Trackday-only bike: street or DOT race tires?

[shmike]

Originally Posted by goof2

If you want to get 6 trackdays out of your tires I'm not sure a race compound will hold up for you. The people I know who go to the track are lucky to get 2 days out of DOT race tires on 600 supersports. Race tires should improve your track experience but could be detrimental to your track budget.

6 days is a bit of a stretch but is doable.

I get about a 1 - 1.5 days out of a set of tires for race purposes. Those same tires will then run 3 - 5 trackdays usually doing 8 - 15 sessions in a day.

2 trackdays out of a set of tires is wasting money, imo.

Originally Posted by Sean

Tire life depends on how fast you are, how smooth you are with the throttle, heat conditions, and how fast the track is. I get ~4 trackdays out of a set since I'm a bit of a pussy and am pretty easy on the throttle. I don't slide the bike at all, really. Plus I frequent the lower speed tracks. If you're running big Willow in August you'll need new tires after a day or two.

Track conditions play a big role. Our recently repaved local track will shred a set of tires in half the time of the other local track.

[Sean]

Originally Posted by shmike

Track conditions play a big role. Our recently repaved local track will shred a set of tires in half the time of the other local track.

Agreed, we did a car race at Firebird and absolutely shredded the tires in a day and a half, normally we get 3-4 days out of 'em.

[anthonyk]

We'll see how it goes. I used to get about 8000 miles out of a set of Pilot Powers, so I must really be slow.

[DLIT]

A little bit about me. I have done eight track days total and I'm at a point now where I carry a mid-to-front group NOVICE race pace.

I'm fresh off a track day using the Bridgestone BT003 street tires. Loved 'em. I prefer DOT tires wrapped in warmers when between sessions because of the greater lean angle they allow. My 7th track day was on the Bridgestone BT016 and they also performed good. First of all, I don't think you'll get six track days out of one set of tires. Street tires, allthough the high performance ones they make nowadays will suffice for the track, I think they lose their grip faster the more they're used on the track. My 016s got pretty hard after the one day I did and I could tell the lack of grip on the street after the track day. I would almost always get wheel spin jumping on the throttle, regardless if the tires were warm or not.

I have been on track with regular Pilot Powers, Pilot Races, Michelin slicks, BT016 and BT003. I cut my personal best riding the Pilot Races PRC/PR5 combo. They have since been replaced by the Power Ones, so I might try those next. My advice would be to use the Bridgestone BT003, Michelin Pilot Pure or Dunlop Q2 and go from there.

[101lifts2]

BT003 Race in medium front and rear.

It gets hot in TX and you don't want the street tires to get greasy and slide out.

[DLIT]

Originally Posted by 101lifts2

BT003 Race in medium front and rear.

It gets hot in TX and you don't want the street tires to get greasy and slide out.

Proly gonna be my next track tires. I didn't realize I was buying the street version. I should've known because they were only $250, lol.

[OreoGaborio]

Pirelli now has track day specific tires.... including a track day specific SLICK.

Click for more info
http://www.gomtag.com/category/6540&...day-riders.htm

I race on the non track day oriented Dragon Supercorsa.... love em.
I went through 3 rears & 2 fronts last season on my SV650, which included 8 race weekends (3 races, 4 practice sessions each) and about 10-12 track days at various paces.

[anthonyk]

Nice, thanks!

[The Awesome]

If your pace would allow you to get 6 days out of a tire, you are not nearly fast enough to use race tires. You would be much better off to run an aggressive street tire until your pace improves.

Using race tires would lead you to one of two conclusions. Either you are fast enough to take advantages of them, but you end up getting only a few days out of them, or you are not fast enough and you won't be able to get them up to operating temperature, in which case you are just wasting money. A street tire will allow you to have a shot at the longevity you want, and offer plenty of grip for most trackday riders. Especially without warmers, I think street is the way to go.

[OreoGaborio]

Originally Posted by The Awesome

If your pace would allow you to get 6 days out of a tire, you are not nearly fast enough to use race tires. You would be much better off to run an aggressive street tire until your pace improves.

Using race tires would lead you to one of two conclusions. Either you are fast enough to take advantages of them, but you end up getting only a few days out of them, or you are not fast enough and you won't be able to get them up to operating temperature, in which case you are just wasting money. A street tire will allow you to have a shot at the longevity you want, and offer plenty of grip for most trackday riders. Especially without warmers, I think street is the way to go.

Not sure if I'd use that as a solid rule... There's more to tire wear than just pace. And I know people who are pretty damn fast and can make tires last as long as riders that are much slower.... myself for example, I raced on the same set of tires for two full race & track day seasons.... no really

Granted, I was on an EX500