From: trsajo@eua.ericsson.se (Anders.Johansson)
Subject: Re: winter riding - was MX racing questions 
Organization: Ellemtel Telecom Systems Labs, Stockholm, Sweden
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 17:33:04 GMT

wardman@gandalf.ca (Russel Wardman) writes:

>In <1992Aug17.072253.15810@eua.ericsson.se> trsajo@eua.ericsson.se (Anders.Johansson) writes:

>>wardman@gandalf.ca (Russel Wardman) writes:

... lots of stuff deleted...


>I'd like to hear more about your winter riding, especially the set up
>of the bike and tires. 

	I've got an ordinary KDX200 enduro bike with studded MX-tires.

>Do you use full spikes ie. 3cm long?. Do you spike them yourself?

	No, not the kind that is used in the full spike racing (they run 
	on ice-ovals only). That kind of spikes are not practical on
	any "normal" street- or MX-bike. Those spikes would bend and/or
	wear too fast at any other use than on pure ice. (Some people
	I know of that DO the full spike racing told me that yes, most
	of them do their own spiking, but that's another story)

	I do not stud my own tires. The time and equipment needed is
	too much for me. At least here in Sweden there are companies 
	that specialize in putting studs (not really screws) in 
	MX tires. The same procedure as with studded car tires, only the    
	bike-tires gets much longer studs (about 1 inch long, of which 
	1/4 inch extends outside of the rubber), and these studs must be
	glued to the tire with some kind of super-glue (the kind that 
	dries in 10 seconds). The studs are shaped almost like
	chantarelles (fungus), with the pointed end outwards. Diameter
	is about 1/4 inch at the wide part and 1/16 inch at the point 
	(hardened steel).

	Oh, almost forgot one detail: The tire has to be drilled first,
	where all these studs should be put. The holes should be about
	1/4 to 1/8 inch in diameter (not shure) and as deep as you want
	the stud to sit (You usually want it to sit against the cord
	(is that the name for it?) in the tire). Then you put the glue
	in the holes and grab the pressurized-air-studgun and put the
	studs in the holes. The holes must be "high-speed drilled" to
	get a smooth enough surface for the glue to attach to.
	Without glue your studs won't last a day. Don't ask me how I know...

	I use about 350 studs in each tire, and the tires cost me about
	$150 (front) and $260 (rear). For comparison: A normal (unstudded)
	MX-tire here in Sweden will cost about $60 to $100 depending on 
	quality.

	There are different lengths and point-diameters available for
	the studs, depending on which purpose it is ment for, ie
	narrower point - mainly ice
	wider point and shorter stud - mainly autumn and spring (frozen sand,
				       frozen clay, ice, etc)

	If someone is interested I could supply the names and addresses
	of some companies that make/sell studded tires here in Sweden.
	I don't have the addresses here at work, but as I remember,
	both Trelleborg (excellent) and Cheng Shin (poor (they say))
	produce studded tires from factory. Other companies just put 
	together the tires and studs you want (as they do for the
	professional MX'ers and Enduro-types), and they should be able
	to recommend you the best combination of tires and studs for 
	your needs!

>Over here we use special screws which resemble sheet metal screws
>and are 1.25 to 2.0 inches long (sorry about mixing metric and imperial)
>but only the slotted hexagonal head of the screw protrudes from the tire.  
>Up to three street tires with their sidewalls removed are inserted in the
>tire before studding.

	How do you mean, is it the head of the screw that grabs the ice?
	Isn't that a bit blunt? And how about wear?

	Yes, my tires do wear too, but as I'm mostly doing this for the
	fun of it, I expect my rear-tire to last one winter as "GOOD"
	and the next season as "AutumnAndSpring"-tire. Front-tire wear
	is almost non-existent.

>A few acquaintances of mine go trail riding, but due to the expense and
>the time involved in making a tire that sticks to the ice, I haven't tried
>it. Does sound like fun though. 

	It shure is! My KDX 200 is street-legal...

>The bikes are lowered down and some of the guys steepen the steering angle.
>I expect the geometry changes are similar to those George C. made to his
>CR500RR for road racing.

	Why is that? If you wanna go fast, why not use a street-bike?
	I read an article last year about som guys here in Sweden that 
	equipped their GSX750R's and GSX1100's with studded MX-tires.
	The reporter wrote something about "the experience got slightly
	hairy when the studs started touching the lower steering-head and
	the insides of the front mudguard due to the centrifugal forces
	in the tire at 200 km/h (appr 120 mph)... It appears that they
	started out with Enduro-bikes, but wanted more speed.

>Do you go out to see any of the full spike racing series? Seems to me 
>that I heard that a Swiss competitor won the championship in recent years.
>Usually dominated by Russians isn't it? A Canadian racer by the name of John
>Cornwell made into the finals a couple of years ago, this was apparently
>quite a feat for his first year in that type of racing.

	I have seen a few races, and even tried one of their bikes twice.
	I love the smell of these bikes, and the combat out there on the ice!
	However, I love my own life too much to join in on any of their
	competitions, I'm happiest when I'm alone on the oval! (and alive!)
	There are some Swedes that have done well in the World Championships,
	one is P.O. "Posa" Serenius, World Champion a few years ago i think.
	Otherwise, it is the Russians that really dominates the sport.

>I will be racing in the Canadian National ice racing series this winter
>and will post the schedule (canadian distribution) once it is announced
>in case any in the area wants to check it out. 

	I always wanted to visit Canada, but it is quite far away,
	and I can't go there on my bike, studs or no studs...


>Russell Wardman 

>>Anders Johansson, Telia Research, Sundsvall, Sweden.

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	Anders Johansson, Telia Research, Sundsvall, Sweden.
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