different front and rear tires

Laurence Fishburne Matrix voice. "what if i told you... there was no such thing as a Cup V"

power 1 "V" kinda sucked for faster riders, lots like it.
Power cup VB, quite possibly the best front ever.. of any brand (and betting this is the one you were referin too). You and I are not the only one sayin it. Especially for faster riders. Cup VA for cold temps, or riding not at the pointy end of expert classes.

 

Yep, the VB. I have a habit of just saying V, but that is the one I am talking about. My favorite tire of all time.

 

Tires are cheaper than orthopedic suregeons. Why take the chance? I do not understand the fascination of trying to have the best handling bike you can afford and putting junk tires on it.

 

Who said anything about taking chances or junk tires?

 

You don't consider using mismatched tires and tires that are 4 or more years old to be taking a chance. I have taken enough chances with 35+ years in the Army to take chance over a $350.00 set of tires.

 

No, I do not consider using mismatched taking a chance, not in the least.

Actually, the people who do so feel the opposite is true. They feel like a certain brand doesnt perform as well on the front or rear, so they will use one that does. For example, they might love the Bridgestone rear, but don't have any confidence in the front. So they will run a BT rear and Dunlop front. Some guys on the Ape forum race on a Dunlop front and Pirelli rear.

How exactly is running mismatched tires taking a chance?

 

Personally, I could care less what you choose to do, but I am not getting paid to be a tire tester and nobody is going to pay my medical insurance or bills if it goes wrong. I never take a chance if I don't have too and I don't have to run mismatched tires. This philosphy has worked well for me and I have done things in the Army that make riding motorcyles pretty tame.

 

I never understand posts like this?? By saying you NEVER take any chances than you must have one hell of a race program or crew chief.
You must have a super computer with actuary in your pit calculating all the odds/contingencies for every move you make. You must analyze hours of video from your competitiors & have copious notes taped to the top of your fuel tank for each race. You must have a extra person in every corner station just for you.
You probably have a pit board the size of a highway billboard so your actuary & crew chief can relay all relevant info. Is this correct?

 

Congratulations on what you did in the Army. You have brought it up several times and it has absolutely nothing to do with this tire discussion.

Again, how exactly is riding on mismatched tires taking a chance?

Nobody said you HAD to run mismatched tires, i dont run them either. But I do know of several people who have raced on mismatched tires, and have done so for years. So please, enlighten us on how they are taking a chance.

 

I never take a chance I don't have to. Getting out of bed is taking a chance. It's called managing risk or you can let risk manage you. Running mismatched tires is a risk you don't have to take. Its not going to get you any advantage other than something to brag about to your buddies or on some forum.

 

Once AGAIN, how is running mismatched tires a risk?

And how exactly do you know it isn't going to get you an advantage?

 

so you're pretty rigid on the belief that all tires should be installed in pairs from the same brand for optimal results? You have data to show us?

People try new tires, settings, or what not to get to the next level of riding.
If you want to manage risk so rigidly... then why even register for a race license or event?

 

I don't think it's a risk. It definitely makes setup more interesting unless you've been dealing with it long enough to know how to handle it. That or have tips from others who've done the same. I'd imagine it could be real interesting when the tires start going off too as they'll likely react a lot differently...


Biggest thing to me is a big why in the world would you ever do that?


It makes buying tires a bigger pain in the ass first of. I get what you said about some guys like a certain rear but don't like the front... Seems weird to me that if they like the front tire on brand x, that brand x doesn't have a rear tire they like as well. Or vice versa... To me tires are always sets. So my only options are to go to a softer (or harder) compound of that same brand tire.


With that said though, if you've found a mis-match setup you like. Go for it.

 

Because like I said, all tires are different and some of them have a better front tire or rear tire. When I tried the BT's, I love the rear. It had drive grip for days, but I never got comfortable with the front. Aside from the bad JuJu of being different brands, I wouldnt have hesitated to run a Dunlop front and BT rear (from a safety standpoint).

I love the Cup VB front, but prefer the Pirelli rear. Again, if i could get past the mismatching thing, i wouldnt hesitate to run a Cup front and Supercorsa rear. I seem to remember reading stories about Russell and Roberts (Kenny, not Joe) racing on mismatched tires. I remember Roberts saying "The front tire doesn't know what the rear tire is doing". Like i said, several guys on the Ape forum do it because they like the 211 front and Supercorsa rear. I wouldnt do it, simply because i cant stand shit that doesnt match. But from a safety standpoint, i wouldnt have any issues doing it and i am yet to hear of anybody else that has ever had an issue with it.

I am waiting on Mr. MV to tell us how riding on mismatched tires is such a risk. I don't mean with some rhetoric, but with factual/scientific reasoning.

 

Feel the same way about the R10's...think I'm going to run Michelin fronts this year with Bridgestone rears...or just Michelins all around Had way too many front slides with the Bridgestones. :down:

 

That's the way to go :up:

 

There is no more risk running mismatched tires than matched tires. Like Chaotic said some prefer the feel and performance of one front over another, same with the rear. Profile, compounds, stiffness, etc can all make mismatching a benefit I would think.
Running 6 year old tires simply because you "can get a deal," well that would be a risk I would not take. It is crazy how folks spend thousands of dollars make a track bike the best it can be and then cheap out on tires.
I prefer Shinko front and Tomahawk blue rear by the way.

 

You know you've been around for a while when you remember Tomahawks.

 

Remember? Hell I have them on my R1.