Hey Moo, I wonder if you can tell me what you recommend for track days as far as tyres go? I recently took a VT250F for a track day and the tyres (Pirelli Sport Demons) were junk in no time at all. I'd buy slicks if I could find any that come in my size (front:100/90-16 rear:110/80-18). Any suggestions? Cheers Frank
I was reading an article in Knee Down the other day and it was saying don't use slicks for track days as u will never get them up to the temp they were designed for http://www.rapidbikes.com.au/~/page/Knee-Down-Magazine.aspx
I have Dunlop alphas came with bike once cooked will be getting Pirelli super corsa Best to use tyre warmers to get life out of them
if your going to be using the tyres for both road and track i'd look at the likes of the Bridgestone BT003(i think thats what its called, its the super sticky one), Pirelli super corsa's, Pirelli Diablo Rosso II or the Dunlop Alpha's. I'm running Pirelli Diablo Rosso II on the Ninja and Dunlop Alpha's. Both tyres are always used with warmers so i can get the most out of them with regards to heat cycles. I've done very little on the (3 sessions) Diablo Rosso but so far so good and I'm very happy with how the Dunlop Alpha's hold up. however as mentioned my bikes are only used on track, so i dont know how they would go for road. my mate is using the Bridgestone BT003(again i think that the super sticky one.....i might be wrong with the tyre code??) on his CBR600 for both road and track days and loves it, on to his second set. as Kiffsta said, you may run into an issue with the 18" rear wheel and it making it difficult for tyre choice. maybe might be well to see if your rear wheel is interchangeable with another bike with a 17" wheel, like the spada? for example the rgv will take the fzr wheel. if you cant swap wheels see what choices you may have and look into the tyre size, i'd say you could fit wider on the back and be able to get the heat into it.
i had gpr's on my bike when i first got it, didnt realise how good they were until i changed tyres (too expensive for my city riding), much stickier than the bt45's i had and sport demons i have now. i think they were 550 fitted from memory but you could probably find them cheaper online.
I had the same trouble when I had my VT250 Integra. the main problem was the rim size. I ended up going for the Sport Demons too. But, yeah, a cross ply commuter tyre isn't really going to hold up to a decent track day. An ex GF runs SD's & has no problem, but she doesn't ride anywhere near as hard as I do!! So as not to hijack your thread, I started a new one for myself. http://2fiftycc.com/index.php?threads/what-tyres-to-run.3164/#post-35431
I did a bit of Historic racing a few years ago on a GPZ600R & because of it's 16" wheels we had to run Sport Demons. The tires didn't have much in the way of feedback but once I got used to them and developed some trust the grip was pretty decent, enough to get my knee down on the skinny 130 rear! But I rode the bike a year or so later after it had done a fair few track days in between and the grip was just gone. I was really surprised as the tires (espically the rear) still looked good with very little wear. They seem to be quite a hard compound but don't heat cycle all that well when used at the track, but I think you will struggle to find a really sticky 16" front. Your best bet may be Sava as they make racing tires for smaller bikes and scooters. The 18" rear you will have better luck with I recon as this is a common rim size for Period 4 and older historic classes. Sava, Contentail and Avon may make a suitable tire, but make sure it's not a full on race compund if you are riding on the street. My advise would be make sure you are sitting down when you hear a price for an Avon option though !
