Sports tyres of the past

[racefactory]

It seems we have many new 'cutting edge' tyres coming out every year. They always say how tyre technology is unbelievable today and light years ahead of stuff just a decade ago. Some even say that the racing tyres back then were only comparable to the average road tyre today! However, after watching videos like these I really do have to take that with a grain of salt!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBneHUi80h8

There is always much discussion on tyres in the biking community and I believe them to be the single most important part of a motorcycle. So what about sports tyres of the 90's? I would like to know a bit of history on the rubber of our brave sport riding warriors back in the day.

What would hoons like myself be riding on back then? How do they really compare to the stuff we have today? I can not seem to find any old advertisements or anything on the internet...

What was the cream of the crop back in the days when the CBR250RR, ZXR400, RC30 and all the other sport classics were the newest, most outrageous machines coming out of japan? What were the pilot power 2ct's, the bt090's and sportmax qualifier's of the old days?



Ta!

[steelestring]

It seems we have many new 'cutting edge' tyres coming out every year. They always say how tyre technology is unbelievable today and light years ahead of stuff just a decade ago. Some even say that the racing tyres back then were only comparable to the average road tyre today! However, after watching videos like these I really do have to take that with a grain of salt!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBneHUi80h8

There is always much discussion on tyres in the biking community and I believe them to be the single most important part of a motorcycle. So what about sports tyres of the 90's? I would like to know a bit of history on the rubber of our brave sport riding warriors back in the day.

What would hoons like myself be riding on back then? How do they really compare to the stuff we have today? I can not seem to find any old advertisements or anything on the internet...

What was the cream of the crop back in the days when the CBR250RR, ZXR400, RC30 and all the other sport classics were the newest, most outrageous machines coming out of japan? What were the pilot power 2ct's, the bt090's and sportmax qualifier's of the old days?



Ta!

Dunlop GPR 70, 80, 100s?

[Quasievil]

Dunlop GPR 70, 80, 100s?


GPR70 when I started racing, dunlop ditch finders they where called.

[roogazza]

It seems we have many new 'cutting edge' tyres coming out every year. They always say how tyre technology is unbelievable today and light years ahead of stuff just a decade ago. Some even say that the racing tyres back then were only comparable to the average road tyre today! However, after watching videos like these I really do have to take that with a grain of salt!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBneHUi80h8

There is always much discussion on tyres in the biking community and I believe them to be the single most important part of a motorcycle. So what about sports tyres of the 90's? I would like to know a bit of history on the rubber of our brave sport riding warriors back in the day.

What would hoons like myself be riding on back then? How do they really compare to the stuff we have today? I can not seem to find any old advertisements or anything on the internet...

What was the cream of the crop back in the days when the CBR250RR, ZXR400, RC30 and all the other sport classics were the newest, most outrageous machines coming out of japan? What were the pilot power 2ct's, the bt090's and sportmax qualifier's of the old days?



Ta!

Late 60's gave us TT100 Dunlop. Another leap was probably Pirelli Phantoms in about 1980 or there abouts. G.

[steelestring]

GPR70 when I started racing, dunlop ditch finders they where called.

gpr 70 on the front and maybe a 80 or even harder 100 on the rear? hehehe

[jellywrestler]

Late 60's gave us TT100 Dunlop. Another leap was probably Pirelli Phantoms in about 1980 or there abouts. G.

the TT100 was named so after it became the first production tyre to lap the IOMTT at 100mph 1969 from memory

[MSTRS]

In the late 70s, I ran a TT100 on the front and some offering from Continental on the rear of a CB500/4. Never dropped it, and when sold the pegs were half their original length. People didn't get so worked up about this/that/other tyres back in those days...

[Jantar]

I was another fan of TT100s. They gave plenty of grip and tipped in nicely. Fortunately around the time that Dunlop stopped making them Pirelli came up with the Phantom. This was a superb tyre even if it wasn't a long life tyre.

