I came here to ask this same question about Michelin Pilot Road 2s. Glad to see that it should be fine until I get better.
How old is this tire? It's not just the type of tire, it's how old it is and how many miles are on it. I don't think anyone here recommended not getting a fresh set of tires, but rather that a street oriented performance tire is acceptable for track use. Let me be frank with you for a minute, if this is your first trackday, you will be back for more, and at some point you will start blowing through tires if you ride a 600 or 1000, it just makes sense to go ahead and start out on a fresh tire, if you're new that set of tires should last you quite a long time at beginner/intermediate pace, its just not worth going out and taking a risk on whatever tire you've been riding around on the street for the last 1-2 years. I mentioned this earlier but maybe my point wasn't clear. I said if you are good (have lot of on track experience), I think you can do very well on street tires. I didn't make the same recomendation for a begginer, for a begginer I recommend a trackday tire (I put the Q2 into that category BTW, along with some great tires from the other brands). The reason I think a beginner needs a better tire is because it's more forgiving of mistakes as well as it will let you feel what the tire is saying easier than a street tire that does not give much feedback. An experienced rider can go out on a street tire and feel what's going on long before anything bad hapens and know how fast they can go, smooth and good riding habits make it possible to go pretty darn fast on a good street tire. A beginner that tries to push themselves on a street tire is likely to make a mistake, and could easily end up crashing (and blame the tire, when really it was their mistake). To wrap it up, I think my recommendations are now clear, there are plenty of other schools of thought on tire selection and lots of different things have worked for different people, but hopefully you'll consider my advice, it's been learned through 6 years of doing this sport with a few hard lessons learned along the way.
Good feedback! I haven't done a track day yet (I'm hoping I win the raffle! I also am signed up for a NESBA event on April 7th, I'd love to compare the experiences), so I'm definitely a beginner to it. I've been riding for almost 10 years but only have had a 'sport' bike since May. I put some miles on the tires that were on it and have a fresh set (sub-500 miles, 4 months old) Michelin PR2s on it now. My goal, foolish as it may be, is to wring every drop of performance out of this bike. I've read Twist of the Wrist I and II, Sportbike Riding Techniques, watched the Keith Code DVDs, as much YouTube as I can find, went riding with Dave, sought the knowledge of the masters of smooth, reading this and the NESBA forums ad naseum. Now to try and translate that into actual skill.
As far as being a beginner in the novice group. I think most street sportbike tires are more than adequate as long as they are not old and worn out. In the Novice group, you will be working on drills, and getting your mind around navigating a racetrack, more so than pushing any of your equipment limits. When I started track riding many years ago, I started on Michelin Pilot Powers, not the 2ct, and they had plenty of grip, well into the intermediate group. But I did make sure to ride on new / newer tires. One of the important lessons I have learned is to take it easy on the first lap of any session, to get tires warmed up and the brain up to speed. As temperatures drop, the first lap of any session needs to be taken more cautiously... Realistically, your first trackday/weekend should be focused on listening, learning, and having fun. You will be back...it's addicting. Speed will come later. So setup your bike as recommended by the STT website, get some fresh tires, if what you have is old and worn, and have fun! BTW: I have also read the TotW 1 and 2 and SRT and watched the videos, all good stuff, but your first day will be filled with putting in practice the basics, and that will have you wore out!
+1 I took the same approach to my first track days. Basically it is a matter of application and repetition. IMHO, The feedback from your coach is what will help the most.
That does sound foolish. You'd be better off trying to wring ever drop of performance out of the rider. :wheel:
Touche! Although his comment may sound a little cynical, he's correct. These machines are capable of more than almost any of us can get from them.
Then it is a noble goal. =) I want to work on my riding skill and technique to the point where I can honestly say that I've outdone the limits of what the bike can do. It's a goal of smoothness and mastery. It may never come, but that is the goal.
This is a great question. For me, i have an 09 Kawi 650 with the stock tires still on it. Trick is, they only have about 2000 miles on them, and none of that was tough use. The previous owner only put about 1000 miles on them. They are in great shape, but i worry that they may have lost some "goodness" over the past 3 years.
Jeff, if you honestly worry over their performance as you say then there is only one answer. Replace them. You don't want that in your head as you try and concentrate on other things on track. Wise advice when it was given to me and now I'm giving it to you.
This! I got 15 trackdays and 1 Pro School weekend out of 2 sets of Bridgestone BT016's. That was running in the advanced group, and running in the 1:28 - 1:32 range at Grattan. Mind you, I felt I was approaching the limit of the street tire at that point. These were Brand New take offs from some racer friends that bought brand new Gixxers and put slicks on them.
Street tires are made to go the distance, on a 400, you'll get a ton of life out of them. Race tires are soft and wear very quickly, they're made to be good for one AMA or WSBK race (45 minutes or so of track use on a very powerful bike being ridden at the edge). Using a race tire on with a fairly skilled rider (CCS race for example) will get cooked in a weekend for a modern 600cc and up. The only thing to keep an eye on with a street tire is using it on very hot days when you start really pushing it as far as pace goes. The new tires are still pretty impressive however, the Q2 for example I ran at YCRS on a 90deg day in vegas, and it was acceptable. Sure there were a few moments where the front would start to go away and the rear would get greasy after a few laps, but I was also riding with some kids practicing to make their AMA debuts so we were clippin' along at a pretty good pace. A true race tire will just give you much more warning before those types of things happen and can operate at higher temperatures without starting to degrogate in performance. Last point I want to make is don't judge a tire's wear by how it looks unless you know what you're looking for. Riding on a racetrack will make your tires look unusual if you're only used to seeing street tires. The sublties between what's "good" and "bad" wear patterns require a somewhat trained eye. My suggestion is to buy tires that have a rep on site to help you. I always ran Pirelli's because at CCS races Dustin was there to help me figure out my tire and suspension issues just by looking at my tires, that kind of support can make a big difference while you're starting out. All the tire manufactures are good, so go with a manufacture that will be at the same events you will be to make your life easier. If you're going to be doing mostly STT, run michalin's and I'm confident you'll have plenty of support trackside.
Road biased tyres will have a wider working temperature than race tyres, allowing you easily get more out of an early trackday than running race tyres. Race tyre have to be at the right temp to work properly (or at all). There is nothing worse than running around on an overheated melting tyre that's sliding everywhere and just won't grip; except a tyre that you just can't get hot enough. Both will wreck themselves stupidly quickly and throw you and you're wallet in the gravel. Old hard tyres are a no-no even on the road, once the rubber starts drying out and losing its natural oils it simply won't grip. Think of old rubber bands.