Race tires for trackday bike

[joeswamp]

So I now have this SV650 track bike (used to race in LWSS), and the seller made sure to provide me with his most worn out set of Dunlop 209GPs. I don't yet have a race license, and I probably won't get one until late in the season -- lots to do on the weekends this year. However I do plan on taking this bike to a bunch of track days, and I'm wondering what kind of tires to get.

So a few of non-brand-specific questions:

- Should I get DOT race tires or aggressive street tires? This bike will only be ridden on the track, but on the other hand I'm a pretty sucky (yellow group) rider at TTD -- hope to fix that this season.

- Are DOT race tires useless in the rain? They do have a tread like street tires but then I read somewhere that racers switch to street tires when the track is wet.

- If I get race tires, what compound should I get for general purpose Loudon use? For instance Dunlop has soft, +1, +2 etc.

- I've noticed that a lot of the race tire distributors say "FOR LICENSED ROADRACER PURCHASE ONLY", what's the point of this and how strict is this rule?

[Awesome]

Racers switch to rain tires when it's raining. Slicks will get you 0 traction if the pavement is even damp. Next is DOT's, then street tires, then rains. You can go with an agressive street tire or DOT's. They're not so bad in the rain. Oxx has run some very fast times on them.

That rule isn't really strict. A lot of times you get a racer discount so it's probably pertaining to the price. You can purchase race tires adn you can probably get the price too if you ask.

[Evil_Weasel]

deffinatly DOT race tires if it's a track only bike. they aren't completely uselss in the wet. not ideal but you can still have plenty of fun. you'll never keep up with the guys running full wets though. i'm right around ten seconds slower per lap in the rain on DOTs than i would be on the same tires in the dry.

....and yes it is possible to be 10 seconds slower than frozen dirt.

[Ken C]

"Track day" tires are great and will serve you well, but becasue you are a future racer and the bike is track-only, I'd say put race rubber on it. Race tires are not really necessary until you are running less than about 1:28s or so at NHIS, but having the race rubber beneath you is a plus in the confidence department.

Check out Peter Kates or Motorace for some killer deals on Michelins (I'm not sure if this sale pertains to your size though).

Race DOTs are okay for rainy track days, but this is where street tires will give you a bit of an advantage. Race rains are great, but you really need asecond set of rims to make it worth while.

The Michelins I use are soft front, Medium rear.

The "Race only" statement is likely for liability sake so people won't run race tires on the street.

[OreoGaborio]

yeah, Ken really hit the nail on the head... maybe it's cuz he's got a little experience in this department, eh?

DOT race tires or a good track day tire like the Pilot Power or the Pilot Power 2CT, Pirelli Diablo Corsa or Dunlop Qualifier... any of those will be good for you.

Personally, I'd go w/ what Ken is saying & also consider whatever I can find the best deal on between the Powers, Power 2CT's or DOT race tires.

Congrats on the new toy

[senecak19]

Yep... Ken's right... pricing from Kates is about as good as it gets. I ran Pirelli's all last year and the common compound at Loudon is SC1 Front, SC2 Rear. Never the less, I will be trying Michelin's this year do to the amazing pricing floating around.

[Karaya One]

I'm doing a HUGE sale through Pete right now on Pilot Power Race in various sizes. Shoot him a PM.

[SVRACER01]

dot race tires might require some pre heating before you go out. race tires will be fine for trackdays but a set of aggressive street tires that will heat up quickly like the old Metzler Rennsports or the new Mich. pilots. i run 209s on my sv. im thinking of slicks this year... but im way faster than you and i have suspension.

[Hardcore]

I have a couple sets of very good used race tires (mich + metzeler) that I will sell ya for short money--they can still be used for racing or an excellent trackday tire! I had them on my sv for a couple races + 1 never used front tire.

[joeswamp]

Thanks everyone for all the great info, you guys are really helpful. I notice that in the SV rear size Mr. Kates only has soft compound, but that might be OK for the SV since it's a low horsepower machine relative to a 600. Is there any other reason to go medium rear other than longevity? Guess I'll give Pete a call early next week.

I didn't realize that you could arbitrarily move between DOT race, slicks, and race rains at Loudon -- always thought that was determined by the race class (as in the supersport classes always had to run a DOT tire, or a street tire in the rain since race rains aren't DOT approved).

Also hardcore -- can you PM me with exactly what you have and what you're looking for pricewise? I didn't realize you ran an SV, I thought you were burnin up the track on that GS500 you were selling...

And finally ... does anyone know how to ID the compound on a Dunlop Sportmax 209GP (like maybe from the DOT code)? Just sorta curious what the previous owner was running.

[OreoGaborio]

I thought you were burnin up the track on that GS500

The only thing he was burnin on that thing was the clutch

[joeswamp]

Following up on my own thread, figured out how to identify the Dunlop compounds. The previous owner was running a medium compound (Dunlop 758) rear and a hard compound (640) front, gotta give him a call and ask him about this.

The guy I bought it from wins a lot of expert races so tire longevity was probably a big deal for him -- not for me though.

[SVRACER01]

if you are just doing trackdays then i would go as soft as possible.

[Awesome]

The classes do specify what type of tire you can use. Slicks are for GP's and superbike classes, I think one of the GT's too, maybe some other crap that I'm not missing. You can still run DOT's in those classes though. The rules give you the top level you can use as far as displacement and tires and such but you can always use less legally.

[Doc]

The only thing he was burnin on that thing was the clutch

I HEARD THAT!!!

[SVRACER01]

The classes do specify what type of tire you can use. Slicks are for GP's and superbike classes, I think one of the GT's too, maybe some other crap that I'm not missing. You can still run DOT's in those classes though. The rules give you the top level you can use as far as displacement and tires and such but you can always use less legally.

but hes just doing trackdays. or are you talking to me?

[joeswamp]

He's responding to me, but I was responding to you... You were saying you were thinking of switching to slicks this year, and I didn't realize anybody ran DOTs in a class that was permitted to run slicks (but I guess this is relatively common).

but hes just doing trackdays. or are you talking to me?

[OreoGaborio]

well there's a couple other reasons to run DOT's instead of slicks asside from the rules... two of which being $$$ and heat.

[SVRACER01]

i ran DOT for a few reasons. #1 being that i was running stock suspension and the grip that the slicks would offer wouldnt really jive with that. now that im running a Penske and a GSXR front end i can run slicks. #2 was that i "learned" on street tires and then went to DOT race. when i lined up on the grid for classes that allowed slicks, alot of guys ran DOTs. im guessing because they were running classes that didnt allow them and changing tires can be a pain. i ran SS my first year and they only allow DOTs. but then i migrated to thunderbikes and supertwins which are both "unlimited" classes. and this year im running LWGP or something which also allows slicks but more importantly, they allow my forks.

[Karaya One]

Michelin makes a " transition" slick - the TD1200 front and TD1800 rear. It's a DOT in slick form to help a rider get use to the feel of slicks.

However - they are only available in 12/60-17 and 18/67-17 sizes.