Continental is a decent brand, so just because they were cheap price wise doesnt mean they're cheap as in "garbage". I looked at the pics of your tires they look new. But maybe they're old leftover stock. There is a manufacture date on tires, it'll looks like its a branded in number, kind of like when they brand livestock. Its a 4 digit number for example "1016", that means it was made the 10 week of 2016. When you do go to a track day, there will probably be a suspension guru there who will probably help you dial in a basic set up for a few dollars. Same with the tire vendor. Getting your suspension in the ballpark and having the right recommended tire pressure would make a drastic difference in the handling of your bike.

 

Also being new to bikes, it will definitely take some time to get comfortable to throw it into a turn, but its possible. Its nothing for me to throw my F2 from straight up to completely over dragging a knee and the kickstand with street tires, on the track of course. Take your time, build confidence, and be careful. Riding sportbikes the way they were intended to be ridden is a very rewarding & unforgiving sport.

 

Speaking of old stock, I had a guy that works near me come into some Dunlops that were being cleaned out of some racers shop.... 10 sets!!! He hit all the sportbike guys up and was wanting $40 each!!!

Good deal, right?

Wrong. The date codes were all from 2001-2004....

Those tires are no good. They even felt hard. No way they go on my bike..... A bunch of the other guys bought some, even the ones that work at a tire shop who should know better. Someone will crash on those.

 

Ya my dot numbers and the manufacture date that follows them. At work I have to write them down complete for "recall purposes" lol. The rear is 3413 and front 3314. I installed them a year apart and bead bagged them. So far so good guess I just need to find my right pressures and suspension settings. Im debating on some dunlop q3 tires. Has anyone tried them?

 

Q3's kick ***! Got them on my 08 CBR1000rr. Ran them on the track. Got 6 days out of the rear, still working on the front. But thats on the track, with almost double the horsepower of the F2. Should get a couple thousands miles out of them on the street. I actually turned my fastest lap at the track on my 1000 with street tires, which was just about a second quicker than on my F2 track only bike with racing slicks.

 

Lots of people run Q3s.

I won't run Dunlop ever again on my bike. I had a dangerously defective Q2 a few years ago. To top it off, neither Dunlop nor the retailer stood behind it. It kinda left a sour taste for that store and Dunlop in my mouth.

All bridgestones and Michelin since.

 

Demon what tires have you liked and not liked? As far as bridgestone and michelin go? Like I said earlier im not upset with my continentals but also not impressed so im just wondering whats out there and known in the track road world that has a good rep.

 

I've had so many sets over the years that they don't even make some of these models anymore. But here it goes;

Had Dunlops, 208 that became qualifiers that became Q2. That's when I had the issue.

Went to bridgestone bt016. Tried bt021 for mileage but hated them and they didn't last much longer.

So I ran Michelin pilot powers for a while. Loved them.

Got a sale on bridgestone s20 evo. Loved those too. The dual compound is great and I can really ball up the rubber on the sides. So stuck with those a few sets. That's what's in the pic.

I need tires again, as you can see. The s20evo are now s21, but until I know how they hold up, I will wait. (the s20 wore fast so they made the s20evo which held up better)

So. Pilot power 2ct are going on it Friday when the front gets here....

Pretty much got the same mileage from all of them. 4000 miles, which is about 2 months for me. The newer tires all seem to grind up a little faster, but I attest that to 12 of my miles being very abrasive pavement that was put in.

 

And I would hold off on the track day until you get some more miles under your belt. Just ride it for now. When you get to the track, you want to spend most of your energy on the best lines, improving advanced techniques. and reducing lap times, not basic rider stuff.

 

Ok so my next question is how many miles is enough for a track day? 5k 10k or is this going to be one of those until your comfortable things?