Quote:
| Originally Posted by ChrisBushell David,
If you read my post more carefully, you will see that I reported that I had been told, not that I knew where these tyres were made.
I am old enough to remember buying brand new Hondas in the 70s, where part of the deal was that the dealer took the Cheng Shen tyres off the bikes, threw them in a skip and fitted TT100s, on the grounds that the tyres supplied with the bike were not fit for UK conditions. Whilst I continue to be amazed at the advances made in tyres over the 34 years that I have been riding, I personally have never and wouldn't fit anything less than the best tyres that I could get for the machine. Even on some of my little 98cc Ducati's, you wont find budget tyres on them, it is a false economy and I value my life much more than £20 saving, which is probably what it would be.
For the record I have visited both the PRC and the ROC and am more than well aware of their geographic and cultural differences.
With regard to the tyres that can be run in the Ducati Sporting Club's Desmo Due series, the only tyres that are eligable are H rated Pirelli Diablos at this time. No rider will be given dispensation to run anything other than that this year. We are also looking at an enviroment (racing) that can impose much higher loads on machines than would normally be encountered on the road, so yes quality of manufacture is very important.
I do not make such a statement lightly and without having discussed it with RC and MT members, there are a lot of reasons behind this not least of which is that it is potentially dangerous to have a mixture of tyres, with possible differing performance characteristics, on track at the same time. This in particular is because the series uses a control road tyre, which has been approved in writing by the supplier as being suitable for these machines in all racing conditions. I haven't asked Pirelli directly, but wouldn't be surprised if they withdrew their approval, if we alloowed anything other than the contriol tyre. I do understand that many series, often with a lot more power, have a free tyre rules, but by the same token, BSB and WSB run a control set of tyres; you cant run what you want there.
It could be as dangerous as someone being out on slicks when the rest of a grid is out on wets and the rain comes down hard, if we allowed you to run on Maxxis. Then again there will be the question of other riders coming back and saying that iif he can run a tyre other than the control tyre then I want to run Dunlop, Michelin, Bridgestone, etc. That is one of the main reasons why the series has a control tyre in the 1st place.
I for one am not prepared to take such a decision when it is potentially peoples lives that could be put at risk, especially when there is no valid reason to do so other than potentially someone might save a small amount of money (compared to the cost of doing a season) on a couple of sets of tyres.
If you personally wish to try these tyres against other makes then you will need to enter a series that does not have a control tyre, i.e a series other than Desmo Due. That is of course your decision.
Whilst you may well feel that the Club should look at changing the control tyre for Desmo Due in 2009 to something other than a Diablo, I have to say that I do not see much support for it and the majority of communication that the RC has received is that riders are happy with the Diablo and do not wish to change. In fact apart from yourself we have not received a single communication in support of consideration of a move to Maxxis or any other brand, which I have to say is rather telling! |
Taken directly from Pirelli Web Site today 13th March 2009 for Ducati 600 SS
DIABLO
Front
120/60 ZR 17 M/C (55W) TL DIABLO Front - 2.2 BAR
DIABLO
Rear
160/60 ZR 17 M/C (69W) TL DIABLO - 2.5 BAR
Now as I have worked in automotive engineering for over 25 years.
I know that:
H rating on tyres is for max speed (sustained) of 125mph
ZR rating on tyres is for max speed of (sustained) of 181mph
I also know from calculation and where the rev limiter cut in that at Assen, Senetterton, and Donington, AntonyE was puling over 132 mph !
So I ask, why do DD go with H rating not ZR as stated and recommended on the Pirelli web site????
I know it's (prolly) the 'sustained' thing, but I think I know what I would rather be using (the old '1.5' times safety factor), and where does the club stand 'IF' there was ever litigation due to tyre failure ?????????????????
Mark