he just bought a fully raced prep'd bike from a prof. racer...tires weren't warmed up yet...he was on it without a helmet...somehow the rear broke loose, tossed him and he landed on his head.

 

Gooey

 

I have a video of Toseland lapping Barber on a stock 07 CBR600 doing 1:34 lap times consistantly. (This is damned fast!)Truth is most stock street tires these days offer more grip than most of us will ever use.

But you probably will trash whatever tires you have on the bike in one day so keep in mind you'll be buying a set either way.

 

Speaking of Trackday tires, the suspension guy I talked to the other day recommended that I go with a DOT Race tire. He said that if I wanted a street tire that I should go with the Pilot Power 2CT and for setup reasons to not do Dunlops. He says they're more difficult to setup. Opinions.

 

I would be inclined to agree, but then agian I run michilens... But tires seam to be a very personal thing, different manufacturers all have different heights and profiles so what one person likes may suit him or her better than another and may or may not be easier or harder to get the bike set-up to the rider...

But the Michilen power race PRC/PR5 combo rules!

 

When setting up the bike, how do you know what attitude to set it? When I get my parts back, I will also get new tires, How will I know where to start? (I know a little about sag, etc, but these guys were talking about raising the rear for better turn in and then being able to raise the frontas well w/o adversely affecting handling)

What's that?

 

I ridden on a lot of track tires, but given a choice I always go Pirelli. Older Super Corsa's can be had reasaonably, and the newer Super Corsa Pro's are the absolute BOMB!!! My RC-51 track bike from 2005 would eat a medium Super Corsa in less than a day at Barber, but would get much longer life from even a soft Pro, and would get two days from a medium Pro.

 

You really don't, unless you have a ton of expericence, or a good recommendation from who did your suspesnion. But the best place to start is at your stock settings (for height), and properly setting the sag. If anything adding 8-10mm (eye to eye length) on your shock is usualy a pretty safe bet for a track bike. From there the best thing is to find a track-side suspesion guy, even if you have to pay him (check with your local trackday org or a local racer, they usually know someone or can recommed someone), and have him help you track side. But keep really good notes on what you change.

That would be the type of tires I race on.... They are a derivitive of the standard "off-the-shelf" Power Race tires. They are visuially differenciated from the standard Power Race tires by a PR1, PR2, PRC (front tires) PR3, PR4, PR5 (rear tires) on the side wall, and have a different construction and compound than standard Power Race tires (and the PRC has a completely different profile too). But they are only sold to liscenced racers thru select "racing" tire suppliers (although I have seen a few sets on e-bay).

 

For a newby doing a track day, the stockers will be ok. Just make sure you get some good recommendations on track tire pressures. The more you go to the track, and the faster you become, the more you will want to run better rubber, for a first timer running in the beginner group, you will be fine.

I tend to run Dunlop Qualifiers for track use myself, but I also use warmers. I actually prefer Pilot Powers, but I get such a deal on the Qualifiers that it makes no sense to run anything other than them.

I would DEFINATELY recommend getting someone to assist in setting up your suspension either before going or at the track. At the very least, get your static sag correct for your weight and your comp/rebound settings in the ball park.