Burnout? Easy. First decide if you wanna do a standing or rolling burnout. (Standing much easier if u're a burnt rubber novice.
So, on your bike, engine on, both feet firmly on the ground, apply front brake, lift yer arse off the seat (lightening rear wheel but keep the bike tight between yer legs). Put it in first gear, rev it up a bit (3-4k rpm), then drop the clutch. Much easier on cold tires! The rear wheel will spin away, tire will quickly start smoking. Be CAREFUL, the rear will wander and try coming round to either side, so always be prepared to pull the clutch lever if needed.
Carry on like this until you're happy you've made enough noise and smoke and/or you feel your tire's about to blow up (you really don't want that - rim damage + more possible).
Rolling burnout's similar, but you don't use the front brake and you're moving, so it's more involved and dangerous, but more fun and satisfying. It's all about leaning forward (weight off the rear), rev up and drop the clutch, let the power make the tire slip. You must have good balance and lots of room!
Choices of tires, here are the preferred ones for *most* of us:
- cheap and ultra grippy: Shinko Tourmaster T230. Handles great, wears faster.
- not so cheap but longer lasting: Metzeler Marathon ME880. All who have them love them, even if they don't stick quite as good as Shinkos. They do also outlast the Shinkos quite a bit.
Side note: the Vmax asks for 'V'-rated tires. Shinko is V (149mph), Metzeler is H (130mph).
Also, the standard rear is 150/90-15". A lot of us go with the 170/80-15 because we all love fatter rear tire looks, but recently someone with a bad speed wobble problem found that going down to a 140/90-15 cured his wobble. Make your own mind up.
Oh, and for the front, standard size is 110/90-18". A few are using 120/90-18, again for the fatter look. Both front and rear fatter ones will fit without mods, but they will do nothing for your handling. Both sizes in both front and rear are available in both brands. Usually the best deal (including shipping to your door) can be found online at
www.bikebandit.com. Other may look cheaper, but their shipping's higher.
And then of course, it's way cheaper to take your wheels off yourself, and drop them to your friendly stealers for replacement and balancing. And it pays to shop around - some stealers will do both wheels for under $50, others will ask $45 per wheel.
A lot of us are also using Dynabeads instead of weights for balancing - small ceramic beads that go inside the tire and allow for dynamic balancing that adjusts itself as the tire wears.
Hope this helps!
