Will let you know after New Years..Weekends taken up till then..Plus still have to find time and ability to bend/kneel down to work on the Busa..Been waiting nearly 3mnths to add bits I got before accident