When are you ready for D.O.T.\'s???
 

How or what do you use to determine when you are ready to step up to a DOT race tire? Got some track days coming up this year and just wondering what I should do, because I'm getting recommendations both ways...seriously about 50/50 of my buddies telling me that a Pilot Power or Diablo Corsa is more than good and the other half saying definately go with the Power Race or BT-002's for the added confidence. I know a race tire is crucial that you warm it up properly and all that. I'm pretty comfortable on my bike and spend a bit of time in the twisties, and have turned Pilot Powers blue before on my favorite roads. I know a lot of you guys do tons of track days so I would love another round of recommendations. Oh yea, I will need tires anyways so the money/cost of a track only tire is not a factor.

I think Colin Edwards mounted a set of Michelin Power CST (or whatever they're called now) on his M1 and was only 10 seconds slower than on his usual race tyres. So yeah, there probably enough.

Do you go to Thunderhill?

That's exactly where we're headed...The new compound Powers are not available here in the U.S. and haven't heard of when they will be neither??

Only problem with more track focussed tyres are:

A) only designed for fewer heat cycles (say 8-10)..so ideal for a race weekend...not too good for the road.

B) They do take longer to warm up, so unless you can guarentee thet you will not need to brake/turn accelerate hard in the first 15 minutes of your ride...your putting yourself at risk IMHO.

C) You'll probably end up wrecking them with cold tearing due to A and B above.

I'm sure many will be along in a mo saying that they run race spec tyres on the road no problem, but I don't believe for one minute that any one needs that sort of performance on the road...particularly with all of the drawbacks associated with them.

I run standard diablos, but would recommend the Corsas, or equivalent in another brand. And perhaps more importantly, I don't know of one tyre manufacturer that would recommend them for road use either...and lets face it, they know their stuff.

[Edited on 12-4-2006 by Harv748]

[Edited on 12-4-2006 by Harv748]

OK, just to remove ANY confusion...this is going to be a track only tire. No intentions at all of running these on the street. Didn't think I gave that impression, sorry.

Ahhhh...well in that case I'll leave it to the TD experts on here.

One thing I would say though is that the same probably applies with regards to heat cycles...track only tyres offer unbelievable grip...but they need to be treated to warmers etc to get the best out of them. If your not willing to go down that route (with the associated expenditure of stands/generator etc) then your options are again limited.

If it's for track only, I'd recommend either the Pirelli Supercorsa, Supercorsa Pro, the Metzeler Racetec, or the Michelin Power Race. The lesser tyres from either make will be good enough for a trackday, but these are the top of the heap short of slicks. I race with Derby-Phoenix MCC where slicks are not allowed and the vast, vast majority races on one of the above. The Bridgstones are not quite in the same league based on club racing experience.

Thunderhill is a good track, been around it a few times myself. Keep the shiny side up.