Tyre life advice for a track day newbie

[rapid van cleef]

OK, So im going on a track day on me zx10. Its got 'conti sport race attack' tyres on it but only got about 4mm tread left on front and rear.

ive been keeping off it, saving the tyres, thinking that a track day will destroy whats left of them. so, i was planning on getting new tyres sttraight after the day. probably pilot power 2 ct's

having never done a track day before, how much tyre wear can i expect with these soft, grippy tryres?

thank you in advance

[sinfull]

Wrong mindset bro, new tyres on the track and wear them out on the road ! Ya don't want to run out of rubber in one of them corners !

Next thing i'm wondering are the tyres race attack or sport attack, i'm presuming sport attack or you would have cut the race attacks out in no time on the road !
Ya might think they are grippy tyres but from what i have been told after i experienced a lowside, then kissed the gauges in a near highside once with a sport attack is that when they get hot they lose performance and start gettin slippery (let go real bad) as they aint made for racing !

Take it easy out there if ya use them tyres man, but as ya say 1st trackday so you more n likely be taking it easy !

[rapid van cleef]

thanks for that.hmmmm..........they are race attack-medium. thats what was on the bike when i got it and i havent put many k's on the bike since. and like i said, they have 4 mil tread accross the whole tyre.

[sinfull]

thanks for that.hmmmm..........they are race attack-medium. thats what was on the bike when i got it and i havent put many k's on the bike since. and like i said, they have 4 mil tread accross the whole tyre. Then the thing you would have to wonder is how many heat cycles have they been through !
Not a worry if you take it easy for ya first track day but thats why tyre warmers are used (apart from the obvious warm tyre on the first lap of a race) A race tyre does go off so to speak after several heat cycles ie; go out on the track, get tyres warm and then come in and let them cool is a heat cycle per session (use warmers and it's 1 heat cycle for a whole days riding) Serious racers sell tyres off after 3 or 4 cycles on the thous ! Track dayers usually buy em up and use them as the pace aint as hot as in racing !
Take ya time out there and get the feel for em, go easy on the gas on exit and ya should be fine, if ya feel the rear sliding a bit you will know why lol more and likely a cooked tyre !

[quickbuck]

Okay, what track are we talking here????
If it was me... Oh, and it was on Saturday at Manfeild, I would run them (the tyres that i didn't know the history of) with 4mm, and replace them afterwards....

BUT that was me, on some Perellis.
Now, this is what I found:
Mt lap times were about the same as I could do years ago on a CBR400.....
I didn't trust the tyres one bit.
They weren't particularly sticky anyway,so never really pushed them.
Front went walkies a couple of times.
Rear... Well, it was hard as a stone, and i didn't like it... shape wasn't conducive to cornering.

Well, that is what I found, the rear was a touring tyre anyway.

If you want to try out the Race Attack on the track, go for it..... See how it goes.
Best thing you can do is actually get a hoop that you know (not sure if your last bike was similar to a ZX10 or not), and changer it during the day if you are not happy.

Oh, and sinfull is making much sense too.....

[rapid van cleef]

thanks for that

and its pukekohe

[quickbuck]

thanks for that

and its pukekohe
You're welcome.
Have fun at Puke.

Remember there is really no such thing as a "Cheap" Track Day.... You will get the most out of it if you spend a bit on the consumables you are about to use.....

Another thing I would look at is check your brake pads. They may not be of a compound suitable for the type of hammering you are about to give them at the end of the straight.....
In saying that, if the bike has Race Attacks, then they may be.
BUT regardless, check for the amount of pad material left on them. If in doubt, buy another set, and put them in your tool box.
Whakatane to Puke is a long way to go to run a few sessions up until lunch time!

Yes, again, I have managed to tear through a brand new set by lunch time!
Good thing I live 10 minutes from the track......

[rapid van cleef]

thanks for that....

im staying over in auck the night before.

youve torn a set of tyres up by lunchtime. wow. is that riding all morning?

im doing 5 or 6 , 20 min sessions. me brake pads have plenty of depth on them

i ll never know until i try eh!

