My Chicken Strips
Sep 10th, 2008 by Leo
Would you like fries with that? Yes, but that’s not the kind of chicken strips we’re talking about. And this is NOT a terribly important thing, but you may hear about it sometime (if you haven’t already), so you might as well hear it from me first. Your tires are squealing on you. They tell the world just how far you lean your bike over.
If you look closely at the tire above you can tell how much of the tire has never been used – and which side you favor if you tend to turn better in one direction. Hint: look at the right edge of this tire pic… You can see the part that is scuffed up and the part that is relatively unused. You can see in the picture that I have about a quarter inch of unused tire on the right edge (my left side is just a tiny bit less). That strip you see there is called a “chicken strip” (hey who you calling chicken? ) Lots of people take pride in getting rid of those…but I’m stuck with mine for the time being and wear them proudly…at least online.
Now many bikes and scooters will always have chicken strips because the foot pegs and exhaust start grinding before you get to the edge of your tire (the strips on my scooter are a little fatter than the ones above). But most sportier bikes with high mounted exhausts and high pegs, are made to be leaned over. This bike has tires that can be leaned over 42 degrees in the rain (under ideal road conditions) and 50 degrees on dry pavement. From the looks of it, I may have gotten to the 40 degree mark or so…which means there’s almost ten more degrees of lean angle available should I ever need it.
Why should I care? If you are grinding pegs or other things on the street, then slow down, you have nothing to prove. But there are a couple of benefits to getting rid of your strips: [1] You can learn what your maximum lean angle is in a safe and controlled environment, so that if you’re ever in an emergency situation, you can use all of your tire rather than just crashing. [2] The unscuffed parts of the tire are just a little bit slipperier than the scuffed-in parts, so by getting rid of those chicken strips in a controlled setting, you improve the grip of the tires at their edges. [3] You can be one of the cool kids (of which I am not…right now). The best place to get rid of your chicken strips is on a track. The second best place is an empty parking lot with a few orange cones running figure eights in first or second gear. So go out and take a look. What are your tires telling you?
Relates Posts
- Moto-Myths: How to Steer a Bike
- Riding Tips: Finding the Right Position
- The Quick Turn and Quick Lean
- Body Positions: Hanging Off
Related posts:
