Tell 'Em chunks!
Makes you shiver. 
Hi peeps,
As a newbie, can someone give me a quick explanation of âscrubbing inâ new tyres?
Cheers,
Steve
When a new tyre is fitted to your bike it has a very smooth, slippery surface and has the mould release chemicals still on the surface. Scrubbing in is a process where you just ride a bit carefully for a few miles to break the surface of the tyres.Its like when you buy a new pair of shoes, they are a bit slippery for a while until the sole is roughened up a bit.Hope this helps Steve:)
Cheers Chunky - was wondering if there was something I actively needed to do!
Cheers,
Steve
(Happy to admit Iâm asking this from a position of ingorance, but) why on this thread do people say âTake it easy for 100 milesâ, but on another thread re race tyres theyâre saying âa couple of laps will scrub your new tyres in nicelyâ?
I understand that they may be talking about softer compound tyres (but if the issue is needing to give time to release chemicals from the mftr process, more than just getting the tyres roughed up a bit, then will the softer compound really release the chemicals SO much quicker?).
Also understand that youâre going to be putting the bike under a fair bit more braking/cornering force on a track, but weâve still got two really different lines of opinion about (what, to me seems to be) the same question, on two simultaneous threads.
The mould release agents are only on the surface of the tyre as a rule but I guess there may be a tiny amount soaked up by the compound.The surface of a race track is way more abrasive than on your average highway and also the lean angles obtained mean that the whole of the tyre surface has been roughed up by the end of the first lap. As race tyres are pre-heated with warmers, they reach optimum temperature a lot faster than on the road too.In the road, lean angles tend to be more gradual and its a bit like running a bike in, you gradually get it closer and closer to the limit.
Thanks. I get what youâre saying, but would all the factors you mention really make the difference between 100 miles on the road and a couple of laps on a track? Or is it more a case of two urban myths colliding (obviously thatâs not a perfect analogy, since Iâve gotta assume that guys on the track will have tested their theory to destruction, so Iâd have more confidence in what theyâre saying, albeit that itâs likely to be irrelevant to me as I may never have the experience of warming my tyres up for a track day).
well my local shop has a sign in it and they stamp your recieipt advising you to take it easy on new tyres for first 100 miles or so, and as they race the TT its good enough for me 
dont you notice when you get new tyres how odd they feel initially due to new profile, more tread etc and is it so hard to take it easy for a while for your own safety ? 
i just got a new bike (2 weeks ago). add the weather to that and 190bhp its been a little sketchy to say the least.
i did a burnout outside the shop i bought it from.
much easier to scrub the tires in, in the summer though. hereâs my other bike 
new tyres or not. you should be able to react accordingly when your bike loses traction either way
See what youâre saying, but thatâs also likely to be down to product liability issues. For instance, my topbox (manufacturerâs topbox, model specific to my scoot, which comes with engine sizes up to 500cc) came with a warning that it shouldnât be used at speeds over 50mph or carry a load of over 10kg (rendering it effectively useless if you follow the instructions, but also immunising Piaggio against any claims).
yep thats exactly why they say 100miles.
Iâve only ever given it half a lap then full gas and not crashed doing this yet. Rolling out to the grid on new rubber you only get half a lap anyway before the race starts and I donât bother with the brake fluid trick either. And if anyone thinks the warm up lap is anything other than flat out they are mistaken 
On the road itâs surely just common sense. If you havenât hit full lean give it a couple of goes before you go banzai.
Not just weird it is actually a disgrace to sell something so dangerous - time we complained to the manufacturers. I am sure if they sold tyres for cars that were that slippery there would be an outcry.
I actually managed to come off on my own driveway!! because of so called ârelease agentâ. Can it really be that hard to remove the gunk after production?
I hope you never end up regretting that statement.
Recently fitted new tyres and went over em with a 'bastard â file first, even if you take it easy at first you are still going to contact the virgin rubber on the sides at some stage .
hmm, I have never taken any notice of this at all, i ride it hard from the moment I get them fitted, get them warm and keep them warm for 20 miles and I have no problems at allâŚnever done it in the wet thoughtâŚthat would be bad.
would never scrub my road tyres with any solvents, no matter how supposedly safeâŚresidues from the solvent on a track bike have no time to do any damage, ie the tyres are only used the once mostly, on a road bike where the tyres are kept for months maybe years the solvent residue could do long term damageâŚnot worth the risk in my eyes, no matter how safe it appears to beâŚ
By the way chunks, not all rubber is the same, petrol resistant rubber, is not the same as brake fluid resistant rubber, as is diesel resistant rubber etc etc etcâŚyou know that I am sureâŚ
Best to stay with the â100miles taking it steadyâ in my eyesâŚthats what they advise and thats what will keep them safe from the compensation claims so stick with it I guess, so dont do what I do. do what they sayâŚ
and if i do iâll blame myself not the bike or tires 
gotta say âso whatââŚif you make a mistake you make a mistake, you learn and move onâŚif your skills are improved by it greatâŚdont matter whether it is the bike, the weather, the tyres or youâŚstill hurts if you come offâŚmentally as well as physicallyâŚ
Surely the solution is to scrub some in in the summer, and store them, should you need to change in winter?
The rubber parts in brakes are totally different to those used for tyres. They are far more resilient to solvents and oils. We could reverse your theory by scubbing your tyres with DOT brake fluid? :pinch:
I think the issue regarding road tyres being kept for far longer than track tyres being critical.
It might be paranoia but a few careful miles is not really a hardship.