A while back I posted about the difficulty I was having generating heat in my bridgestone slicks. I've made some progress in that the tires are now heating more evenly front to back whereas before I was hot tearing the rear tire without putting any heat into the front I am now able to generate even heat front to rear albeit at fairly low pressures. It does take quite a few laps to generate the heat despite using warmers. I think part of the problem is the track layout. Which only has one fast long turn and the the rest are quick flicks or fairly slow. I am wondering if the GP tire carcas just can't be stressed hard enough to generate heat quickly and maintain it. So I am looking at tire options. As for GP slicks, BS, Dunlop and Pirelli all make them. I am running BS softest compound but wonder if there is one with a softer carcas that would heat up better? Another option would be the Sava slicks in17" flavor. Anyone have any direct experience that can comment on construction and heating properties. What about rain fronts, would they hold up in the dry? Would grooving the slicks help with heat? Bike is a kx-100 with aftermarket suspension.
are BTs out of the question? They come in 17s. I know the 17" slicks on my ttr take forever to get warmed and I kinda hated having to wait on them.
I've never tried the Stones so I can't directly comment on them. I do run the Dunlops and have no issues getting them to stick like glue and last an eternity on both a crf100 and 150r.
We have run through a few sets of the Sava 17" slicks at Nola, They have some quirks when used on motard style bikes and we have moved them onto a Soft DoT set in a 100/90 front and a 130 rear, they have a bit more sidewall and less chatter. This chatter seems to be related to the Motard frame not being stiff enough and the lines we then take. Kevin will be running them on a RS125/85 this year as the manufacture intended.
Sorry, I forgot, we are running fast laps at NOLA for extended sessions, many days per set and that the chatter goes away as the tires wear a little. As far as heat up it does take a bit (like a lap or two) that first session as we don't use warmers.
The BT's are the best street tire you can use for mini's. They are kind of pricey but stick almost as well as the slicks once warmed up.
I've taken the chatter to just be a part of road racing a dirt frame. Short of dumping stupid money into frame work I don't think chatter will ever go away completely.
How quickly do they warm? All the research I've done I seem to be running much lower pressures and having more difficulty warming the tires than others seem to have.
I didn't know Sava was making 17" slicks... interesting. I'm on an otherwise bone stock TT-R125LE and I can't build heat in a Bridgestone Slick or BT45 yet. I'm not on a good rim setup either so I know that's not helping. For guys going the BT45 route, what is the 'ideal' rim and tire size comb you're using?
You can run them at lower pressures...like 13/14/15 psi, they just wear quicker. As for heat... they hook well enough to keep my 200lb butt off the ground at some stupid lean angles.
At 14psi I am rolling the tire over the edge so pinch flats become an issue. Anyone try siping their slicks to build heat?
He's talking about 14psi with the bt45s. As far as how long they take to heat up, at cmp I take maybe half a lap before I get my knee down and thats it really. I dididnt even think about it till I read this lol
I am running warmers but even then it is difficult to maintain temps when only doing a few laps. At this point 12" wheels are out of the question.
I have looked into 12s on my XR and was told not to. I kept hearing that there are clearance issues with the pegs. I was thinking about making rearsets and raising the pegs anyway.
The bts grip when the sipes are gone just dont try anything on damp or wet surfaces with bald tires...lol.
I was running ~16psi with me at 250lbs geared. No issues at all. What issues are you having with the tire? Traction issues?
