Breaking in new tires?

B

BeeDee

New member
Was reading a couple of threads in the Touring forum today and noted some folks talked about "breaking in new tires".

Not sure I understand that concept.

Could someone (or several folks) explain what that term means and how someone "breaks in" new tires?

Thanks and sorry for being a moron.
 
Not a moron at all. I think the break in is mostly being careful not to push the tires too hard at first. If you scuff them first, you reduce the chances of of an unexpected occurrence during a turn or a stop.
 
New tires are a little slick do to the releasing agent used on the molds during manufacturing. Go easy in the first couple of hard corners until the shiny is knocked off them.
 
New tires have an oily compound on the surface that makes them slippery until that compound gets scuffed off the surface. The recommendation is to ride conservatively for the first 100 miles or so before you go screaming around corners, etc., to prevent a slide out.
 
Never a moron question, especially when related to safety... Break in as I understand is is basically taking it easy the first 100 miles, don't corner fast or sharp, don't accelerate fast, ect... Tires come from the factory with a release agent from the molding process that can be slick until the first 100 miles or so of use.... If you want, take some scotchbrite pads and scrub or scuff the rubber of the tire before you ride on them, maybe some soapy suds to assist in getting them cleaned of this "release agent" Just my own understanding of breaking in tires...
 
Here you are straight from the experts....

In order for your motorcycle Tires to provide optimum performance, tires should be ridden very cautiously for the first 100 miles in order for the tread surface to be “Scuffed-In” and work properly. Directly after new tires are mounted, sudden acceleration, maximum braking and hard cornering must be avoided. This will allow the rider to adjust to the “Feel” and handling characteristics of the new tire and for the new tire to be “Scuffed-In” correctly in order to achieve optimum
 
Breaking them in according to the dealer when I bought my new Road Glide was putting about 100 miles on the new tires without pushing them especially in the turns. The thought is that the 100 miles will scuff them up enough so that you should be full traction.

The reason for this to my understanding is that when tires are made the molds are treated with a "mold release" which helps the rubber tires release from the mold that it's made in and not stick to it. This mold release is obviously something slippery such as but not necessarily silicone spray. It make sense that if you have new tires with some kind of mold release on them that has maybe seeped into the surface layer of the tire then you would need to scuff it off. If your cornering and really laying down into a turn and then the tire slides out because of this or you hit a wet spot then you can see where that would be a problem.

Some people don't believe in this at all but to me it makes perfect sense and it's not a real big inconvenience to ride a little more conservatively for 100 miles, for safeties sake, which I typically do in 3 days of commuting or less.

This my attempt at explaining. Enjoy the ride and keep the painted side up.

R
 
They are also likely to settle on the rims, so may lose a couple of pounds of pressure, so after that first 100 miles or so check.
 
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