Thread: Tires Slipping
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Old 07-24-2007, 10:28 PM   #2 (permalink)
GSXR RACER MIKE
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Your front end push could be from a number of things: Tires, weak springs, track surface (or debris on it like fluid, dirt, or sand), bad body position, improper bike set-up, taking a bad line and putting too much load into the front, or most likely a combination of some of these things and/or possibly others.

Proper springs are very important to allow the bike to have a cushion between the weight of the bike and the tires gripping the road. If your suspension bottoms out you no longer have that cushion and any imperfections in the road or inputs by you or the bike can easily cause a change in traction. An easy way to see if your forks are bottoming out is to put a zip-tie tightly around the stationary fork tube so the tube that slides will push the zip tie as it moves, this will show you the maximum travel the suspension encountered. When your springs are close to what's correct for your weight and ability you should be using apx the center 1/3rd of the suspensions travel, if your compressing the suspension all the way (or close) it's defenitely time to get the correct springs for your weight.

A common problem with alot of riders is not being smooth in their transition from braking to turning and end up getting somewhat of a pogo-stick action due to it. Not being smooth can cause variations in your traction as your suspension pogo's back and forth and tries to find it's equalization point. When done correctly the suspension would compress during braking and stay compressed as you turn the bike, no pogo action, just one continuos action. Damping can come into play here as well, too much damping and the suspension can act similar to being bottomed out because it can't compress as fast as it needs to. Not enough damping and the suspension will most likely have an increased Pogo like action which is bad for traction.

Of course the tires could be a little used up, and many people out of lack of not being able to point out the actual problem would default to saying you should put fresh tires on the bike - which indeed would help the issue temporarily (acting as a Band-Aid to cover up the real problem(s) if there are others). Since I'm not familiar with anything other than Dunlop's I can't give you any advice on your specific tires, but there is also the possibility that your approaching the limits of traction for that model tire. I have a feeling this is NOT the case, but without being able to actually check out your bike it's tough to tell what of many potential things may be causing the problem for you.
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