When you are about to leave the dealership with those brand new tires on, they’ll warn you to take it easy as the tires can be quite slippery until you’ve “scrubbed them in”. They will tell you to take it easy for the first 200kms.
So what’s the best way to scrub in new tires? There’s a couple things to know. First, you need the tires to heat up before you start leaning on them. So, hit a highway full of gentle sweepers and go for a half-day cruise somewhere.
Once you’ve got the tires heated, hit up a parking lot and start practicing your u-turns, figure-eights and circles at low speed. This will lean the bike over far enough to scrub in the edges of the tires.
Low-speed maneuvers is by far the easiest and safest way to scrub in new tires once the tires have been heated up.
Last year I took a brand new set of tires on my local Experienced Rider Course and broke them in there. No problems at all.
Enjoy your new tires, safe riding!!