[quickbuck]

Sorry, now I re-read it, I could confuse...
I tore through a set of brake pads by lunch time..... VERY easy to do when the pads that came with the new discs were ceramic, and not sintered.....
Wasn't to know that though, as they arrived as a package, and I never actually fitted them.

That was 3 x 20 minute sessions... about 90 miles.

Tyres by lunch... Yes, you can do that too, if your suspension settings are up the creak.

Check your rear after every session to make sure nothing untoward is going on.

You will never know if you don't try.

[puddytat]

If the tyres are "cupped" i.e a flattish area on the shoulders from doing most of your riding on the road,be aware that you'll get much further over on the track & tipping over this edge means youll have less grip at that point...
if you get my drift.
If you keep all this advice in mind you can make up your own mind of whats best for you, either way your going to love your track time.
Have fun!!

[Bikemad]

cheers for all the previous info KBers...........i have a similar question somewhere............very helpfull

[Nonbeliever]

any fresh set of sport/road tyres will be ok.

like said before, fresh set for the track then finish them off on the road

[Tony.OK]

The attacks should be fine but most important with race tyres is to make sure they are nice and warm before ya let rip or you'll tear them to bits..........give it 2-3 moderately quick laps before ya start feeding it the berries.

Drop your pressures to around 28f and 26r, after a session feel if they are hot n sticky, if not, try a couple of psi more.

Just bare in mind they are race tyres, and are designed to work properly in a given temp zone, unlike road rubber that has a much wider temp operating zone.

[kiwifruit]

The last thing you should be looking to save money on is tyres.

[sinfull]

The last thing you should be looking to save money on is tyres.
+1 on that ! Only took a few second hand race tyres and i was going faaaark that, i stick with new rubber thanks (check the 4 digit date stamp too ! ie: 2309 means 23rd week in 09 that tyre was made ! Older than 0109 and you should be sayin you want how much for that tyre !)
Had a guy ring me saying he'd scored some new racetechs ($700 a set) for me from the tip, told him to check the date stamp cause there was a reason they were there, 4005 was the answer ! He sold em to someone ewwwwwww !

This bit of tech knowledge was the best i've been given to date as well !!!!
http://www.gostar-racing.com/club/How_I_set_up_my_motorbike.pdf

Ya tyres hold you up ! Your suspension makes them work ! If one or the other aint right you can find yourself in trouble !

If your bike came from a bear (may ring a bell, may not) it will be as hard as ! If a 60 kg jockey were to try to go flat out on them settings it would be like riding a bull at a rodeo !
I learnt the hard way by going out on my new bike without checking the suspension and there was sweet faark all rebound in the front, so come lap 4 of qualifying i was feeling great, chasing one of the hottest guys out there (albeit way behind him by then) tyres were warm so i went for a hot lap ! next thing i knew i was sliding on my arse thinking noooooooo my bike ! My new bike !!!!!

Spend an Hour settin it up for your wieght (if you don't think you can, call shaun or robert taylor and pay em to do it)

On my triumph (the ZX will have better suspension i'm sure) i had both front and rear rebound clicked out to soft !
Rear, so when i jammed on the piks the arse didn't waggle all over the show under brakes and the front so when i gassed on, on exit of a corner the tyre was sprung down fast enough to get traction as the bike lept forward !

Comp ? Well ya dont want to be doin stoppies, nor do ya want it diving so much in the front yr bottoming out !
Rear ? Ya dont want it so firm, ya wheel spinnin out of every corner or so soft it missmatches the front !
You'll work it out on track lol take a screw driver !

When yr done with set up, get a mate to press down on seat and tank and peg (whole bike evenly) and it should all come up together !!! Not the rear first and then the front or vice versa, but together !!

Jesusss i must be bored !!!

