| Steve M makes a good point - any chosen tyre must fit all variants - can anyone help out with this?
WJB puts an experienced perspective on the subject - these are my views on the points made.
"most of us won't notice any difference in the tyre on a Monster IMHO"
well I can't say!! but I would accept this advice from someone who knows alot more than me!! - I've never ridden a monster, let alone raced one but I do have an open mind and am prepared to ride on whatever is decided upon.
"Question is, are you prepared to hold back or just go for it on the first lap on cool tyres, especially the first left hander you go into, they'll be freezing, especially if the track temp is down"
Well if in race one you pin it to the first corner and end up in the gravel because of cool tyres you've learnt an invaluable lesson - the tyres don't warm up very fast! I'll be cruising past you and saying thankyou for the extra place in the final result!! Having never raced before and because of who I am I won't be adopting a "win it or bin it" approach, I'll just be learning, learning, learning. Maybe the more experienced chaps have some learning to do too, i.e. unknown tyres and no warmers.
"As for wets, they weren't allowed in my first year on the CB5"
this is the first year of this series too (an entry level Ducati series). Lets run year one with no wets and no warmers, reflect on the success/failure at the end of the year and revise the regulations as appropriate next year.
"If you want to keep it cheap and even, if a little more interesting, go for one control tyre , no warmers and no wets. (just glad it's not me)"
my inexperience means that I can't make a statement like that !! and I would'nt like to be encouraging a race series that resembles holiday-on-ice when it rains, but we do have a throttle, which is variable and we're not going to be on supercorsa's anyway so it is up to us how much self control we exert. I thought racing was about going only as fast as you need to to beat the opposition - not about going as absolutely fast as you possibly can everywhere.
Skidlids, I hear what you say regarding the different bikes on the grid. My thoughts, naive as they are, would be
one could have the best brake set-up out there, but if you don't know how to use them then one's advantage is gone.
at this level a 600 with the correct final drive gearing for ant given circuit will be more than a match for a 620/675 with the wrong gearing especially in the hands of a competant rider.
is a fairing really going to make that much difference on the circuits we will be visiting at the speeds we will be doing, the regs allow fairings for eligability of all models.
different pipes are really a ground clearance issue - they will help with the power but only if the induction side is correctly set up too
suspension upgrades, to me thats all about tailoring to the rider, the tyre and the circuit. Why not start with a blank canvass regarding tyres in the same way we are to a certain extent with the bikes and that way set-up will be a steep learning curve for all of us. As a novice I know I will have more than enough to worry about without changing to different brands of tyres every race following the winning riders particular choice.
I'm all for diversity, the though of a well set up 600 wooping the bling boys on their 620sie's parading the contents of this years DP catalogue is most appealling, but will the control tyre choice, if wets and warmers in year 1 are banned, actually make that much difference to the racing.
A control tyre will make the event easier to police and offer some cost savings and if chosen correctly should'nt comprimise our safety in the wet.  |