zmann

does anyone have experience with these? I was at the track today and one of the guys had Chicken Hawk tire heaters. He swore by them.

The theory is that you can turn 4 or 5 heat cycles in a day into one. Since I typically cycle through my R6s before I wear them out, this seems to make some sense.

Any thought or comments on this strategy? I'm trying to keep the cost of tire replacement down.

vipola

I have no experience with Car tire warmer, but on motorcycle I wouldn't live without it
It save you rubber and get the tire ready to push them even in the first lap. and it give you a great peace of mind.

Chaos

So good F1 is banning them next year. Norm Golrich uses them and he is on this site.

Pac996

From what I've seen Chicken Hawk makes the bike tire warmers too. In that market the don't have much competition like maybe just one other company. Prices are high.

But back to your deal. It is good to use them since you are warmed up out of the pit. If where you race doesn't have much power available then a generator or prime pit spot is needed. Warmers are good just using them is all I can figure as a possible problem. Be prepared to weigh the choices of which type of operation the warmers have. It's a fancy choice or three.

Wraith1027

Chicken Hawk is one of the top line tire warmers in the bike industry. I know the owner personally and he is a top notch guy. Customer service is excellent. You won't be disapointed. He runs STT track days in the NE. Tire warmers will save you money in the long run, if you are running race spec tires where heat cycles tend to shorten the life of a tire before the tread is spent. If you are running performance street tires, it probably won't do anything but allow you to roll onto the track with tires already warm and ready to go. No warm up laps needed. I run the digitals on my race bike, that way I don't over bake the rubber.

ltc

I'm not sure I follow that line of reasoning.

Wraith1027

The tires are warmed up prior to going out on the track. When you return to the paddock, you put the warmers back on and keep them on untill you go out again. The tires never cool down. Heating and cooling a track tire (Heat cycle) breaks down and causes hardening of the rubber and deteriorates the tires ability to grip. They wil start to glaze and shread apart as the hardened rubber tears away from the softer rubber. You will get a shiny purple look to the rubber and experience chunking and shearing making the tire useless even though there is good tread left. tire warmers allow you to run a tire much longer on the same heat cycle and lets you use the entire life of the tire.

ltc

So, in other words, a new tire, wrapped in a heated blanket and maintained at operating temperatures will never break down?
What about the release of oils from the compound due to temperature?