How many track days out of your tires?

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slow50

New Member
I wanted to ask those more experienced than me on the forum how many track days people are getting out of a set of DOT tires. I am running in B group with NESBA so I am not as hard on my tires as A group guys. I have done 5 track days this year with my R1 on a set of Pilot Powers. Is 5 track days normal for a 1000cc bike?

Currently that last 1.5 inches of the outer edge of the tire are looking a beat. The wear bars are fast approaching! I am leaning toward getting a new set of Dunlop Q2s since I lost confidence in my rear tire this weekend at NJMP Lightning after spinning it exiting turn 5. After that, I was not the same for the rest of the day. My exit speed out of the bowl went way down after I lost trust in my rear tire.

By the way, thanks for putting on a great event on Saturday. There was tons of track time at Lightning on Sunday.

-Al
 
eE jeremy

eE jeremy

New Member
Depends a lot on the bike, your pace, the track, etc

First let's clear up the DOT question. You asked how long are people getting out of a set of DOT tires, well this varies a LOT for 1 reason, they make DOT legal race tires, these you shouldn't expect much life out of. Also, sport touring tires are DOT legal, and these you could probably ride an entire season on. The better question is to ask about a particular tire or subset of tires, the Pilot powers you were running are a hyper street tire, meaning they are good for the street but grip pretty darn good for the track too. The Q2's are a step up, they'll grip great on the track, and you can use them on the street as well.

The next important factor when discussing tire wear is the types of wear. 1) tread, you can slowly eat through a tire until you're near the cords, it should take quite a few days on the Q2's to get to this point, heck even on a race tire it'll probably take a while. The second and probably more important type of wear is heat cycles, every time you get your tires hot and let them cool off there the rubber is going to get slightly harder, and over time the tire gets less and less grippy. The PP's and Q2's shouldn't suffer much from this, but don't expect to get two full seasons out of them, the rubber will become harder and they will get easier to spin up. Additionally as the tire gets thinner (tread wear) the tires will heat up more because there is less material to act as a heatsink and you'll experience faster tire deterioration because of that heat.

Long story short, there are a lot of factors when figuring out tire wear. Keep an eye on them, and replace them when you loose confidence in them or notice them starting to loose grip, even if it looks like there is still a lot of tread left
 
tittys04

tittys04

Member
:agree:

The second you lose confidence in your tires, toss em. you may think you can get by but then you miss a marker and come in too hot on accident and all of a sudden you don't have that safety factor to pick up the slack from your bonehead mistake (happens to the best of us).

Now to answer your real question, I ride on 211 Ntec's (buy take offs usually with 65%-75% tread left on them) and I can get away with 3 (MAYBE 4) track days on a 600rr... but I don't like to do 4 for the reason I described above.

Another little rule of thumb that I use is that if I get to the wear bars, I will ride them until the end of the half day... so if I get to the wear bars at 10am, then I will change them at lunch. If I get to the wear bars at 3 pm, I will change them after the end of the day. ***disclaimer*** that is my personal rule of thumb, this is not for everyone and you may not agree with it. Do what works best for YOU.
 
j_fuggin_t

j_fuggin_t

Member
my corsa III's i got over 10 hard days on them, the 211 gpa's i don't expect to see the rear last past the SED day
 
S

sheepofblue

New Member
A lot depends on how smooth you are on the throttle, your pace, the power of the bike. A liter bike will tear tires up faster. A smooth A rider might wear tires the same as a B rider that parks then wacks the throttle wide open. That said on a guess I would think for your bike 4-8. HOWEVER, and this is key, if you think you need tires put them on.

I realize money is tight and tires are money but here is some basic math:

Assuming 7 sessions a day and $350 for tires.

Your current 5 days is 35 sessions or about $10 per session. A single crash will likely cause far more than that. Consider helmet damaged (inexpensive is $200), gloves 50+, frame sliders 50+, lever, boots, bodywork, etc. Now add in needless risk to your own hide. Pushing for one more session is silly.

Now consider 7 days cost drops to $7.14 per session so for 3 bucks a session you are on dodgy tires for 2 days with all the risk. Not to mention pace :first: That is a gallon of gas cost per session more to have good tires.

All my :argh: aside I get about 4-6 days on a set of slicks (more from the front if I want) running mid to upper intermediate on an RC51. Of course I tear the rears out about 1/3 up from acceleration (well trying to get me and the RC to go :banghead:)
 
sobottka

sobottka

New Member
for each rear tire (211 n-tecs) i buy i'll do no more than 2 sprint races (16 laps) then 6-10 practice laps and about 25-35 track day laps and that tire is done. :mad:
 
Meat

Meat

Member
dlockhart5x;141749 wrote: I sometimes buy 2 sets of tires in one season

love the little bike$
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When I was in B-group that is what I did (2 sets of medium front , hard rear for first year). I run my Dunlop D211GP's and slicks past the wear markers (Medium Front, Medium Hard rear). I am not sure if you can do that on other tires. I heard that Michelins were done when you got to the wear markers but I have not ridden them on the track.
 
S

slow50

New Member
Thanks for the informative responses. I am still trying to come to grips with the overall cost of track days. I have about 1,000 track miles and 500 street miles on these tires this year so I just felt guilty tossing them. I am going to toss these Pilot Powers and get some Q2s. The price is right and I need the safety factor as described in one of the responses. I also think I overheated the tires on a number of occasions since they had a bluish tint like a cheap exhaust system.

I am focused on getting my corner speed up with each track day, I need the tires to be the last of my concerns. I am trying hard not to be the guy on the liter bike passing people on the straights and parking it for the corners. When I get some spare $$$s I will get an R6 track bike and keep the R1 for the street.

-Al
 
jcurtis

jcurtis

Control Rider
N2
slow50;141726 wrote: ...I lost confidence in my rear tire this weekend at NJMP Lightning after spinning it exiting turn 5.
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There is another reason why the rear tire can spin exiting T5 at Lightning as well. After the apex the track falls off. The bike gets light, and the pressure of the bike on the pavement is reduced. If you are not careful there, especially with a liter bike, you will spin the tire and it can spit off. Wait until you feel the bike get settled before rolling on strong. Also helps to start pushing the bike up as you roll on the throttle.
 
Randal03r1

Randal03r1

Control Rider
Meat;141755 wrote: When I was in B-group that is what I did (2 sets of medium front , hard rear for first year). I run my Dunlop D211GP's and slicks past the wear markers (Medium Front, Medium Hard rear). I am not sure if you can do that on other tires. I heard that Michelins were done when you got to the wear markers but I have not ridden them on the track.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I run Michelins and you are correct. Once I'm down to the wear markers its time to change. One new rear per day, fronts last me at least 2 full days. I just got back from Beaver Run and I killed a new rear in 5 sessions. Ouch! :doh:
 
Southerly

Southerly

Member
I guess that is one of the good things about being a B back marker. 4,000 miles, including 7 trackdays, and my Bridgestone Batlax 016 tires still look like they have lots of life left. Having a bit less power and a cowardly wrist can save money. At the current rate they should easily last out the season. Just don't hit me as you go by. ;)
 
Hambone

Hambone

New Member
Randal03r1;142096 wrote: Yeah, I run Michelins and you are correct. Once I'm down to the wear markers its time to change. One new rear per day, fronts last me at least 2 full days. I just got back from Beaver Run and I killed a new rear in 5 sessions. Ouch! :doh:
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Yeah ouch! What tires are your running? I am running Michelins and after 2 days in the blistering heat at Thunderbolt, my front looks good and the rear is ok. I am hoping for at least another day before changing the rear.
 
vinny337

vinny337

Vin is in...Beastmode!
Control Rider
When you start to question yourself about your tires, it's time to replace them...oh and what Jim said about T5...;)
 
dlockhart5x

dlockhart5x

New Member
jaren warren;142231 wrote: why?

.
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they are much lighter, less than half the weight, and with 2/3 the hp and even more solid chassis/geometry

When you see one in person it is remarkable how simple it is, there is nothing extra, anywhere on a 125.

a 125s cornering limit is at very upper edge of the scale


Think about doing putnam @ 1:13s A honda RS125 has done it.:wow:
 
chaveezy

chaveezy

Member
This is two full track days at VIR South, ran every session on an 09 R1 in B Group

imagedrk.jpg


The right side is at the bars, the tire had 300 street miles on it before the track days. I replaced it after this, front is fine.

Now after VIR Full my rear looks still brand new, the track configuration, I don't think is as bad on the tires though because on South you're constantly in a turn, so I was getting 12-15 laps a session.
 
Mikey75702

Mikey75702

Member
utf-8BSU1BRzAwMjkuanBn.jpg


These tires have just over 8000 miles on them, including one day at lightning, one at summit main, and the last at summit Jefferson.
 
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