The competition version of the Michelin Power One is available exclusively through Michelins National Race Tire Distributors and our respective trackside service teams. In your area that would be Moose or Walt Schaefer....both are great guys who have spent years and years taking great care of racers. If you need contact info PM me.
I'll skip the 16.5's as I honestly do not have enough experience with these to post anything that will assist. Also, I used the same CBR600 for all DOT testing and the 16.5 product was on a CBR1000 and I was not comfortable with the 1000cc due to lack of seat time and to some extent small testicles...
I was talking to Tommy Mason at Daytona about what to run on my SV. He said the the A compound was working great on the rear and that most of the guys were liking the V for the front for stock suspension. As far as the recommendation on the web site, it lists the size as 120/60 which is only available in the commercial. If you run the 120/70 all are available.
I'm interested in the cold performance of these new tires and the side grip of the rear. I'm running on a very point-and-shoot track with a high HP bike, so side grip=laptimes. How does it compare to the dunlops for side grip and how do they let go; Is this tire more of a stick and flick or does it slide predictably?
I tried a set of the B compound this weekend and I'm VERY VERY impressed. I've been running Dunlop 211GP's for some time now and the difference is noticeable. The front feel is amazing. Much like the 211 the front seems to last forever. I put probably 60 laps on it over 2 days and it barely looks scuffed in. The difference in front end feel was VERY noticeable though. Very happy with the front. The rear has GRIP. I really felt like I could be more aggressive than with the 211GP on the throttle exiting corners but that MIGHT just be me wanting to believe they're better. The couple times I spun the rear out of tight corners it felt very predictable and gave me no confidence issues whatsoever. I really had to be ham-fisted on the throttle to spin it too. In short.. I REALLY like this tire. The one concern I have with the rear is tire life. I do seem to be chewing up the rear tire a bit, but I'm sure conditions helped that some (mid-50's with a lot of wind blowing sand/dust onto the track). At this rate I'll be using the rear tire 2:1 over the front. Not atypical for a liter bike though. The tire wear is kind of funny to look at too. There is a definite visual shift from the harder center compound to the softer side after just a few laps. Looks strange, but feels really good. Suspension change from the Dunlops was simply to take 1 turn of rebound out of the front. Nothing more necessary. Again keep in mind this was going from the 200/55/17 Dunlop to the 190/55/17 Michelin. Turn-in was a bit slower than the Dunlop but mid-corner feel and the ability to really be aggressive on the exits more than made up for it for me. I LOVED the Dunlop 211GP's but these Michelins are VERY VERY nice, and cheaper by quite a bit at racer prices.
awesome sounds like these are the realy deal then. maybe ill try them out for my next wsmc race in april.
With temps that cold, you should try the "A" rear. WHat front did you have? The A/b fronts are more rounded, and wont turn in as fast as the V front.
They were both the B compound. Reason I went with those is Saturday was 75 and perfect. Sunday was just abnormally cold. Normal temps at this track are anywhere from 70-100 degrees. Were it normally in the 50's I'd be running the A compound for sure. Dale Keifer (our Michelin guy out here) actually thinks the C will be better for this track once temps get into their warmer range. I might try a C rear when this one is done. To be completely fair I didn't really mind the slower turn-in all that much due to the other advantages. I might try the V tire but then again I might not. It wasn't like turn-in was a problem and I really liked the feel under hard braking and mid-corner to exit.
Gotcha, thanks for the feed back. Getting more and more info is always helpful. The a/b front as you found, gives incredible confidence with the superb stability under braking and fast bumpy corners. For flowing fast sweeping corner tracks, give the V front a try.
will be interesting to see. They look ugly but if they work..nice. At the first trackday up in Seattle the few running them the fronts looked good, but rears tore pretty fast...im sure with more setup/time they will be better. Nice to see michelin stepping up with new tire.
Interested in the same. Outright side grip, colder weather performance, durability on a more abrasive track, and sliding (snap vs gradual). How do they stack up? BigHeadzDC's review is the best yet, and as an Ntec user myself, that's what I'm most interested in - Dunlop vs Michelin. Until some of the fast guys in the PNW try them, I guess we're looking for all the comparisons we can get.
anyone tried the commercial (street) compound yet? i just got a set put on yesterday and have a track day over Easter weekend.
For some strange stupid reason, Michelin is making two versions of the Power One: The full race version, and a street/trackday version. Kinda like they did with the Power Races, which was annoying as hell. Just call them two different names dammit!