I don't believe any modern tyres have the handling characteristics that can match those TT100s and Phantoms. Instead we have compounds that change more predictably according to temperature, that last a lot longer and that can cope with a greater variety of road surfaces.

Modern bikes also produce a lot more horsepower, and the compounds in those early tyres wouldn't stand the power and torque of a modern bike.

[MSTRS]

True, and the more flexible frames/swingarms also absorbed some of the stress that was placed on tyres.

[racefactory]

Ohhh so GPR70,80,100 aren't new tyres at all? They've been around since early 90's have they?

[Grumph]

Trev Kirby recommended a pair of sticky Michelins - ME?? - in the mid 80's for a Norton twin in the early days of the Register. I'd raced on Triangulars not that many years earlier but those road tyres were head & shoulders better. So much grip you could feel the featherbed frame wind up on the sweeper at Ruapuna.

[sugilite]

Michelin High Sports were wow tyres in the mid to late 80's and I loved the dunlop 391 fronts for gsxr's and often ran high sport rears and 391 fronts

[roogazza]

Trev Kirby recommended a pair of sticky Michelins - ME?? - in the mid 80's for a Norton twin in the early days of the Register. I'd raced on Triangulars not that many years earlier but those road tyres were head & shoulders better. So much grip you could feel the featherbed frame wind up on the sweeper at Ruapuna.

We used Michelin PZ2s at some stage in the 70's.

Yep Trevor Kirby, remember him, think his nick name was 'agent orange' ?
ChCh guy ? Gaz.

[Taz]

I loved the Dunlop K591R's on my VF1000R. Then the first Sportmax came out.

[racefactory]

Excellent, keep the pics coming!! Mmm 90's sports tyre nostalgia, love it.

[avgas]

I miss the old Battleaxe's the ones that had lightning for tread. Way too soft and dissolved like water - but man did they stick.
First gen Shinko's were a bit of fun too.

[avgas]

Also been a big fan of the TT100 replacement - GT501

[racefactory]

So were tyres back then really that much worse like some say?

[Jantar]

So were tyres back then really that much worse like some say?
Absolutely not. They were suited to bikes of the day and performed well. They just wouldn't cope with the power that we now accept as normal. Even my RE5 was at the upper limit of what Phantoms could handle, yet they gripped and gave me complete confidence at any speed and any angle of lean.

[imdying]

So were tyres back then really that much worse like some say?Not relative to the bikes of the time. A GSXR1000 would probably make short work of the older tyres compounds though, and I would hazzard a guess that sidewall strength has gone up to cope with the beating that newer bikes can deliver. Apparently what has become a lot better is wet weather abilitiy and we also now have multi compound tyres (soft sides for grip, firm centres for durability).

[slofox]

Back in the early 70's one of my racing mates shod his bike with Dunlop "triangular" tyres. Anyone remember these? - can't recall what the model number was - if it was the TT100 or not.
These tyres were triangular in profile as the name suggests - the idea being that on a lean you have more rubber on the road for more grip and in a straight line you have less contact area for less resistance.

Incidentally I found the following article interesting. Not really about racing tyres but motorbike tyres in general...

http://ezinearticles.com/?Motorcycle-Tire-Basics&id=530176

[MSTRS]

As I recall them - the centre block stood slightly higher than the sides, which could make them 'triangular'.
<img src=http://classicdepartment.com/shop/images/DUNLOPTT100.jpg>

[Grumph]

Triangulars were developed around Bob McIntyre's style - throw the bike onto full lean immediately - no transition roll - in. There's an old Castrol (I think) film around, a lap of Oulton or Mallory Park with Bob and shit it's an eye opener. If you tihink Gardner's style was committed, you should see Bob Mac.
If you didn't ride like this they felt edgy at part lean as they were just as the name says - triangular section. The works bikes used to wear out the narrow center of the tread on the IOM.
For the average - and better - club rider Avon GP's were a better bet. Not a lot of the sticky green spot versions came out here though, pity, they were briliant.

