Shopping list for 2013 track season | Page 13 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Shopping list for 2013 track season

toysareforboys said:
You can run street tires without warmers, but good luck with slicks, so I wouldn't say it's irrelevant ;)

-Jamie M.
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Jamie, you can run both tires (slicks or street) without warmers.

Anyone can do whatever they want, I CAN run rain tires on a 30 degree weather if I wanted to, is not a matter of can! is a matter of should. It's more about heat cycles than........ anyways as I said, people should read teh countless threads about this topic
 
It's not just because of heat cycles, although that plays in. It's also about consistency. Use warmers, and you can be going full speed as soon as your engine and transmission get to operating temperature.
 
Even without a generator the warmers will keep the heat in that you've built up in the last session and keep the heat cycles down. I didn't have a generator last year for my warmers and just made due or asked to use someone else's genny if they have power to spare.
 
Shaman said:
It's not just because of heat cycles, although that plays in. It's also about consistency. Use warmers, and you can be going full speed as soon as your engine and transmission get to operating temperature.
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I didn't want to get into it so i stopped, there are many reasons
 
ZX600 said:
Jamie, you can run both tires (slicks or street) without warmers.
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Ahh, I didn't know that. The slicks I was looking at had super stuff carcasses when "cold" and were said to have great difficulty getting heat into them, without warmers.

-Jamie M.
 
Ok, stupid question, I know... But what advantage do slicks have against a typical d.o.t. race tire?
 
toysareforboys said:
Ahh, I didn't know that. The slicks I was looking at had super stuff carcasses when "cold" and were said to have great difficulty getting heat into them, without warmers.

-Jamie M.
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On smaller tracks like TMP, street tires or slicks hot from tire warmers will actually lose heat when doing laps (depending on ground temperature), so imagine when starting with cold tires. This should simplify the importance of having tire warmers
 
Nobody's spending money on suspension? For my track bikes that's always the very first mod. I didn't even track my SV until I had it properly suspended.
 
toysareforboys said:
Ahh, I didn't know that. The slicks I was looking at had super stuff carcasses when "cold" and were said to have great difficulty getting heat into them, without warmers.

-Jamie M.
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Dunlops, and anything is possible. The chances of you ending up on your face are much greater and you'll definatly have premature wear but it can be done.
 
I did a power slide through fourth gear at Calabogie on fresh, "cold" slicks in August that had me right at the edge of the grass with my balloon knot crushing diamonds on the second lap and pushed the front through two corners before that just cruising at 5/10ths ... figured they were warm enough, and was immediately proven wrong.

I know most riders are not pushing 190whp+ as the #9 is but this could still happen to anyone on a 1000cc bike (possibly less) because I had something similar happen to me on cool tires at the top of Candy Mountain with my 05 which has a lot less top end shove. Because I had to have Bickle sew up a tire warmer that I rode away with it still on the tire... FYI a highside on CM/#9 could very well be a life-altering event.

Traction control and ABS won't save you mid-apex, either...
 
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Mina said:
Ok, stupid question, I know... But what advantage do slicks have against a typical d.o.t. race tire?
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Slicks will outlast in longevity, surface contact and grip..... but DOT's are relatively cheaper and can give sufficient performance abilities.

The purpose of a DOT race tire is to make a close-to stock size tire with the DOT stamp so adhere to race rules (in certain clubs/races) that enforce the DOT-only rule. Basically, they want to give the appearance to the fans that "you can buy almost this EXACT bike that these guys race on"; usually seen in Stock and SuperStock in WSBK. A new rule change for 2013 in WSBK is that teams now have to use "headlight" decals on the bikes.

The material on a DOT race is more performance engineered than a DOT street tire (which compromises performance with longevity), and they are a cheaper alternative for track/race days than slicks are. DOT race tires aren't "bad", it's just slicks are engineered "better".

