[ST] for Doug Cioce - wide tires & handling

[don draper <donnydogood@xxxxxxx>]

 >>> (does) it (a wider rear tire) cause any handling problems? <<<

    Not if you ride slowly enough!  The wide rear and narrow front
tires are the biggest setup problem in racing.  In any turn, the
front tire describes a larger diameter circle than the rear even if
they're both the same width.  As you increase throttle exiting the
turn, the powered rear tire (pointing straight ahead) tries to push
the front toward the outside of the turn. The fact that the contact
patch is on the inside edge of the tire means that the wider the tire
you put on the back, the smaller the radius of that circle becomes
and the more the push problem is exacerbated.

    Race bikes use the widest tire they can get away with to try to
get the maximum traction in a straight line for their huge horse-
power outputs; they then count on the incredible levels of rider
courage and skill to deal with the understeer on corner exits (read:
oversteering by spinning the rear tire out of the corners). 

    In short, as with so many things regarding sport bikes, if you
want to LOOK fast put on a wider than stock tire; if you want to GO
fast, put on a slightly narrower than stock tire.

                          Hope all this helps;

                                doggydoo   - - - o%\o

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