Tire usage and wear

[mikeyjudkins]

How many track days do you let your tires go through before getting new ones? Ah, yes, it would depend you say....

Say you ride in the intermediate group, its 80 degrees outside, you are running sport tires but not race compounds. You only use your bike for the track. How many days do you let them go through, typically, before replacement? 2,3,4?? more??

[superhawk]

Originally posted by ambitiousone

i'm sure our regular track whores can say something more useful than mine. :D
Did somebody call my name?
I've done 3 track days on my Rennsports. They still worked great on the last one. But why take a chance? I'll have new rubber for the next one. In the mean time they work fine for commuting.

[theSteveCo]

Originally posted by RC51Girl
...don't blame me if you go out and crash because you liked the indent your thumbnail left!!!

:laughing :laughing

[wei7]

Checking tire presure is a good thing too! That also will have affect on the feedback you recieve from the tires. A good suspension setup with good tires help even more.

I use the thumbnail in the tire and feeling the tires plus looking at the texture of it to tell me when to change them. Has not done me wrong yet but on the same token I have gone out on new tires all warmed up not even testing the tires and lowsided. Go figure!

I guess Colin Edwards said it best "your tires are the only thing touching the ground" "trust your tires"

[MrCrash]

Originally posted by RC51Girl
Regarding when to change tires... I only run Michelins so I don't know what kind of life the other brands have. But the truth is, I don't have a rule of thumb for how many miles/laps the Michelins are good for, either.


Are you running the new Pilot Race S2/M2s?

I'm running a set of those on my bike right now, people who use them seem to be ranting and raving about how long they take to go off compared to Dunlops and Metzelers. One friend of mine who wins consistently on his SV650 states:

"Zees are same facking tires I have on there since September. Zey dun facking go away."

That needs to be said with your best Arnold Schwarzenegger accent for the greatest and most accurate effect. He's on Michelin slicks.

I find the new Michelins to still be quite cold blooded compared to the other two popular brands of supersport DOT racing tires, wish my warmers didn't go up in smoke last year.

- Mike

[mikeyjudkins]

My mechanic happened to have a set of the D207 RRs in stock, and I caved in and bought em today, despite the fact my ZRs probably have another track day and some decent street riding left in them. Anyway, I will be running brand new RRs this weekend at the track. Anything for more confidence :loco

The front is a 120/70. The thing looks like a cone profile. Designed for being layed over deep onto its side :teeth

[kblade]

a little cahnge in direction here for a minute, also I would like to say ( not to flame cause it all costs money maybe some don't have BUT) I see alot of riders on the street that smoke the rear tire and change it out and leave the front. Like I said I know it is money and stuff limiting possilbly the purchase of a set of new tires but just remember when that new rear tire is half way worn out that your old front IS JUNK so be damn careful. :cool

[wardoggie]

I have no idea how many track days a tire will take, but I'm going to bring a fresh set to Buttonwillow this weekend. I know my Hawk is easy on tires, but I think it's better to be prepared.

BTW, what's the shelf life of new tires?

Even if I don't do any more track days, I'll put about 7-8k street miles on my BT-010s by the end of summer. By then, they should be toast. And I *do* plan on doing at least four more track days by then.

Wardoggie

[Nucking Futs]

Use it till you lose it...most good tires will give you a warning before they get totally shagged out. I have run Rennsports rs2's (supersoft) for 7 trackdays so far, and still getting good grip. I don't plan on replacing them soon, and thats running around 2:10 at t-hill and button. Oh yeah one race at sears too.

[DocWong]

Hi,

Tire wear is dependant on at least 3 factors:

1. Hardness of the compound of the tire. Dunlop 208 GPs are soft (but do come in a medium compound tire if you know where to get them but are still very hard to find). Race Pilots are harder compound tires (but do need more time to come up to temperature).

2. How hard you ride. The faster you go, the more wear on the tires.

3. The speed of the track. Higher speed tracks will produce more wear on the tires. Thunderhill's turns are much faster than Sears, Laguna or Buttonwillow and thus will produce the most tire wear.

I run currently run Dunlop 208 GPs on my 996. I know the tires and they are pretty decent race tires, but they are soft compound tires. Bear in mind that different tires have different profiles and different handling characteristics. Also the tire diameters are different from different manufacturers so resetting ride height may be an issue too which is another reason I just stick with the 208s.

They'll last me only one day at Thunderhill and come up to temperature in just a few turns when the weather's hot but 2 days everywhere else.

docwong
www.docwong.com

:cool

[MrCrash]

Suspension setup is also critical. Some of my friends have tires that look like ass, circulating at a pace 20-30 seconds a lap slower than what a good rider on a well set up machine would do. When I was running at the front of my races, my tires would look someone took a cheese grater to them, while Pridmore's tires on the same track would look buttery smooth.

Feeling and understanding what my bike is doing and how to adjust it so that it will do what I want is one of my primary goals right now.

[DocWong]

Originally posted by MrCrash907
Suspension setup is also critical. Some of my friends have tires that look like ass, circulating at a pace 20-30 seconds a lap slower than what a good rider on a well set up machine would do. When I was running at the front of my races, my tires would look someone took a cheese grater to them, while Pridmore's tires on the same track would look buttery smooth.

Feeling and understanding what my bike is doing and how to adjust it so that it will do what I want is one of my primary goals right now.

Good point!

My tires looked smoother after getting my suspension tuned by Phil Douglas at Aftershocks. I'm going faster with less wear on my tires now.

Also poor riding can wear out the tires faster.

I used to chew up my front tires way before my rears. I thought it was my aggressive riding style, but it turned out to be me not getting on the gas soon enough and using the turn to scrub off speed with my front tire.

Not a recommended procedure. Luckly I was going slow enough that my front tire could handle it.

Doc:teeth
www.docwong.com