For the Ducati Superbike HWT crowd (996-1198)... What's the consensus on race rubber that suits the heavyweight twins? I'm moving up from the LW crowd and am quite pleased with Stick's Bridgestone slicks, however I'd like to hear what others on the HWTs have been running and their opinions on them. I used to run Michelins on my old 996 and was okay with them, but the new bike has a lot more power and I am also a lot more faster... One thing is for sure- I'm not looking forward to new tires every weekend! Thanks for the info
The consensus is sell that overweight spaghetti burner.... You WILL need new tires every weekend on that fat tub with 140hp....
I've never heard of twins needing or liking different tires but any modern tire is going to perform well if it's set up. I think UK Dunlop's are great tires for liter bikes (med + compound).
The 1198 is a good bike, talk to Matt Carr. The tire choice will come down to your personal preference (Pirelli/Dunlop/Michelin, ect.), all good!
Thanks guys... some peeps said that the Ducs prefer Pirelli's so I was curious about the good/bad. Just as anything else, it appears to be all in the eye of the beholder - I guess that's good news for Stick next season
I ran Bridgestones on the 848 and now on the 1198, DOT and slicks since both are legal for HWT Twins. The carcass stiffness is very different, so if you try one and don't like it be sure and try the other. I think most of the Ducati/Pirelli talk stems from street riders/squid forums and the fact that they come from the factory with the Pirellis, which has absolutely zero to do with racing.
Your biggest concern at this point is tire size. Seems Ducati didn't take into consideration race rubber size when they made the swing arms.
You definitely going need new set every weekend.depends on track you need sometimes swap front or rear for next day.
Thanks for all the info gents... It's looking like a straw-in-the-air choice for opening weekend, and unless some serious rubber has been laid in the preceding 6 months- I'm going to be in for a budget buster on the DH weekends @ NOLA!!!
I was wondering about this. I just got an 848 evo and there seems to be little clearance between the tire and swingarm. Did you have to run the wheel as far back as possible to make the dunlop slick fit? How many links chain did you use?
On a regular 848 we took the wheel as far back as possible and it still wasn't enough with w/ 200 Dunlop rear. There was maybe 2mm clearance?
On the 848/1098/1198 it is almost always the weld on the swingarm that rubs on the tire. You can grind it down a bit but be careful for obvious reasons. I don't want to be responsible for a disaster. There is a flat pad on the swingarm back there right under the weld, we match the weld to this pad. I'm not looking at one right now but the pad is about 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" or so. With certain gearing and tires, especially the new big tires, we still rub the tire a bit but it does not cause an issue, just a small rub mark across the circumference of the tire. On the 1098R I can never get the right gearing that I want, it is always a huge compromise and I always leave the track feeling I could go faster. I kind of want to kill that guy who designed that swingarm but I bet someone beat me to it! As far as tires we run Dunlops, Michelins, and Pirellis. I know that doesn't help much but its the truth.