591R's were the go for all the big heavy jap fours, Stiff carcase and soft compund tread.If they still made them, they'd still sell. Just the thing to tame a GS/GSX or big Z
At present the equivalent tyre is probably the BT45 - but the 591 had a siffer carcase and you didn't get the patter problems common with the modern rubber.

[Movistar]

Metzler ME33 Front - if you haven't ridden a bike with one of these in the wet (back in the day) you haven't lived.

Still around and called the 'Lasertec' now.

I wouldn't use one on the gixxer, but just put one on the CB750K2 'cause it fits the style of the bike and will do the job.

[Taz]

I worked for the dunlop motorcycle tyre distributor back in the 90's :). I can recall when the All new GT301 replaced the GT101. I can also remember that I cried (well almost) when they discontinued the K591R :cry:

[Voltaire]

Metzler Lazers on the R75/5......and they seemed to last a long time even with 45HP pumping thru them.....

[Taz]

The pirelli Strada on the back of my Guzzi is 15 years old :)

[Motu]

Shit,are we going all the way back to the '90's? I don't know if I can remember back that far....

The Avon GP was possibly one of the first ''racing'' tyres for the street - I used to have an Avon Racing,it was exactly the same as a GP,but it was old.I still rode on it.The TT100 was developed for the Trident...or at least that was the blurb,like,there was no tyre capable of handling the power of the Trident.Possibly true,as 60hp was serious stuff mid '60's.The TT100 is still made today,with race compound options.Same with the K70,also with race option.Both tyres also benefit from another 40 years of tyre technology.I used to run those Michelin PZ2's in the late '70's,and didn't like them,they made my Featherbed handle horrible after so many years of Avon GP's and Speedmaster MkII's.And they also showed me that race compounds are not good on the road first thing on a winter's morning.

The last few decades have seen me choosing cheap as the best tyre for me....and very pleased with the results.

[Katman]

I could never figure out how Yokohama could have such a good name in car tyres while their bike tyres were such crap.

[one fast tl1ooo]

O joy the Metzler ME33 Front. had f**k know how many of these on my katana over 16 years.
must of been 3 or 4 fronts to 1 rear, Dam 16 inch front :gob:

[Crasherfromwayback]

I could never figure out how Yokohama could have such a good name in car tyres while their bike tyres were such crap.

They were far from crap mate. I won my 250 TT title on 003 Yokohamas in 91.

[jellywrestler]

Here's an old ad from the NZ motor and cycle magazine from 1917.
These were the ducks nuts around world war one, you can still buy them new now, in either black or white

[Katman]

They were far from crap mate. I won my 250 TT title on 003 Yokohamas in 91.

I was thinking of the early 80s.

I gave up on them fairly quickly after that.

[Crasherfromwayback]

I think R110's were mid 80's and the start of good tyres from them?

[nudemetalz]

They were far from crap mate. I won my 250 TT title on 003 Yokohamas in 91.

I used to race on the Yoki Sprints. They were bloody good sticky tyres.

[DEATH_INC.]

I miss the old Battleaxe's the ones that had lightning for tread. Way too soft and dissolved like water - but man did they stick.
First gen Shinko's were a bit of fun too.
You mean this one? they were pretty good orright, ran 'em on a kr250 for a bit (till it blew up) and a srx250 (the only pic I could find of this tyre)
I used the old bt17, it had dual compound (and you young fellas thought it was new...ha!) used to be able to drag the fairings of my first turbo on the road with these. Tho it would wheelspin in any gear in the wet...
When radials came along I liked the mez1 metzeler, very predictable, even if they wore too fast and were a little heavy feeling.
I think the biggest advances are the way they stick in the wet, the old stuff I used never did.

[BMWST?]

Pirrelli Phantoms were the shizz,although supposedly for smaller bikes i liked Pirrelli Gordons on the 2 CB900's I had ,although i think i used phantoms later.

[sugilite]

The phantom front on the 1st gsxr750 was a disaster waiting to happen (Headshake city), though they were awesome on gpz900's!

