When I was working at Canton Cycles, CT, (BMWs, Triumphs, Ducatis), we were fortunate enough to have a head mechanic who raced and was a fanatic about tires, tire pressure, etc. He was the one that made me aware of the differences in rubber compounds in tires and the various temperature ranges various brands and tires series perform best at. In fact, he was the fellow who advised the employees and customers to go a couple of pounds extra above the tire manufacturers suggested PSI, because BMW rims use tire pressure as a reinforcing element for their rims.
If I remember Mac's comments, the harder compounds take longer to warm up than the softer compounds in tires. When I moved down to Florida, I had to change over from factory recommended tires to a different brand. Softer compounds tend to be more sticky and warm up faster, where the harder compounds take a while longer to heat up, get softer and stickier. The softer compound tires, I had which were great for New England riding, were wearing out faster on the hot roads, so I went to a harder compound and got better tire wear, with some variance in handling on short rides.
Florida roads never really cool down and the tires that worked well for New England riding, did not last down here. Another bit of wisdom from Mac. Under average riding conditions, us shaft-driven bikers will change a rear tire three times, while a belt or chain driven bike will only have to be changed twice. According to Mac, us shaft drivers have more direct torque to the rear wheel, where the little bit of flex in a chain/belt allows for less wear on start-ups.
Tires do take a while to warm up, whether soft or hard rubber compounds. Plus, you have to factor in dew points/humidity factors. Going from 90 to 50 degrees can leave an unnoticeable amount of moisture on the road, as it cools down. Unless, the rubber is really roughed up on the sides of your tires, a 40 degree drop in tempuratures can make a difference as the road cools at a different rate than the air temperature. Cooler mornings and temperatures will impact moisture on the roads...even if you can't see it. Those Northern road tar repair snakes just add to the excitement. And, that fact is, put another way, different tires have different temperature ranges and road conditions that they perform best at. Some tires do better than others on wet pavement as well. The cooler the temperatures, the more straight up riding you have to do up North. Your tires are probably rated for a certain temperature range, although you might have to do a little research to find out. Even soft compounds will harden up, as the seasons change. Without embarassing myself, forgetting some of those things almost cost me dearly one November evening in CT, as the temperatures were dropping.
Some bike manufacturers actually consider where the bikes are being shipped to when they have tires matched to bikes, but not all! If you're riding in cooler weather, you can even go a little higher on your tire pressure. Oh yea! Just another bit of knowledge for anyone that reads this post.
Fill your tanks in the morning when it's cool. You will get more gas when it is cool and the ground and gas pump plumbing is cool, than you will after the ground/pumps heat up. Also, pump your gas slowly. Since gas evaporates quickly on a high speed pump, the gas station's evaporative recovery systems get gas back in the vapors that you have paid for. Bottom line is, you get more usable gas with a cold weather/morning fill-up, that you do in a hot weather/mid-day fill-up. Oh well, so much for the techie stuff, but glad you're aware of the changes in handling. As long as I've been riding, it still amazes me that supposed experienced bikers forget to pay attention to tire pressure and how their bikes are handling under different conditions. Semper Fi, Gunny
