Rearsets, brake fluid on tyres and sheer dumb luck
Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:45 pm
What a track day! After fitting rearset brackets to my Ninja 250 I managed during session one to get my knee down for the first time! 
Feeling rather quick and enjoying devouring lots of guys on bigger bikes, my pace got quicker and quicker until I hit turn 11 at Eastern Creek with all I had - only to catch my kickstand base on the tarmac and get sent sideways! Damn my newfound additional lean capacity! Luckily my crash protectors (Don't know why it won't let me write "O g g y") saved the day and with one re-bent gear shifter and a scrutineering sticker later, I was back out on the track.
A few sessions later I came back in to find fluid all over the right side of my tyre! It seems that raising the rearsets bent the line from the reservoir to the master cylinder inward, causing it to rub on my rear tyre. It must have gone kaput somewhere in the last two turns of the session as I hit the right-turn 15 pretty hard and would surely have come off again if the tyre was mucked - talk about sheer dumb luck!
So my question is: Would the brake fluid have damaged the tyre? It was there for a few hours (had to take my crashed mate for Xrays and his bike home - no broken bones thankfully!) before I could wash it off with soapy water. The inch of rubber that was coated has gone smooth and lost the shredded appearance of the worn rubber, it certainly feels much harder than the nice soft Pirelli rubber that it once was.
Would this be permanent damage or could I wear the tyre back in, maybe rub over the affected area with some 80 grit or something?
Feeling rather quick and enjoying devouring lots of guys on bigger bikes, my pace got quicker and quicker until I hit turn 11 at Eastern Creek with all I had - only to catch my kickstand base on the tarmac and get sent sideways! Damn my newfound additional lean capacity! Luckily my crash protectors (Don't know why it won't let me write "O g g y") saved the day and with one re-bent gear shifter and a scrutineering sticker later, I was back out on the track.A few sessions later I came back in to find fluid all over the right side of my tyre! It seems that raising the rearsets bent the line from the reservoir to the master cylinder inward, causing it to rub on my rear tyre. It must have gone kaput somewhere in the last two turns of the session as I hit the right-turn 15 pretty hard and would surely have come off again if the tyre was mucked - talk about sheer dumb luck!
So my question is: Would the brake fluid have damaged the tyre? It was there for a few hours (had to take my crashed mate for Xrays and his bike home - no broken bones thankfully!) before I could wash it off with soapy water. The inch of rubber that was coated has gone smooth and lost the shredded appearance of the worn rubber, it certainly feels much harder than the nice soft Pirelli rubber that it once was.
Would this be permanent damage or could I wear the tyre back in, maybe rub over the affected area with some 80 grit or something?
