We define this as to what a tire is at the ambient temperature as opposed to what temperature it builds up to on the track. We don't get this to exact number but more of a feel so the tires that you have in rotation can be checked both ways prior to putting them into competition. 

This is the process of removing rubber and profiling the tire for maximum contact patch, reducing rolling resistance, and reducing overall bite due to less rubber being on the tire. We do cut these specific per Jr. or Sr. preferences and overall track conditions that the tires are being ran in and we do not recommend all the tires be cut only if the situation calls for it.

The process of rolling internal prep in the tire to aid in the softness and pliability of the carcass of the tire. Used primarily on Maxxis and Vega and some harder Burris compounds, more specific details will be listed under the Inside Prep section. We will normally reference to CC with the conversion of 30cc (or ml) = 1oz. 

When tires age in the tire cycle they become tougher and less reactive to tire temp. A tougher tire is desired in high bite conditions especially during the summer months when tire temps are higher but for local racing and cooler months of the year re-rolling a tire can bring a tire back to life and is used by many of the pros of the sport. This process will be explained in greater detail under the inside prep article 

This is defined as taking the tires and putting them on the track for several hard laps to initiate a heat cycle in the tires and start the aging and curing cycle. Its optional to prepare the tire prior to the step but we always advise rolling the inside first and then scuff the tires   

We reference this to the weekly prep that is wiped on the tire that adds bite and controls the durometer as the tire is aging and curing. This is a very important aspect of any tire program as it allows the tires to become tougher which allows them to produce better roll speed and consistency through the run but the the volume built on the outside allows the tires to take off and produce the roll out lap to aid in qualifying as well as fire and re-fire speed come race time. Volume is recommended with an allotted cure time as well normally being no later than 3 days prior to the event but in most cases 7-10 days to allow the surface to firm back up but the bite will be very deep in the surface.

There has always been a debate to using the durometer to determine the hardness of a tire in relation to the amount of bite it will produce. There are too many variables to use it in that manner alone and be accurate so most of the pros look to what's been done to the tire and understanding that first as opposed to using the durometer. Im not saying most use the same terms as we do but we have found that referring to the tire as tender or tough gets you way closer to how the tire reacts on the track, we will identify what effects these features.

Tender as we explain it is that mushy or gooey feel a tire has when its new and freshly rolled (if applicable) and the tires have not been scuffed and put into any rotation. You can take your finger nail and push into the surface and feel that tenderness and if you were to put heat to the tire and bring it up to operating temperature you would feel this effect increase showing you what the tires going to do on the track.

Tough is the exact opposite as the tire will have a very firm feel to the surface and have less reaction to higher tire temps. Cutting, aging and scuffing along with the type and amount of inside used has a direct affect on how tough a tire will be. A tire will not always be harder when its tougher due to the outside conditioning that normally happens after he tires are rolled, scuffed and put into rotation.  

This is not a brand specific term and it's the basis of any tire program. A tire cycle is defined to what you do to a tire after its new to put it in a certain time frame rotation and there are several factors that affect not only what we do but how large the gap is in between each cycle, these factors include:

Time of the year:

Cooler weather as opposed to warmer weather not only has an effect on the amount of bite the track produces but it also affects how much temp is built in the tire which has a drastic impact on the overall compound of the tire but also how inside prep (if applicable) reacts. 

Saturday night racing, Day time events, wet  vs dry tracks, higher bite vs lower bite, all these are taken into consideration prior to determining exactly how to set this cycle up. 

I know this may not seem like a detail that would be used to determine a tire cycle but its actually what most miss when it comes to giving the most accurate advice possible. Some karts are build more nimble and take an older, tougher tire, some karts are build more rigid and they tend to make a fresher, deeper tire. A super Heavy driver is going to take a different tire than restrictor plate driver so we also take that into account riot to giving any recommendations.

So with the glossary of terms that we defined above here is a sample program that we would lay out for a team that is running in the southeast region and is working with three distinct track conditions, wet, typical local medium bite track and regional day time track. They are running a normal stock class program and are on what we consider a newer chassis that is relatively neutral meaning its not overly stiff or nimble.  

We would first advise breaking the tires up into three categories and then within each category there will be groups that will ultimately define the overall bite within each category and give enough flexibility to tune based on specific track conditions. This example will refer to Maxxis tires only, but we will detail each tire and their specific needs with a specific category for each in future articles.

We always recommend keeping tires in groups of (3) 2- RS and 1-LR 

Being that this example will cover all track conditions not just day time, we will recommend using the Original Inside. This won't cure as fast so the tires may need to aged slightly longer in the summer but it will provide a stable platform for local and wet track racing without the need to always re-roll tires. We will advise if possible to put 4 -900's and 2-600's in rotation every 2-3 weeks with a total tire program age spanning from fresh tires to 10-12 week tires. We will treat this as if its new season with the season starting in the cooler months of the year and advise rolling 90cc in the rights and with this specific example roll 80% in the LR which will be 75cc. Each set will be scuffed and put into circulation and while the tires are getting tougher though the rubber and inside curing the overall tire durometer will be controlled by wiping the outside during the week building a volume of bite in the tire, for this example we will recommend the High Bite for the weekly volume building application. Not everyone recommends this but we try to narrow down any variables in a tire program with those 3 variables consisting of Age, Outside Volume and Inside, and we think this is the level of importance that they should be put in. So with that said we recommend rolling all the tires the same and only changing the amounts as the weather transitions from cooler to warmer or vice versa. Use the variable of age and volume to determine how the tires will bite and when the time comes to re-roll factor that in as well. So if all the above tires are aged as we said and rolled the same the last recommendation is how much to wipe. We typically recommend wiping one set more than the other and a 4 to 2 ratio is a good starting point but can be changed per the condition as needed. The idea is to have cured tires with bite and tune off of fresher vs. older tires along with tires that been wiped more vs. tires wiped less, I promise this is a very successful and proven tire program that most if not all of the big teams are using to win races.

As tires get run through the day time events and become run down on rubber or start cycling out age wise, they are great tires for local events as you can wipe them more and in most cases re-roll tires to get the durometer back in range where you need them to be. With this program its advised to use the same theory as above in tuning tires based on bite such as age and wiping and in most cases the Medium bite can start being used as long as the track is dry and does not contain any moisture. In some instances there will be a demand for a newer tire and that's why if possible when you race local bring new tires to scuff and add to the rotation and if you need to run them you will have them at your disposal. 

At some point in time you will find yourself in a situation where the track is wet but contrary to what you may think older tires are actually better for this than newer in most if not all cases, again we are assuming this is a Maxxis only tire rule for this example. As tires are cycled from day time to local events they can also be cycled down to wet track tires and we normally try to divide these up into two groups. Group one is what you will wipe during the week, now for example sake we will say that the desired durometer range from 42-48, so take 2 sets and wipe one more than the other until you have tires in the lower and mid 40 range. If the track starts to dry out but still will take a wet track prep you can pull some tires from your local tire section and wipe at the track as needed. 

This is just a sample program and in no way is specific to any program but is to used for more of an outline of how to take the data that you have and plug it into the above example and change as needed for your specific needs.