Thought I'd share and something to consider for cooler days... Tire Choice I made the joke this past weekend that I felt I had an advantage running my street compound Dunlop Q’3, pretty much all I ride on at our STAR school events. Many of us have bought into the idea that we have to have race slicks or race DOT’s for the track. What you have to remember is this; race tires are built to operate in an optimum temperature range. On 80+ degree days it is easy to keep the tire temp in your tires after they come off the warmers. On cooler days, depending on the rider, your tires are more likely to be operating below optimum ranges. Street compound tires as compared to race slicks or race DOT’s are easier to get into a heat range that most can ride at. I’ve heard some really bad advice from riders telling newbies they have to put the latest and greatest race tires on their bikes, but on cold days this couldn’t be any further from the truth. Lastly, days that are chilly intimidate most people and they should. Everything is colder including the rider. I never see to many people doing jumping jacks to warm themselves up in the pits, haha. That said, you can still get a lot out of your day even if all you do is get close to that almighty PR you set last time you were at the track. These days are great practice days, don’t worry about lap times and speed so much, get that technique dialed and enjoy your day with friends. As your experience grows, colder days won’t matter so much to you because you will have gained the knowledge of how to handle things. Doing 24-hour races where temps got into the 30s at night really taught me a lot. Riding at night with temps that low while raining is a whole other thing and we’ll save that for another time. Hope this helps you all and ride safe, JP
Lol, was just getting ready to post that. "Dunlop Q’3, pretty much all I ride on at our STAR school events..." I attended a Star school with Jason at Blackhawk and had the opportunity to ride 2 up with him on a GXR1000. I could not believe how much speed and lean we were carrying on those Q3's. It kind of blew my mind. That's why I guess I'm always harping about what a great tire it is and for new riders not to be so anxious to bump to DOT's or slicks. I know a lot of people like them but I still think they are way underrated and can take most riders much farther than they think. Good in the wet too. Always look forward to reading his blog...
Great post that carries some weight. I've had my share of other riders telling me I should move up to a better tire because "those street tires will put me on my ass." I ride street tires without warmers for a reason, A, I'm on a budget and B, I can't "outride" these tires. I'd be more likely to end up on my ass riding race tires that I can't keep heat into. A lot of misinformation out there!
Definitely great info, and makes sense! Now if I could only afford three set of rims to keep a set of slicks, streets, and rains mounted at all times........