Tire Life Question

[supercarl]

Alright I've never been any good with knowing when to swap tires and I need some more help. I'm heading to Blackhawk this weekend and I'm trying to plan out my tire changes. I'm on a r6 running avg mid 1:15's w/ tire warmers.  (fast novice pace) I'll be running Bridgestone's, either the BT-003pro's or the new R10's; cant decide. I was planning to run the BT003pros just because they're cheaper but that might change depending what you guys think.

Question is how many races do you guys usually get out of a set of these tires or any tires for that matter? Any difference between the BT or the R10? How many can the front take vs. the rear?

I've been replacing both front and rear as a set usually after 5 sprint races and a GTU, but I'm thinking the front might be able to last longer and I could just get a rear to save cost. Maybe I can even get more races out of the set than what I'm getting now?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Xian_13]

Riding style will dictate tire life more then the amount of races.
The faster you go, the faster your tires go away...

For most people, you can run 2 rears to one front.
When I rode a 1000, I would run 3 rears to a front.
On my TZ-250, however, I use up a front before the rear.

-X

[supercarl]

so Im thinking to do 2 rears to a front. How many races could I expect to do on that front on average?

[bruce71198]

This is a completely loaded question. Your going to end up with so many conflicting opinions you wont know what to do! So I'll throw mine at you. On my Ninja 250 I have not changed my tires all season, or last for that matter. I have completely worn out the one side of the rear tire but I still get good traction, I will probably change that tire for Sundays races, front tire still good. My SV 650 ridden at a 1:16-17 pace will go through a set of front and rears in 8 races. I see noticable wear ( shredding ) and loss of tread depth and a noticable decrease in traction. Traction is my big indicator, towards the end of there life I start riding a lot more cautiosly till I lose confidence in the tire. So I guess it all matters how far you feel comfortable running your tires down.

[brendan113]

 I'm also not the best at reading tires, and i was always only looking at the tread, but what i look for more now is the loss of shape or flatness usualy on one side of the tire. You can usualy feel your rear breaking loose when its time to change but your front getting loose isn't so forgiving. Also i know your looking for a broad baseline but depending on the bike, speed, temperature,compound and suspension you cant take how many races one person does and realy use that. Hope this helps

[supercarl]

well I know your ninja and SV are probably gonna go a little easier on the tires than my r6 lol. so that kinda gives me a decent comparison. Guess Im just gonna go off "feel" and what the all knowledgeable tire guys tell me.

I appreciate the advice. It def helps.

I remember making a set of tires last like half a season my first year haha and now I go through 2+sets of tires a weekend. Its such a drastic change that it just seems excessive to me lol.

[bruce71198]

Thats my point, to many variables but one things for sure, you'll know when you've tacken them to far !!!

[supercarl]

Haha isn't that the truth!

[twilkinson3]

2 sets of tires in a weekend to me would = get the suspenion looked at

Like Bruce I'm primarily a sv pilot (or ninja) these days in a complete season I went thru 2 fronts and 3 rears running all the lightweight sprints (couple years back now) on race DOTs (Michelin) running around 1:20-1:22...and most of that was corner speed...motor had nothing on the straights

Same comment tho, the tires will generally let you know gently when the rear is pretty much done, after that you have something of a baseline to go off of.

[roadracer162]

I agree that really is a loaded question. There are so many variables to the equation. The bigger bikes don't necessarily stress the tires more but what it will do is keep more heat in the rear tire. Me on my lightweight bike can many times carry more corner speed than a larger bike. This is observed from an FZR 400 to a Ducati 800, and a Ducati 748. The type of track is also something to consider where an abrasive track will wear the rubber away a lot quicker. That does not mean there is less traction.

I typically race my tires in the first 40 laps of life and practice the remaining 60 laps. I will many times do the best times on the practice laps. At my last outing at Roebling I observed race times with completely worn out tires. On a bigger bike the rear would go away much faster.

I keep meticulous watch of my tires and track laps and the corresponding times for each lap. I have realized changes with ambient temps from the morning to the afternoon and the effects of those temps. I watch the objective factor of lap times with these changes. Of course putting that much effort into the tires have decreased my effort in suspension changes. I never change gearing but learn how to change the way i ride for a particular track or circumstance.

[apriliaman]

On my SV650 I can go 5 race weekends on a set and that is doing 2 practices and 2 races a weekend.My ducati goes 3 weekends ,1 practice 3 races a weekend.My FZR 400 when I raced it full time I used 1 set for the whole year.

[Super Dave]

How fast do you need or want to go?  What margin of safety do you have with your equipment?

The best part of the tire is good for 7 to 17 laps.  It's down hill from there.  A race tire will usually drop off more than a track day tire...but the race tire should go faster when it is new.  So, I always planned the best part of my tire for more important races:  money, points, and/or stiffer competition.  Tires with more laps can be burned up in practice, less competitive races, blah, blah, blah...