chicken strips

English

Noun

Wikipedia

chicken strips

1. Chicken fingers, or chicken tenders. A style of batter-fried chicken without skin or bones.
2. (slang, motorcycling, humorous) The band of unscuffed tire surface at the outer edges of the contact surface.
   • "The harder you lean into corners, the more of the tyre you use. This means that a biker who rides hard will have an evenly-worn tyre. A biker who rides gently will not use the outer edges of the rubber resulting in a phenomenon known as 'chicken strips'. These are very uncool and a beacon to those in the know that the rider is a novice."¹
   • "At our first gas stop, I was thrilled to note that the "chicken strips," those bands of virgin rubber found on the edges of most Midwestern riders' rear tires, had been burned off the Yamaha's 17-inch Bridgestone Battalax BT-20s. In other words, I was hitting some serious (for me) lean angles."²
   • "Is your chain due for replacement? Are your tires so worn that only the chicken strips left on the sides remain? Replace them now."³

Usage notes

Sense 2, (motorcycle) is generally intended ironically, as to mock inexperienced riders who think the narrowest width of unused tire tread is a testament to riding skill or courage.

Related terms

squid

References

• "How London bikers measure up ; ES WHEELS; [W_04 Edition ]", Evening Standard. London (UK): p. 5 May 3, 2002
• Neale, Brian, "New Yamaha offers best of sport, touring worlds; [Chicagoland Final , CN Edition]", Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Ill.) p. 6, 29 July 2001
• Weber, Bob, Read, dream, fix, wax your way out of discontent; [Chicagoland Final , CN Edition], Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Ill.: p. 3, 28 January 2007