[roogazza]

Triangulars were developed around Bob McIntyre's style - throw the bike onto full lean immediately - no transition roll - in. There's an old Castrol (I think) film around, a lap of Oulton or Mallory Park with Bob and shit it's an eye opener. If you tihink Gardner's style was committed, you should see Bob Mac.
If you didn't ride like this they felt edgy at part lean as they were just as the name says - triangular section. The works bikes used to wear out the narrow center of the tread on the IOM.

I was road racing (started in 1970) when it was all TT100s, but I do remember seeing Triangulars on TD and TR Yamahas (forrunners to TZs).


They were far from crap mate. I won my 250 TT title on 003 Yokohamas in 91.

Oh you young thing! 1991 !!! ( Bugger, I was racing when you were probably hatched ?) Gaz.

[Grumph]

Triangulars were the thing to have on your TD or TR - or for that matter anything serious.
But as I said earlier, Avons suited more people better - hindsight is wonderful.

I did a season on a new T350 Suzuki and left the OE Inoue rubber on it - red line on the sidewalls and all. Never beaten by any of the Dunlop or Avon users locally. traded it in with good tread on the centers but the sides were worn out....Back then tyres were a state of mind - and what you could afford. TT100's were quite expensive at the time.

[Pixie]

Late 60's gave us TT100 Dunlop. Another leap was probably Pirelli Phantoms in about 1980 or there abouts. G.

Aaah,The era when Pirelli named their tyres after comic book characters.

There was also the Gordon and the Mandrake

[HenryDorsetCase]

Trev Kirby recommended a pair of sticky Michelins - ME?? - in the mid 80's for a Norton twin in the early days of the Register. I'd raced on Triangulars not that many years earlier but those road tyres were head & shoulders better. So much grip you could feel the featherbed frame wind up on the sweeper at Ruapuna.

Me33 or ME 77 ??

had kind of a chevron-y pattern?

i had those and continental TK somethings (TK11?) on my GPZ750 in the 80's.

[DonaldH]

I used to run my RD400 on Avon Roadrunners compared with the Metzler Racetecs I run now. Nostalgia isn't what it used to be...

Avon
http://www.britcycle.com/products/555/tyre_RR_f.jpg

Racetec
http://www.cycletreads.co.nz/images/products/24.1578.jpg

[racefactory]

I used to run my RD400 on Avon Roadrunners compared with the Metzler Racetecs I run now. Nostalgia isn't what it used to be...

Avon
http://www.britcycle.com/products/555/tyre_RR_f.jpg

Racetec
http://www.cycletreads.co.nz/images/products/24.1578.jpg

That must have been a long time ago. How do those compare with the new stuff?

[jellywrestler]

Early seventies Dunlop KR. this is a set I have that were made in 1972, new old stock

[avgas]

You mean this one?
Nah the bigger softer brother of that.
BT56's or BT101? something like that.
First time I dealt with them was on old mans new (at the time) 97 955i - it would chew a set in about 2000km.
I ended up with I think the BT56's on my ZXR - stuck like shit to a blanket, and I used every bit of that tread.
Apparently when Steved took in the zxr to get new tyres, the guy changing the tyre was shocked as he hadn't even seen that type of wear on most race tyres.
But alas I was a poor student, and loved corners too much.

When i look back though was fucking dangerous.

[DEATH_INC.]

Ah, BT56ss (soft) BT56 (med) and BT57 (Hard) I remember them, some of Bridgestones first radials. Still let go without any warning though, just like the newer one's.

[sugilite]

Ah, BT56ss (soft) BT56 (med) and BT57 (Hard) I remember them, some of Bridgestones first radials. Still let go without any warning though, just like the newer one's.
Thats jogs my memory, I remember the 1st dunlop radials were shocking for that too. They were ok when new, but after one decent heat cycle they were evil. Mine would step out and even spin, on an RG250!!!! The sad part is the tyres were marketed as sports touring!!! :shutup: