Tyre Q's

Been running K3 ractecs this year and got 3 TD's out the rear and its about dead. The front can do a few more yet so I could get a new rear and it would last the Crashfest. BUT could I run a K2 rear witha K2 front? The T is no harder on the front than the SD?

I may get a good deal on a some michelin power one tyres. 120/55/17/v (steep profile) 190/55/17/a (soft)

Do you think the soft rear would last 2 days????

Hmmmm so I could be running K3 front and k2 rear...

....Or I could try the Mitch'ies and see how they go. The tyre wear is good now suspension is set up well.

Will see if the Mitch'ies pan out fancy trying something different.

Cheers dude.

If you decide to run Michelins, be careful. They have a very nasty habit of losing traction without warning.

As above can you please expand thats quite a sweeping statement?

Especially as I've just fitted a pair and they are being tested at Cadwell for 2 days in a month!

Road tyres. Have nothing against their slicks as I haven't used them.

Pilot Power (an old bike of mine) and Power One (during last year's tyre testing at the track). Same thing happened to them both. Also, have eight (yes, eight) friends who have experienced the same thing, all on Pilot Power, Power Pure or Power One. Eight people, eight crashes. Some at the track, some on the road. Luckily, no more serious damages than a couple of broken bones.

Here's the thing. When you're on the limit of grip, a good tyre will communicate to you where you're at. If it starts to let go, it should tell you and slide in a "nice" manner. From my experience - and others' - Michelins just don't. You have grip one second and the next you're on your ass sliding towards a new leather suit, without the slightest of warnings. I also found the Power Ones to "curl" very weirdly at the track. And it wasn't because of tyre pressure either, we had one of the leading tyre guys in the country with us for bike setup and his company sells Michelin.

Obviously Michelin sells thousands of tyres. It may well be that what I've seen is just a result of coincidence and bad luck. All I'm saying is that you be a bit careful and make sure to check up on your tyre after each session on the track.

At least they're not Bridgestones.

Interesting. What do you run for track dude?

I had a rear end slide from the rear entering a corner on track yesterday (racetec K3 front and K3 rear), was not sure if I was pushing too hard or was just a little slide just to let me know im pushing it.

Depends. My tyres of choice at the moment are either Dunlop SportSmarts for combined road/track use or GP Racer slicks (M) for track only.

Re: the slide. Might be either, but probably just letting you know you're pushing it. Do you use a slipper clutch?

sounds good... must say, the bit of riding i've done have found them to have a lot of grip, just wasn,t sure about what happens when you push it to far.... sounds like i may need to change the front earlier then needed .....

how you find the wear, the dunlop guy here in ireland claims i sohould get about 50% more milage out of them over the q2...

So far, so good. It all depends on tempo, riding style etc, but it sounds plausible. From my experience, they last really well. An average to good rider seems to get a full season's worth of riding, including something like 5-8 track days, out of them easily (obviously depending on how and how much you ride, but let's call it a "normal" amount of time on the bike).

well i was getting about 3k km from the q2's, but i do tend to be heavey on the right wrist and do a lot of back roads o lots of acc and braking.. dont mind to much the wear as long as the tyre is grippy and prodictable..

Looking forward to reading a review of yours. I would be surprised if you're not loving them though. They should fit you like a glove.

You need tyre warmers with Power Ones they MUST BE HOT to work

Another vote for Dunlop Sportsmarts are great...D211 GP racers are better still same compound as GP Slicks ...Soft Front and Endurance Rear (Grip just as well as medium...but last nearly twice as long ) also no need for tyre warmers

I have to say I really love the Racetecs so far. With a tracktraining I came on track 1 round later then my group so I still had cold tyres (K2 rear, K1 front) while all others where warmed up. After one minute or less I was dragging my knee when both front and rear began to slide, really controlled and just telling me it might be a good idea to push a little less that early

I liked the K2 interacts a little less to be honest, don't know why, maybe they need some more heat and I couldn't get that on the streets...

See link below...some very interesting information...that goes against common belief

http://forums.superbikeschool.com/index ... topic=2554

Interesting, yes.

I don't agree with the following though: "You can use a D211GPA or any other Dunlop tyre without warmers and have no problems". Any? Really? If you put on a pair of Dunlop slicks without heating them up first, results aren't going to be impressive.

If you are using GP racer slicks...they are the same compound as D211......I use these on the road...if it was a michelin.....slick compound not a chance

Have a dunlop Q2 on the front and a sportsmart on the back. had a great and pretty quick spin today. was raining on the way home so the roads were well wet. going through the town decided to light up the back one. Wet street so wont need many rev's, just a lightly, descret spin. So, slowed right down and gave a good quick snap of the throttle and she just pulled on. Slowed right down, same rev's, about 5500, and just dumped the clutch and stright up into a wheelie. I was having none of this, so waited to get out of the town were I could give plenty of rev's with have the cops on the back... Couldn't believe how much it took to get the back one to light up, high revs and dump the clutch to get her to spin, only for a second before she'd jump into a wheelie... mut have spent 20 mins up and down the road going from spin to wheelies, a few times was wheelieing and spinning at the same time... Nevery have I come across a tyre with so much wet grip... Gona have to get a front one for it now.....

I also got recently, a pair of Power One. It's true that they can easily catch you out regarding the grip but I also realised something really annoying. The previous tyre was a Mezteler K1 racetec. I was going up to 220 km/h without a single "shake" at the handlebar and above 230 it started to shake a bit, but not in a level that you would afraid.
With Power One I had a very weird tankslap experience while going into a turn with 130km/h (really shitting pants experience ) and in a straight, I can drive up to 170km/h without feeling nervous... Really bad tyres I think

just fitted a pair of sportsmarts, booked kirkistown trackday for sunday, tyres are scrubbed to the edge on the right, no left had roundabouts looks like I,am in for some good old N.Irish weather, whats the road track presure for these

Track

Rear 19psi Front 30psi

Road

34psi Front and Rear