Pirelli tire selection

And I remember the year Barney won the 200. Oscar and I went to dinner at a favorite place of mine in Ponce Inlet the next night and we ran into a racer and his wife that we knew and he said I heard that the tires Barney used were special and in short supply. I said WTF we had 5 different rear Daytona specs to choose from and like 80 of each. He said but that's not what I heard from some other tire guy?

 

Wait til the SV weirdos start demanding them, because they need the grip on their 75hp bikes.

 

Giorgio spills the beans. If you standardize the compound mixing, tire development, and building processes like regular radials instead of making super small batch prototype tires by hand on prototype machinery the less chance for anomalies/mistakes and the quality goes up.

 

Are you kidding? I just got my first 180/60 on my 750 this year. I'm at least 10 years out from demanding anything that is new tire tech currently.

 

Welcome to 2024 and a bump la bump

 

Hey guys, I'm a track day guy currently running upper pack intermediate group w/ hopes to break into advanced group this season. Not racing currently but i'd like to get there eventually once my pace picks up. I'm going to be switching over to slicks from Super Corsa V4's on my R6 for next season. I currently run tire warmers.

My current plan for my tire schedule is this: I will start the season in spring running w/ a 190/60 sc3 rear and 120/70 sc1 front from april - may then switch to a sc1 rear and sc2 front once it warms up from june - september and then switch back to an sc3 rear and sc1 front when it starts to cool down in october - november.

The tracks I will be running are NJMP Thunderbolt (freshly repaved for this year) + Lighting, NYST, NHMS, PITT, Palmer, SUMMIT Main and VIR

I'm excited about the move to slicks but just want to make sure I get the compounds right for the season temps. I'm open to suggestions since I don't have any 1st hand experience with the full slick compounds currently. As I make the transition, prolonging the life of the tires is more important to me than maximum outright grip, I'm sure this might change as time goes on and my pace picks up but thats how I feel at the moment.

@Pneumatico Delle Vittorie + @metricdevilmoto please let me know if you think this sounds like a good general approach? I would really appreciate any additional insight you might have for me!

 

My opinion, I would stick to 180 rears on a 600cc, its a lighter/cheaper tire, wont need much geometery changes until you pickup more speed. sc1 is not needed at your pace, because they dont last long.

 

@ibidu1 thanks for the feedback, I was considering this myself. I’m still on the fence about it, as 180/60 would still be a step up from my current 180/55, and would allow me to run an sc2 rear in place of an sc1. My gearing is -1 front, +1 rear from stock, so I was considering experimenting with dropping a tooth in the rear aswell, this would also give me the ability to have two gearing options with this chain. Currently im at 15 front 49 rear, stock gearing is 16/48, the bike is an ‘03. Thinking I could run the 48 rear on the faster tracks and the 49 on the tighter ones.

 

If you're racing then 190s on a 600 are the way to go, period!
If you pay attention to your methods you can make a SC1 rear last.

 

As pricing was mentioned here's what I found on MDM's website
DOT V4 SC3
180/55ZR17 $220
180/60ZR17 $225
Slick
180/55R17 SC1 $245
180/60R17 SC1 or 2 $250
190/60R17 SCX, 0, 1 $255
190/60R17 SC3 $235
Not sure what to suggest here for a track-day rider? Maybe use 180/60 SC2 rears for the whole season? For most TD peeps the SC2 will have more than enough grip and are rider friendly too.

 

The 180/55s and 180/60s are not something we stock in high numbers. Everyone that can fit the tire (all 600s and most twins and other LW bikes) are on the 190s because they're such a better tire. So if you're planning on using any of the 180/XX tires, I would plan your tire purchases far enough in advance and reach out to whoever is going to be trackside to make sure we have them there for you.

We won't know what the NJMP surface is like until we get some data, but I suspect the 190 SC3 will be a safe bet to start off with at your pace. With pressure adjustments, you'll be fine on SC2 or SC1 fronts and SC1 rears at all those other tracks.

 

Don't over think it. Just run the new 190 like metricdevilmoto suggests. Also, I don't anyone that runs that gearing on any of those tracks. You should definitely re-think that.

 

Maybe I am having a dummy moment, but what about the 190/60 makes it perferable to the 180/60 on a 5.5 inch wheel? Did Pirelli design the 190 for a 5.5? I would have thought (apparently incorrectly) that a 190 and 200 would have been for a 6 inch wheel and the 180 for the 5.5.

 

@Pneumatico Delle Vittorie + @metricdevilmoto - Thank you for weighing in w/ your opinions, I really appreciate it!

@SWest122 or anyone else, what gearing do you think would make more sense if I were to go with the 190/60? Stock gearing on a 2003 R6 is 16/48. I'm open to suggestions.

 

And there you someone that is on the gas with great info

 

The 190/60 was first developed back around 2012? for WSS (then it was only 600s) for Phillip Island because it helped keep the tire cooler with the larger air volume and contact patch. And I worked with the WSBK guys and they built a bunch of Daytona spec for me. Then with more testing at this top level the tire became the WSS standard but in SCX to SC1 constructions and compounds

 

And yes you can tweak the carcass, materials, and building methods a bit in production so the tire works perfectly on the required rim.

 

Intended fitment for the 190/60 is a 5.5" rim. Intended fitment for the 200/65 is a 6.0" rim.

In short, the 190/60 is better than the 180/60 because of the profile and the (much) larger contact patch.

The 180/55 has a width of 181mm and a diameter of 641m.

The 180/60 has a width of 190mm and a diameter of 656mm.

The 190/60 has a width of 195mm and a diameter of 662mm.

All of those tires are intended to fit on 5.5" rims. They have very different profiles. And the 190/60 is the most current tire in terms of tech and development. At a track like NJMP where everything is done on the side of the tire, it is significantly better. I have personally never experienced a racer not prefer the 190/60 to the 180/60 and aside from the Kramer guys, I wouldn't mount a 180/55 on a 5.5" rim any longer. There really isn't any downside to the 190/60 over the 180/60 unless $5 really makes or breaks your race budget.

 

^^ cool, thank you.

 

I should have talked to you before I created a pile of 4 of them in my basement . (fitting a 190/60 to an 848 requires some screwing around).