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tyre wear on track

Started by Phil B, April 29, 2012, 02:21:07 PM

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Phil B

Soo. I heard that a track day wears through tyres like nobody's business.
I'm wondering if that is because of (insert track technique here), or because the track surface is so abrasive, or.... what?

If I ever manage to get the time AND money to go to the track, I'd like to just have fun doing some twistyturny safely, without having to burn $100 worth of tyre wear on top of $100+ of track fee, all on a single day.

Any tips from you track folks?

BaltimoreGS

Track bikes usually run much softer compounds than street bikes leading to fast tire wear.

-Jessie

dougdoberman

Your tires will wear faster on a track (no matter what their compound) because you're using them harder.

Unless you're a rider who spends all of his time on the street riding the twisties at max speed, you're going to put way more stress on them while on a track.  You're going to build much more heat in them, which will typically have the effect of softening them up which will increase the wear.

There's nothing you can do to combat this, other than tooling around conservatively all day.  If you're going to do that, there's not much point is there?  :)

Are you going to trash a set of tires in one day on the track?  Unlikely.  Particularly if you're a novice at track riding.  If you've got tires decent enough to pass tech inspection, you'll have plenty of tread on them at the end of the day.  How much sooner you've got to replace them now is pretty much impossible to calculate.   

Even if you lose a couple months of daily street riding tread wear from your track excursion, it's more than worth it in my opinion.  Every motorcycle rider should spend at least a day or two on the track at some point.  (Preferably before they get themselves into a situation that some track time would have made them confident enough to get out of.)   


If you can't be a good example, at least try to be a horrible reminder.

Phil B

Quote from: dougdoberman on April 29, 2012, 07:57:06 PM
Your tires will wear faster on a track (no matter what their compound) because you're using them harder.

Unless you're a rider who spends all of his time on the street riding the twisties at max speed, you're going to put way more stress on them while on a track.  You're going to build much more heat in them, which will typically have the effect of softening them up which will increase the wear.

Aha. So you're suggesting it's the heat that's the biggest factor.
I wonder if lateral forces are the worst for that, or whether it's just the speed?

I'm a bit of an odd fish.. I'm interested in a track experience, primarily for the safety. I'd rather go at 40 around crazy turns at 45deg lean, than blasting it to 120 on the track long stretches.
I'd prefer to stick to canyon riding in some ways. but canyons == dirty roads and poor visibility :(


burning1

The GS500 is very gentile on tires, even at a track pace. I wouldn't worry about the extra tire wear. I would make sure that your tires are in relatively good condition.


dougdoberman

Quote from: Phil B on April 30, 2012, 09:43:40 AM
Quote from: dougdoberman on April 29, 2012, 07:57:06 PM
Your tires will wear faster on a track (no matter what their compound) because you're using them harder.

Unless you're a rider who spends all of his time on the street riding the twisties at max speed, you're going to put way more stress on them while on a track.  You're going to build much more heat in them, which will typically have the effect of softening them up which will increase the wear.

Aha. So you're suggesting it's the heat that's the biggest factor.
I wonder if lateral forces are the worst for that, or whether it's just the speed?

I'm a bit of an odd fish.. I'm interested in a track experience, primarily for the safety. I'd rather go at 40 around crazy turns at 45deg lean, than blasting it to 120 on the track long stretches.
I'd prefer to stick to canyon riding in some ways. but canyons == dirty roads and poor visibility :(

The lateral fores have more to do with it.  That and the fact that most sporting tires have a larger contact patch when leaned over than they do upright.

Unless you have access to a top of the line track with long wide sweepers, most of your time spent on your local track will be going around corners at middling speeds and crazy lean angles.  :)  Yeah, there's gonna be at least one long(ish) straight, but most small-time tracks are all about the cornering.

If you can't be a good example, at least try to be a horrible reminder.

Phil B

Sadly, I'm in LA, where all the ones near me are "top of the line" ones, but what I really want are the small time tracks :cry:

(eg: the closest one is the "AAA speedway" or whatever, and the second closest is one that often hosts the cal superbike school )

burning1

What is it specifically you're looking for in a small time track?

burning1

At the track, we generally run lower pressures than we do on the street. The tires heat up faster, and get hotter so they provide better grip, but wear quicker. The major factor to track wear is that you're constantly pushing your tires. Tires tend to wear when they are being used to accelerate, brake, or corner... And on a track, you're constantly doing at least one of those things.

Track tires do tend to wear out on the sides more than the center. Modern, multi-compound tires tend to be softer there, and cornering puts huge stress on the tires.

BTW: Personally, I find the fast sweepers to be huge amounts of fun on the track. Get the bike to 100MPH, and turn into a corner without rolling off the gas.

Phil B

Quote from: burning1 on May 01, 2012, 11:32:48 AM
What is it specifically you're looking for in a small time track?

more tight, ie "slow, under 50mph" turns.

and personally, I dont want a large track with many many turns. I have a limited capacity for remembering turns, at least at this point in my riding career :)

They say that memory's the first thing to go...

mysterious_rider

Quote from: burning1 on April 30, 2012, 12:05:07 PM
The GS500 is very gentile on tires, even at a track pace. I wouldn't worry about the extra tire wear. I would make sure that your tires are in relatively good condition.


You are joking right? I've gone through a whole set basically in 3 months. Only done about 3-4k miles and I needed new tyres. Half the time been bombing it. I thought tyres were supposed to last longer.  :icon_lol:

burning1

Most of the guys I know wear out a set of tires in 2-3 trackdays... So, about 400 miles. The GS is gentile on tires.

BTW: You got 3K miles out of a set. Were you running BT003s?

mysterious_rider

Nah some nasty brand called 'duro' . Should I have been getting more miles? The tyres themselves were good in the dry though to be fair. Only like £40 a tyre aswell.  :icon_lol:

burning1

I'd expect 10,000+ miles out of a set of sport touring tires, on the GS500. My GSX-R 600 used to get 6K miles, and that had a lot more power and weight.

Fazer Rick

In case this is still being read, if the tyres are in good a state and pass scrutineering then they'll last the day and some, we let our nina zx6r tyres down to 33psi, but remember to inflate back to road pressure or they may part company with the wheel before going home. Both my wife's and my tyre had the 'melted' rubber 'blobbies' on the tyre, proof we had done a track day  :D

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