[rapid van cleef]

i never said anything about saving money. However, I was not sure if i would have enough cash for tyres until late february. It now looks like I will have the cash. But, local dealer have quoted me 640 plus fitting. so say 700+ bucks for a set of michelin pilot power 2ct. an auckland dealer quoted 600 fitted. do i wait, not ride the bike and use whats left of my current tyres on the track day? Or , ride now, spend the extra 140 bucks or so on same tyres locally........hmmmmm

what to do.

[Cracker]

Mate, good on you for having a crack at Pukekohe, an old fashioned speed circuit.

No need to get set on high dollar tyres. I suggest you get up early, go to Drury Tyres ( 15 mins from the track) who specialise in no bullshit service. You could probabbly get a set of Meztler Sportec M3 tyres that will do Pukekohe and all your other riding with no drama for around $520, save the money but spend the tyre money before you go on track.

[rapid van cleef]

ok . that sounds good. how many k's u reckon i'd get to a set of metzlers like u suggest?

[Cracker]

Thats what I asked, he said 4000 hard Kl and thats what if was.

[quickbuck]

M1 Sportecs on the 600: Used to get 4500 - 5000 k out of them on the road, BUT if I took them to the track a couple of times, I could get 7000 out of them.
Simply because I could get rid of that anoying bit that develops after too much straight line stuff..... Cupping, i have since leearnt it is called.

M3's: put one onthe front, and it was wrecked 85 miles later... Went off track and wrecked my rim.

[Marmoot]

Nothing wastes a track day more than having to scrub new tyres in during your first one or two sessions.
Especially road tyres.

I'd be more worried about the tyre shape/profile (e.g., is it squared off from doing too much straight road riding? Or is it still nicely round?) than the actual thread depth.
As long as it's not raining, that is.

But who would want to do pukekohe in the rain anyway? It's slipperier than SH1.

[CHOPPA]

You could just buy some pirelli slicks off me???? $150 done one heat cycle not more then 30 laps and still good for atleast 120 more laps at close to race pace....

[rapid van cleef]

ok, consider this.
A. i need new tyres anyway and i do ride on the road
B. I do not have the gear to remove tyres and re fit new ones

what would you suggest?

[gixerracer]

Better still you could buy the same tyres off me for $100 a set got as many as you like
You could just buy some pirelli slicks off me???? $150 done one heat cycle not more then 30 laps and still good for atleast 120 more laps at close to race pace....

[quickbuck]

Nothing wastes a track day more than having to scrub new tyres in during your first one or two sessions.
Especially road tyres.

I'd be more worried about the tyre shape/profile (e.g., is it squared off from doing too much straight road riding? Or is it still nicely round?) than the actual thread depth.
As long as it's not raining, that is.

But who would want to do pukekohe in the rain anyway? It's slipperier than SH1.
Yeah, good points... To be fair, when I fit a new pair of hoops before a track day they actually get a good scrub in... I make sure of that.

You are right though, you don't actually need the rain groves, and the shape of the tyre is important.....
Don't say ROUND you smart asses....

Oh, and as for changing hoops at the track, at any good track day somebody will turn up with a tyre machine..... Careful you are asking to change the right brand of tyre, if they are sponsored riders though... eh Shaun ;)

[FROSTY]

If in your shoes i'd buy the new tyres and fit them.At pukie it only takes about 4 laps to scrub tyres in. Actually if you have never done a track day the knowledge you are scrubbing tyres in might be enough to keep you sane forthe first few laps.

[rapid van cleef]

thanks for all the comments. seeing as the tyres fitted to my bike are treaded race tyres, therefore will not heat up properly on the road, despite the fact that i take many twisty corenrs at a good pace, ive decided to get a set of michelin pilot power 2ct's

i thought that tyres had to be upto wof standard for a non racing track day. if ive worn the rain grooves off the tyres, i woulndt be allowed on track would I?

the tyres profile is good, not rounded off at all. all my riding is in thw twisties anyway..........and the normal straight bits i have to ride n to get there.