Heating up the Tread Doctor prior to knobby cutting / grooving
Make sure the tool is properly heated otherwise you have to put more effort into cutting which would cause strain and fatigue in your arms. The recommended heating time is 20 minutes. Always keep Tread Doctor on the supplied stand when plugged in for heating. Although Tread Doctor has a good grip with heat resistant material it is best to use gloves to prevent unwanted burns.
Handling
The key thing to remember when cutting with tread doctor is that having a heated carbide blade, it doesn’t cut as much as it melts rubber. So the way to use is, to hold Tread Doctor as a knife but firmly apply pressure on it without cutting. The heated carbide blade will take care of cutting and slide through the rubber like a knife cutting through butter. If Tread Doctor is not heated up properly it would require some additional stress to cut the rubber. In that case you could heat up Tread Doctor for a little more time and try again or use a sliding back and forth motion slowly, similar to a knife for knobby cutting.
When to use
Tread Doctor can be used with any brand of motorcycle tyre. The more these tyres start to wear, the more the knobs get rounded at the edges. This requires more grooving in order to get that 90-degree angled edges back again which improves traction. More grooving requires more time and effort to get it correctly done. It’s more beneficial and comfortable to use before the tyre starts to wear too much. If used at the correct time you’ll be able to get at least two extra tire lives at max out of your old tyre. By that time Tread Doctor has already paid for itself.
