tires for my 2005, 999

[CB]

Being a first time 999 owner, can you let me know the good, the bad and the ugly of tires.
Primarily my riding will be street, with a track day thrown in for good measure.

Thanx

CB

[ERIC SUMMERS]

Hello CB
There exists a select group ,of members of the club,That will not offer advice on tires but would be willing to offer their services at no cost ,to test any tire that you select,on the track only(not on the street)and offer their comments and appraisals.This dedicated group is led by Professor Richard Covello,assisted by Doctor Richard Rudd and helped out by various full and part time members of this informal volunteer group. .Please identify yourself at any of our track rallies and I am sure that they will be willing to help you find the perfect tire for your needs.
TNXS Eric.

[cdnroadracer]

For the ocasional track day rider, I think the two best choices are the Michilen Pilot Power, and the Pirreli Diablo Corsa. Both of these tires are dual compound (harder center - softer outer edges) so they will last pretty well on the street and give good traction for the track.

I prefer the feedback given by the Pirreli's but I have not spent alot of time on the Power's yet.

Size matters! I would go with a 120/70-17 on the front and a 180/55-17 rear. I know it is a size down on rear compared to stock. We race on 180's because they offer the best contact patch when at full lean and offer the quickest steering capabilities.

[wdbrown]

I use Michelin Pilot Sports on my 2003 999, in the sizes orginally fitted to the bike by Ducati. They work very well. I haven't tried Pirelli Diablos, but I understand they may be even a better choice. Hope this helps.

[Guy Pike]

Twnenty years of Michelin use tells me that the Pilot Powers warm quickly and go off predictably on the track. Wear is basically a function of track time since I rarely street ride any more. Several very fast racers a NHIS[Loudon] have used them to some degree of sucess. On a drying track they work exceptionally well. Best regards, Guy

[Richard Rudd]

CB, If I may hijack your thread for a moment - unlike you I find I am spending more time on the track than the street.

After a nasty highside moment at Mont Tremblant it crossed my mind I might be better on a slick tire for next season. Trouble is I've never used them before and know nothing about them.

Could someone recommend something that might do the job, or tell me, given my moderate riding skills, whether this is all a bad idea.

I'd be looking for, quick warm-up, about ten track days, (is that a pipe dream?) predictability rather than ultimate grip.

[Guy Pike]

Experience and observation tell me that for slicks to work properly tire warmers are a must. The slicks tend to be greasy when cold and take longer than street tires to warm up. Then with rally format it is quite possible to sit on the start line or the side of the track long enough to negate all the benefit that the tire warmers provided. Quite the dilema!

[cdnroadracer]

Richard, if you look up Kenedy Motorsports, Mich. has a great slick built with the track day rider/club racer in mind. For instance, the Ottawa Wrecking Crew (don't ask about the name, but they were all with Doc Walker at the last Tremblant track day) can get them to last two weekends on a big bike. Tire warmers are a must, but the low end of those base model chicken hawks or Bickles will do the job nicely.

Myself, I would really suggest sticking with a good DOT race tire. Talking with all the racers at the show that came to say hi, I have summed up the different DOT race tires as follows.

Pirelli: Last well, slide well, but slide earlier than the others.

Mich.: Highest grip before slide, slide well once you learn how to slide them, don't last as long as the others

Dunlop: slightly less grip than mich but more than Pirelli, slide easily and well, once you loose the intial "new smell" they will maintain the same grip till the tread is gone.

Bridgestone: this one surpised me, the front grip of tese tires is beyond anyone elses. downside of all this front grip is that the rear is not up to the front. So if you like to power steer and back the bike in, these are probably the tire for you. Not to sure about longevity, the rider who raved about them got a dunlop sponsorship before he could test that part.

Speaking of all these tires, please see the poll I will be posting for Orion Motorsports. Seeing as the truck will be free for mosport, if he gets a few sets booked, he will show up to do tires changes and tire sales for us. I am sure we could get Sandy and Pro 6 to do the same if we can have a few sets solf for them.

