Tyres tyres tyres!

Hello boys and girls.

Just back now from a brill day out setting up the bike after many, many changes. Anglesey.

Dry all day and more grip than I knew what to with. Trouble is, I fitted a brand new pair of the new Battleaxe R10's which were great, but they didn't last too long!

All was ok, until the very last session, when I put it into slick mode, and it slaughtered the rear tyre.

Question to you all is, what tyres are you using on track and are you getting more than 1 day from them?

Cheers.

Phooey.

just fitted some Dunlop D211 gp racers not tracked em yet but supposed to be good. i tried the R10's and wont be using them again.

race tecs , and to be honest there wasnt a great deal left after anglesey either.
I assume its the price you pay for that grippy tarmac they have.

andybarsblade link=topic=750.msg7130#msg7130 date=1335131701 said:

just fitted some Dunlop D211 gp racers not tracked em yet but supposed to be good. i tried the R10's and wont be using them again.

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You won't be disappointed with the GPs Andy. I'm hoping they will last me another two track days. I would put them on again but they are very expensive and not so nice on the road in cool conditions I've found. Wear rates seem to be better than the K3s.

Cheers for the replies gents. Might try slicks then, £300 on top of every day makes it a dear do.

Phooey.

Fitted sportsmarts on recommendation, love 'em. Good grip, confidence inspiring, shocked myself when i looked at the edge wear. Nothing left untouched! Mate who told me about them has a big bang R1, been to germany and back, couple of track days and STILL loads left, even he's been the edge which is a big surprise. I know it depends on the rider, i put myself in low/mid fast group. Thinking of moving to slicks for the 1st time but they are a minefield :-\

I like to think I'm reasonably fast-ish on the roads and regularly took my Fireblade on BT16Pro's right to the edge. However I'm just back from a weekend in Normandy where the pace was quite fast and most bikes (only 8 in the group) were wearing their tyres right to the edge or near as dam it. I was very easily keeping up and cornering at the same speed, if not faster than everyone else but my K3's still have huge chicken strips. The bike felt as low as I used to put the Fireblade so I can't imagine how far over it's got to be to get all the way to the edge. They felt very stable without a single moment but at 1500 miles (including a very gentle 600 miles while running in) they are looking quite second hand. I guess there's less than 1k left in them which would make around 2.5k which was all I was getting from the BT16Pro's.

Is it the profile that makes the difference or am I just not going fast enough

I need to get a track day booked after the recall is done so I can see what Brands Hatch does to the K3's.

Allan

"Chicken strips" (for want of a better name - I hate that term) are partly to do with the profile of the tyre, but also very dependant on body position and riding style.

Consider 3 riders of differning ability going round the same corner on the same line at the same speed on the same bike/tyre combination.
1st rider, low ability, is 'crossed up' on the bike. This gives a large lean angle. Uses tyre right to the edge.
2nd rider, middle ability, stays neutral on the bike, less lean angle, does not use the whole tyre.
3rd rider, high ability, 'hangs off' the bike, even less bike lean angle, most unused part of the tyre (or the biggest 'chicken strips').

Now consider something happening unexpectedly mid corner and you need to lean the bike over a little more!! Who is in the position to do this with most safety.

I prefer the term 'safety strip' to 'chicken strip'

Godzilla,

I understand what you are saying but in this instance it was the same rider, same ability and pretty much the same roads/speeds. The difference was last time I rode the Fireblade in Normandy I was going ride to the edge of the tyre and this time I had large "safety strips" ;D

I was wondering if all other things the same the K3's profile was different enough to explain what happened

Allan

awg link=topic=750.msg8037#msg8037 date=1337701534 said:

I was wondering if all other things the same the K3's profile was different enough to explain what happened

Allan

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Yes

Much respect to Godzilla for standing up against the 'flow' in favour of the use of the term 'chicken strip' - I'm the same as you on that one matey!

Good shout - and good info too

Sounds like your not going over far enough , have you had your hero pegs down , it does feel a long way over , but the bike sails round on the edge of the k3's given the right conditions

Nowt wrong with the Dunlops either. Ahem

Ohhhh, willy waving comp.

Front:

Clearly I have no willy. :-X

They are pretty big strips

Luckily I have a bigger willy than Hanna but obviously smaller than fatbob and Godzilla. It must have shrunk when I chopped the Fireblade in for the S1K.

coop link=topic=750.msg8055#msg8055 date=1337719923 said:

They are pretty big strips

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Yep, they are. I'll get rid of them in my own time... Doesn't help not being on the bike for the best part of three months but hey ho.

And AWG... I should hope so too... Given I'm a lass!

I have to say that what Godzilla posted was spot on for me. Yes you can get to the edge of the tyre and not crash, slide the rear, spin it up if you wish but it doesn't make you a hero or mean that you are necessarliy fast, just much closer to crashing.

I to hate the term chicken stripes as anyone who chooses to ride a motorbike on the road is most certainly not a chicken for sure.

Good old tyre debates, youve just got to love them

All the above pictures are of Rear Tyres, anyone have a picture of their Front Tyre?