The Bands Of Traction

The Bands Of Traction,
Identify the different bands of tire traction



The Edge

Anyone would like to be able to read and sense traction at a pro level. That would mean something like: to always know when you were at the edge of traction and feel comfortable enough to bring it there when and if you wished to.

For a professional rider that “edge” has to be pretty wide. Think of it this way: you must be able to ride in that band of traction or you don’t get paid. That is a different perspective than most sport bike enthusiasts have on the subject of traction.


Bands of Traction

Feeling in control of tire grip would mean reading the signs of losing grip and knowing what those signs meant. If there was a nice long, tapering curve to losing traction, where the signs of it ramped up very gradually from a squirm to a little slip and then to a slip & grip and then on to a nice, clean, power-on slide we’d all be traction masters. The fact is, tires do have signs and signals just like that but talking about it doesn’t make it any more real or comfortable without some personal experience to back it up.


Technical Skills

Having good technical skills is the only sane route to mastering the bands of traction and reading their signs. In other words, without a firm grounding in basics, it’s easy for riders to misidentify what they think is a loss of traction when it isn’t or because of poor technique they may skip a band or two and get themselves into trouble.

Sloppy throttle control gives a false sense of tire grip. Using lean angle in the wrong part of the turn for the wrong reasons gives a distorted feel for it. How the rider sits on the bike can have a huge effect on it. Confusing inputs into the handlebars is another classic way of misreading the signs your tires can give you. All of them will set you up to miss the signals completely.

These, and others, are all technical aspects of riding that can be adjusted by the rider without having to touch the bike’s suspension. Being coached through these points is the way to go and leads to control of the mysterious traction questions riders have.


New Skins

Aside from crashing, tires are the single most expensive, consumable cost riders have for track days and racing. Tires do wear out and that wear is part of the key to their ability to grip.

Take the tire’s viewpoint for a moment. They are willing to stick provided there is rubber covering the cords; the temperature is up to the loads being demanded by the rider’s speed; lean angle; braking and drive off the corners. Tires wear out just like skin. As the outer layer becomes dry it is swept away by friction. On your clothes when it comes to skin. On the pavement when it comes to tires.

Tires, like skin, dry out from age or from heat. Exposing the next layer of fresh, pliable rubber underneath to the road is critical to performance. If the dry rubber remains on top, traction isn’t as good. To expose the new, fresh rubber, enough load must be put on the tires to “clean” them. It has been theorized that 10% tire slippage is the ideal situation for tires because it keeps the temperature up and at the same time “cleans” them.


The Sticky Stuff

Everyone wants to have the stickiest rubber they can afford but it isn’t sticky until they can put the big load on the tires. Most riders would do better and learn heaps more about traction with something lesser than full race, factory rider developed tires. Why? They don’t have to put the big loads on the tires to start to experience the bands of traction as listed above.

Look at it this way. If you are using the tire at the bottom end of where it was developed by pro riders would it actually save you if you got brave for a moment? The answer is no. Pushing the loads on the tires up for a moment when the rest of the lap was at your normal pace will not give the tire enough time to warm up to the level you momentarily demand from it to handle the situation.

In other words, your potential and that of the tires have to come up together for you to take advantage of what the tire has to offer. To a large degree, the security of the stickiest rubber is false. Until you arrive at some consistency in your levels of speed and lean angle and throttle control and the other technical parts of riding it is no more then blind faith.



Trusting the Tires

In the end it isn’t about the tires it is about the rider. It’s about using good technique and having good technical skills. It’s about gaining some consistency with them and knowing you can do it. After that, it’s not so difficult to trust your tires because you trust yourself.


Keith Code.