Need new tires for track day?

[beatle]

I found on this thread that a lot of people recommended the use of new tires when going to the track. I can definitely see the importance there as the OP had tires that were 5+ years old and were pretty squared off. While my original Pirelli Angels are a bit square, I think they still have a good amount of life left in them having only turned 8k street miles or so.

CSS is coming to VIR in May and I plan to trailer my bike there and back. Still think I need new tires or will I be ok with what I've got? I can post pics later today if necessary.

 

[Ssky0078]

I found on this thread that a lot of people recommended the use of new tires when going to the track. I can definitely see the importance there as the OP had tires that were 5+ years old and were pretty squared off. While my original Pirelli Angels are a bit square, I think they still have a good amount of life left in them having only turned 8k street miles or so.

CSS is coming to VIR in May and I plan to trailer my bike there and back. Still think I need new tires or will I be ok with what I've got? I can post pics later today if necessary.

Just out of curiosity. Why are would you even go to the track if you're not going to push the upper limit of your riding ability? Secondary to that why would you go with a used tire that is partially squared off that will affect your turn in/lean in while attempting to go fast? :thumbup:

The track by me won't allow you on the track unless your tires have 75% life left in them. On a good hypersport tire (Pilot Power 2CT, Pilot Power 3, Q2, Q3, BT-016, Battleax S20) those only get 3,000-6,000 miles of life out of them on the street. A sport touring tire (Pilot Road 2, Pilot Road 3, Angel GT's, T30s) which you have in a Pirelli Angel will get 12-18,000 miles out of them but again, is that something you really want to be pushing on the track?

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W13WXGsNQOE]The Ron Haslam Bridgestone T30 Review - Donnington Park - YouTube[/ame]

 

[beatle]

Not sure where you got the idea that I would not be pushing the upper limit of my riding ability. I've been to plenty of schools for tracking my car and you still learn the principles of car control regardless of the limits of your tires. In fact, most people I've talked to would agree that all seasons for a track newbie are a better idea than sticky summer or race rubber as they will expose bad driving and let go more progressively than their higher performance counterparts. I don't know how that translates into a track day on the bike. I know the squaring off might be an issue for maximum performance and that I may not be as fast, but I'm not really concerned with being the fastest anyway. I just want to soak up as much knowledge as I can.

The upper limit of my riding ability right now stops at my chicken strips which are about 1/2" wide so I'm not even pushing my current tires to their limits, and the parts of the tire that would be most worn on a track day haven't even been scrubbed in yet. It seems like your question as to whether I want to push a sport touring tire on the track is answered by your video. That answer would be yes.

I'll have to check the tire wear thresholds for CSS when you BYOB.

 

[Erci]

If you're doing Level 1 CSS, NEW sport touring tires are perfectly fine. They will inspect your bike (tech) and there is a chance they'll fail you if your tires are squared off / worn out.

Tech aside, it would be very wise to get new tires before the track. You really don't want grip to be the limiting factor and you sure as heck don't want to go down because of your tires.. nevermind take someone else out!

I got the same advice before my last track day, last season. I am glad I listened.

8k miles on your tires equates to a whole lot of heat cycles. Tread may look fine, but it's highly unlikely that they're nearly as grippy as new ones would be.

 

[Erci]

I'll have to check the tire wear thresholds for CSS when you BYOB.

It's fairly universal at 75-80% life left, no matter what the school.
I've seen some really ugly stuff pass the tech, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't have the best stuff you can afford to have maximum fun and be as safe as possible. Please get new tires if you can. Maybe swap them back out after track and put old ones back on for street if you really want to fully use them up.

 

[Ssky0078]

Not sure where you got the idea that I would not be pushing the upper limit of my riding ability. I've been to plenty of schools for tracking my car and you still learn the principles of car control regardless of the limits of your tires. In fact, most people I've talked to would agree that all seasons for a track newbie are a better idea than sticky summer or race rubber as they will expose bad driving and let go more progressively than their higher performance counterparts. I don't know how that translates into a track day on the bike. I know the squaring off might be an issue for maximum performance and that I may not be as fast, but I'm not really concerned with being the fastest anyway. I just want to soak up as much knowledge as I can.

The upper limit of my riding ability right now stops at my chicken strips which are about 1/2" wide so I'm not even pushing my current tires to their limits, and the parts of the tire that would be most worn on a track day haven't even been scrubbed in yet. It seems like your question as to whether I want to push a sport touring tire on the track is answered by your video. That answer would be yes.

I'll have to check the tire wear thresholds for CSS when you BYOB.

Sorry, I came off like that before. I'm a little cranky. Doing a weight loss program to drop my last 30 lbs to get ready for my first track season and I've noticed being hungry equals being grumpy. Everybody has been saying I'm a bigger smart ass than I already was before.

From everyone I've talked to, having new or almost new tires is key to having a good time. Like ERCI said, you don't want to go down or take someone else out due to poor grip of your tires.