Front / Rear swap - GSXR - Finished, photos p.3

[FrenchGS]

Wow! Haha I can't do that...or if I do it, i'll drag knee, elbow, then helmet, back, bike and end in a wall^^ Better not to try then... 

On the french forum, they advised me to take Pilot Powers or BT-014.

[burning1]

The reason I ask is that modern sport touring tires are more than capable of getting a knee down. If that's the kind of riding you want to do, they might be a good pick because they heat up quickly, last a while, and tend to work well in wet weather. (Pirelli Angels below)






If you want to lean a lot further than that, a good sport tire is a better bet (BT003RS below)



(Both tires are run at pressures suitable for the track, not the street.)

[FrenchGS]

Ok thanks for the advice, it's difficult to choose because there is so much tires 

Here is one of my favourite roads: La route des thermes. 90% of use is this type of road, south of France, lots of bends, sunny weather. I'd like the tire also to be ok on the rain, not for fast driving but only to be not dangerous. And it will be used sometimes on the track, maybe 4-5 times a year, maybe more.

So what type do you recommend then? Sport touring, sport, racing?

[burning1]

Well, the difficulty here is that you're riding your bike in all conditions. If I were you, I'd probably start by looking for a cheap set of spare wheels... You could swap rubber when you go to the track.

On the track I'd run a BT003 120/70/17 front, with a BT003RS 140/70/17 rear
On the street, I'd probably go for an Avon Storm 2 Ultra front with a Azaro 140/80/17 rear

The BT003RS is a great track tire, but it has very little rain grooving. I can attest from my last track day that your rear end is going to slide all over the place in the wet.

The Storm 2 Ultra is a great tire for street use. I used to ride very aggressively on it, and would highly recommend them to anyone that doesn't spend a lot of time with their knee down on the street. While it should be good enough for track use, In all conscience I really can't recommend trying

I make these recommendations because it will permit you to run the correct size rear tire on your bike. Unfortunately, there are very few radial tires that will fit our 3.5 inch wide rear.

Installing a 3.5 inch rim at the front and a 4.5 inch rim at the rear really opens up a lot of tire options.

[burning1]

Dude doesn't appear to be wearing gloves in that video. 

Last time I crashed, gloves were the difference between dusting myself off; and loosing a knuckle and a good part of my palm.

[FrenchGS]

Well, since I bought the Gsxr front end and the bandit rear wheel...I have a 3.5" front and 4.5" rear. So there is plenty of choice for the tires! And that's the problem  

I didn't noticed the missing gloves on the video!! That guy probably never had fallen off badly...when he will, he will understand why gloves are important!

[burning1]

Whoops! I didn't realize you had a 4.5 rear. Yeah, that does make it more interesting.

The short version, is that you can't really go wrong with modern tires. I generally try to buy a different brand each time I swap, and while I've had my preferences, there have been very few tires that really disappointed me.

BT16s are a fine place to start. They should be okay in the wet, and will work well on the track. If you didn't plan to ride in the rain, I'd recommend the BT003RS instead. However, my experience is that they tend to slide a lot when the ground gets wet.

[burning1]

BTW: The Dunlop Q2s seem to be the hot ticket in sport tires right now. I've heard some very good feedback on their performance at the track, and the price seems to be quite low. Here in the US, they are going for ~$200, where a set of tires normally costs $300 or so.

I would be a little concerned about their wet-weather performance, however. You should be okay for a mellow rain ride, but I suspect that there are better choices out there. Perhaps you can find a good review?

[FrenchGS]

I've read some reviews, it seems that the sport tires of the big brands are quite equal in performance, only the feeling is different. Too long to translate the whole review, but they tried the tires on Street Triples, Z1000s, GSXRs and R1s. They compared Q2s, BT-016, Diablo Rosso, on the track an road.

On the french forum, they advised me to take Pilot Power or BT014 because they're not too wide for a 160 tire. It appears that some 160 tires are actually near 170mm wide and there are problems with chain clearance.

I think i'm going to try one of those, but before I'll send a mail to Dunlop and Metzeler too see if they can tell me the real width of the Q2 and the M5. My friend who rides the 675 daytona really loves metzelers, I'd like to try them if they're not too wide, a Sportec M3 or M5.

When I got some more news I'll post here.

[FrenchGS]

Ok due to the chain clearance problem I'll use a 150/60 tire. It will be a Michelin Pilot Power or Metzeler M5, Bridgestone BT-016.

Dunlop Q2 are not aivable in that size and in 160 size they could be too wide.

So thanks again for your help.  

Last question, front tire is now a 120/70. With a 150/60 rear, what size/ratio should I take at the front?
120/60, 120/70, 110/70 ?

I have sent an email to Metzeler too see what they think about it.

Edit: I sended emails to Brigestone and Michelin too.

[FrenchGS]

Ok, I ordered a 160/60 Pilot Power Rear and soon a 120/70 front.

[FrenchGS]

Some news of the project, I've got the wheels, tires, speedo, ect.

I'll work on the bike at the end of the month. Now the wheels are being painted.

I'll post pictures 

[burning1]

Ok, I ordered a 160/60 Pilot Power Rear and soon a 120/70 front.

120/70/17 was the right call.

[tt_four]

haha best part is his knee isn't even touching the ground

[FrenchGS]

Ok, I ordered a 160/60 Pilot Power Rear and soon a 120/70 front.

120/70/17 was the right call.

Can you explain what is the difference between a 120/70 and a 120/60? I mean the feeling of the bike.

[gsJack]

For tires in general from Avon's "tires 101" tutorial:

Low aspect ratio - better grip
At max adhesion slides with less warning

High aspect ratio - lower grip
Tire slips on more gradual basis

I'll leave the details up to the racers like burning 1, the 80 and 90 profile tires work good enough for this old man now.   

[burning1]

120/70/17 has a slightly taller profile, meaning that it will put a little more rubber on the road at extreme lean angles, and you won't reach the side of the tire so quickly. It provides better protection against rim damage in the event that you hit a deep pothole.

The 120/60/17 is a noticeably shorter profile than the 120/70/17. It's going to provide slightly more feel for the road, and a little less flex. The cost is that it doesn't absorb big hits as well as a 120/70/17, so you're more likely to dent your rim if you hit a big pothole. The shorter profile will tend to put a little more rubber on the road at shallow lean angles (typical street riding) but it won't feel quite as nimble side to side (generally, the taller the profile and the more V shaped the tire, the easier it is to lean.)

The 120/70/17 will be similar in profile and feel to the stock GS500 tire.

If you install the 120/60/17, it will slightly lower your front end. So while the profile of the tire is flatter, the slight nose down profile this tire induces will somewhat offset the heavier steering of the 120/60/17. The end result is a fairly neutral feel from the front end. You can lower the forks in your triple clamp (raise up the front end) to compensate for the smaller profile front tire, but our GS500 is so conservative in it's geometry that the change probably isn't necessary.

Generally, I'd advise everyone to run 120/70/17 by default, unless they know what they are doing.

[burning1]

BTW: I have run 120/70/17s and 120/60/17s on the same bike, back to back. I'd strongly advise against it on a big touring bike. On a lighter sport bike, it can work out fine.

If I recall correctly, Keith Code runs the 60 profile fronts on the Superbike School bikes. I believe I heard that it's a little more predictable when it slides.

[FrenchGS]

Thanks for your reply

I'll start with a 120/70, and when it will be used I'll try the other so we will be able to compare the tires.

[FrenchGS]

Here are the wheels painted White EWP (Peugeot)!



Tomorrow I'll go to the garage to install front disks and tires.