Don't think the DOTs race give you any boosts in the rain either..... lol. There's a huge difference in full rains vs DOTs, which is why I decided to go full slick or full rain from this year on.

I would never run a street DOT on the track (again...), my Q2's just shredded out of nowhere once my pace picked up, so either race DOT or slicks will be reliable for track/race purposes.
 
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Mr.Azim said:
I would never run a street DOT on the track (again...), my Q2's just shredded out of nowhere once my pace picked up, so either race DOT or slicks will be reliable for track/race purposes.
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I find this is something that people need to learn for themselves. I've told two or three people this year that they need to dump their street tires for the track, and they didn't listen... one crashed twice at Calabogie, one crashed at Shannonville and ended up under a fence (probably not the tire's fault); the last one started going through a set of Q2s in a day with his 750 as well as scaring himself witless with slides. If you run any kind of pace at all (say, under 2:10 at Shannonville Long or 2:25 at Calabogie) you are going to run into the limitations of the tires and start melting the damn things clean off.

I say they need to learn this for themselves, because they think they are saving money... until they need bodywork as a result of losing grip, or they start ripping the tires up like soft cheese.
 
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Mr.Azim said:
Slicks will outlast in longevity, surface contact and grip..... but DOT's are relatively cheaper and can give sufficient performance abilities.

The purpose of a DOT race tire is to make a close-to stock size tire with the DOT stamp so adhere to race rules (in certain clubs/races) that enforce the DOT-only rule. Basically, they want to give the appearance to the fans that "you can buy almost this EXACT bike that these guys race on"; usually seen in Stock and SuperStock in WSBK. A new rule change for 2013 in WSBK is that teams now have to use "headlight" decals on the bikes.

The material on a DOT race is more performance engineered than a DOT street tire (which compromises performance with longevity), and they are a cheaper alternative for track/race days than slicks are. DOT race tires aren't "bad", it's just slicks are engineered "better".

Don't think the DOTs race give you any boosts in the rain either..... lol. There's a huge difference in full rains vs DOTs, which is why I decided to go full slick or full rain from this year on.

I would never run a street DOT on the track (again...), my Q2's just shredded out of nowhere once my pace picked up, so either race DOT or slicks will be reliable for track/race purposes.
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Thanks for this reply! It cleared a lot of things for me too.

Question: what DOT race tire would everybody recommend? Also, is the use of warmers also as crucial as it is for slicks (can't bring temp up to level quickly), or not so much? (I already understand the benefits of warmers in terms of heat cycles, immediate performance, etc., no question about that).
 
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doozerdave said:
Nobody's spending money on suspension? For my track bikes that's always the very first mod. I didn't even track my SV until I had it properly suspended.
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I had my forks refreshed! Can't afford a rear shock now and I'm too much of a noob to notice a difference in it anyway.
 
Mr.Azim said:
Slicks will outlast in longevity, surface contact and grip..... but DOT's are relatively cheaper and can give sufficient performance abilities.

The purpose of a DOT race tire is to make a close-to stock size tire with the DOT stamp so adhere to race rules (in certain clubs/races) that enforce the DOT-only rule. Basically, they want to give the appearance to the fans that "you can buy almost this EXACT bike that these guys race on"; usually seen in Stock and SuperStock in WSBK. A new rule change for 2013 in WSBK is that teams now have to use "headlight" decals on the bikes.

The material on a DOT race is more performance engineered than a DOT street tire (which compromises performance with longevity), and they are a cheaper alternative for track/race days than slicks are. DOT race tires aren't "bad", it's just slicks are engineered "better".

Don't think the DOTs race give you any boosts in the rain either..... lol. There's a huge difference in full rains vs DOTs, which is why I decided to go full slick or full rain from this year on.

I would never run a street DOT on the track (again...), my Q2's just shredded out of nowhere once my pace picked up, so either race DOT or slicks will be reliable for track/race purposes.
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What kind of times are we talking about, say at TMP, before the Q2's wear out?
 
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