SV: does Michelin make a good race tire, or at least as good as the Stones?

Q is a good dude, and I love seeing his dog at the track. :up:

 

I've tested a lot of tires on different rims the past 2 seasons on SVs. Everything except Michelin because Melka won't give me a set.

Pirelli - 160, 180/55, 180/60 DOT and Slicks.
Dunlop - 160 US DOT, 165 US & UK Slick on 4.5, 5.0, and 5.5" rims. 190/60 GPA Pro Med and Med+
Bstone - 165 Soft Med Slick on 4.5 and 5.0", 180/55 R10 Soft and Med on 5.5"

^and matching fronts with those. I'm not going to really touch on front tires because I think a front tire is 100% rider preference around their style. Some like the soft carcass, other the hard. Some are more point and shoot, others are complete psychopaths and don't know where the brake lever is. Many front tires will last a very long time even at a top racer's pace. I personally run the Pirelli front because I like the feel and the tire gives the most confidence. I did like the Dunlop UK Front as well, but who didn't like the UK slicks?

The following is just my opinion after lots of testing, headaches...... and vodka


Start with the 160's

Pirelli 160 - Actually a 165 and feels the best on a 5.0" rim. both SC1(soft) and SC2(medium) work amazingly well in almost all conditions and not very picky with tire PSI. It works great on 4.5. Life on these tires is amazing. (Unless you're at CMP or RRR, then you're screwed with just about any tire)

Bstone 165 - NEED YCY (medium) on the SV. I tested this on 4.5" and 5.0" rim. It worked and felt perfect on the 5.0". I wanted to try on 5.5" but never got around to it because I gave up on them. Picky with PSI, ran in to chatter but that was mainly on the front.

Dunlop 165 - UK Slick, amazing. Shame Dunlop stopped making them. US Slick had decent wear but grip was not there. I tried these on 5.0" and 5.5". Dunlop US 211 DOT - hard as a rock, pretty good wear, but at a decent pace, very greasy.

If you want another option besides those brands you can run a Michelin or Metlzer 160/165 supermoto slick.

180-190 options (endless)

Pirelli - 180/55 & 180/60 - Do yourself a favor and run the 180/55. The 180/60 was killing top speed and killing drive. It's just too big the the SV, the 180/60 also rubs chain and/or the swing arm. It's not that the bike felt bad on the 180/60, it didn't hurt the handling. It just hurt the motor. The 180/55 on the other hand is perfect. More then enough traction and you don't need to change much if you are coming from the 160.

Bstone - 180/55 - R10 is nice good traction decent life IF you run the medium. You will kill a soft in 1 race. Same goes for the slick. I prefer the R10 over Slick.

Dunlop - 190/60 GPA Pro. Tire feels great and has great traction, until it gets over 90 degrees outside. Becomes very very greasy and life is not the best. Also, use the Medium+ (8477), not the soft (2662), not the medium(7455). Medium PLUS.

I went full circle and found myself back at my original tire set up. Pirelli with 180/55 rear. Last 2 rounds even tried the old 2013 Dragon Supercorsa Pro 180/55. Worked amazing up to a certain pace, it did force me to not ride the pace needed. I will put it on par with the current US dunlop and R10 except it's lasting longer

160 is more than enough for the SV to go stupid fast, just as fast as you can go on the bigger tire. Guys are proving this and have been for many years.

You guys can read all this crap by all these wanna be's. You can look at who's winning and blah blah blah. You wanna know what works for you? Ride them all and find out.

bottom line, Michelin sucks

 

Great write-up, just what I've been looking for.

On your comments about the Pirelli 165, were you referring to the DOT or slick?

 

Both. You can only get DOT now, they stopped making slick. At least as far as I know.

 

spot on swiest152.

I have ridden just about every tire brand in every wheel combination. Fastest laps have always been on the smaller size tires...the ones designed for the SV. The larger tires will last longer though and was the choice for Endurance racing.

And the UK Dunlop 165 slick (the UK DOT 165 is/was great too) is the best tire I have ever ridden on for the SV. It plain sucks we cannot get that tire.....yes it was expensive but it lasted forever and it only dropped off in performance after multiple races at race winning pace.

Brian K

 

I felt like the Pirelli 160 was pinched on the 4.5 in wheel, always had chicken strips, never got the to edge of the tire. Put a 5.5 ZX6r wheel with a 180/55 on my 400 and now I'm using the whole tire. I now have more choices in tires and the combo was lighter too. The 160 and 180/55 are real close in size, I took out less than 1/2 a turn in ride height to compensate.

 

Because it's a 165. They are all pinched on 4.5.

 

Glad we could change that. :up:

 

+1.

It measures 160 on a 4.5" wheel though

 

Ive used lots of michelins and stones...personally i like the michelin front better (i get better feedback through the stiffer carcass) i couldn't feel anything with the bridgestone and would have many front end crashes. Ive been able to save many front slides on the michelin...cant say the same for the R10 front. Felt way too squishy for my tastes. Would love to try pirellis

 

Cycle Jam was my first opportunity to use the new Michelin EVO slicks and I must say I honestly didn't think they could make the old tire any better but they did. Put 3 races on a set and they are real good. The rear actually held up for all 3 races for me and I had tire to spare on the rear which has not been the case in the past. I did make some drastic changes to my bike while I was laid up healing after the tally round but still its a night and day difference on tire wear on my rear. The front is still an amazing tire however I did notice it flex on me a few times under hard braking and tipping in. I only experienced that feeling maybe a handful of times over two years on the old front but the new one definitely felt a bit more squirmy to me. Nothing that was to the point I lost traction or the line but for sure something different. Road Atlanta is usually not a good gauge of tire wear as it tends to be easier on tires. Real test will come at Talladega in August. I don't expect my tire wear to go up a whole bunch at a Barber next weekend verses what I experienced at Road Atlanta.

I'm happy to see Michelin coming out with new and better products. Plus I can't beat their customer service, Michelin rep left this cool aluminum sign in my pits on Sunday which is now hanging on the wall in my shop.

 

the new front is awesome. as you said Roy, it has a little more flex than the old "B" slick for instance.. but i found a little less feedback (instead of feeling every little crack on the track, every speck of dirt, etc.) was a good thing for me.

what psi did you run ?

 

Stick had me on 34 front with 175 on warmer temp and 22 rear again on 175 warmer temp. I don't think what I felt will be an issue more like I'm feeling a little more flex than I used to which over time I won't even notice it at all.

 

I've heard that a lot from up north. There is a rep that pikes to run the tires low on air. they aren't happy about it. If you end up on another set, put the front at 34 off the warmer. They are a lot better up there.

 

Roy, glad they worked good for you. I was hoping they would make for one less thing to worry about last weekend.

Rob is a good guy. He hooked me up with one of those signs. I think they're pretty kewl.

 

I think we are on the right track with the bike changes and the newer tire being a bit better. Next 3 rounds will be the tell all though, barber, Talladega then rear tire shredder Nola. Road Atlanta wasn't too bad on the rear tire with the old bike setup so I'm not calling it a success just yet.

 

so 22 psi on a warmer on the rear at 175f, do you know what your right-off-track psi is ? what it's getting to on track?

 

Sadly I didn't check that. It was so friggin hot out side and the tire was looking in good shape I went quickly to the hauler AC after every stint.

I did stop by Sticks trailer twice (very brief) and we both aggreed the tire was looking good.