[Richard Rudd]

Thanks for the input gents. Given your comments, I'm inclined to stick to my trusted DOT tires and what I know. Though perhaps I should replace them more frequently.
At my age, the last thing I need in my life is the extra complication of tire warmers, electrical hook-ups, temperatures, etc.

I'm on a "keep it simple" crusade and for the fractions of a second I might gain per lap look at the aggravation I'd have to put up with. And would it really matter? At the end of the day, not one bit.

Thanks, see you out there, at whatever speed.

[ERIC SUMMERS]

Hello All.
This discusion about tires is great.Can I ask this question of those that have experience with tire warmers.As I have to agree with Richardo ,(oop's sorry) I meant Richard, about the complications with tire warmers .How many laps or portions thereof of say Mosport would you have to ride at a warmup pace, to get modern tires up to operating temperature, if you did not use tire warmers? We are familier with the riders that we pick up in Turn Three first session, first lap, on cold tires.

TNXS. Eric.

[cdnroadracer]

Hi Eric

I raced for years without warmers. My proceedure was; go out on the warm up lap and slide the bike as much as possible. This built up heat very quickly. Not the safest or easiest thing to do really.

If going out for practice, I would take two full laps to get up to speed on Mosport. Seeing as it is not the hardest track on tires it takes longer than say Shannonville.

Another benifit of warmers is you can cool your tires slowly when you come off track. Most of us are in the habbit now of putting on warmers as soon as we come off track but not plugging them in. This slows the cooling and I can usually get an extra two sessions from the tires by doing this.

I have seen others plug the warmers in that have adjustable temp controls. This way their tires never cool, and then a whole day is only one heat cycle. I have never tried this, and I would be concerned about over baking the tires and pulling all the sticky compounds from them this way.

Basically, warmers are safer because you go out on tires that are 90% warmed up and offer good traction from the get go.

[clausf]

In my experience, I would agree that at Mosport two laps is required (without warmers) to get tires up to their optimum temperature.

Eric, as you and I know, inexperienced riders not allowing their tires to "warm" is but one cause of our first session mishaps. Regardless of the track, or whether or not riders use tire warmers, they should consider the first two laps of any session, as sighting laps. This allows them to be reacquainted with the track itself, ie. brake markers, pavement irregularities, location of marshal stations, etc. Most importantly, the benefit of these sighting laps is to allow your mind to process the information it has gathered, and thereby focus on the task at hand.

Richard, I believe I may have stumbled upon a compromise for your dilemma. I could sell you some DOT race tires I have that look like slicks.
Seriously Richard, stop worrying about people looking at your tires and asking why only the center of them is worn. Slicks will not help, I suggest tire warmers, so they can't see your tires at all.

Cheers,
Claus.

[Guy Pike]

With the exception of the shots at Richard I believe Claus is right on track with his advice on warming tires. Rallying as we do, the best crash award is about the only thing one accomplishes by hurrying around early in the session. Looking forward to another great season with old and new friends at DOCC events, Guy

[Les]

FWIW, I put Michelin Pilot Roads on my ST2 and it seems to require slightly more effort to turn in than with the stock Dunlops. Not sure if the Pilot Power profile is the same profile though. Otherwise they're pretty good tires. I don't do track days though.
Les

[Martin Waterland]

Richard my friend,

Paul's tire temperature was impecably maintained due to the up-most generousity of yours truly. I would gladly give my services to some one such as yourself in need of a bloke to keep them "gently" warmed between your sessions.

Unfortunately for Paul, with me on my own 748 and in the same group, he will be missing out on my expertise and will therefore probabley fall prey to the likes of those that....how did he say it?! "watched my end cans disappear in a spray of melting rubber!" Ces la vie!!

Martin


As the crow flies? Doesn't know how to have fun, does he?!