Tamahawk Race tires, im giv'n em a shot, anyone else?

Well i know i will prob catch "shit" from all the WERA class champions on this one. But my pocket book isn't all that thick, or my desire to set a lap record.

But that said, I had trouble getting a hold of stick boy and some other vendors to keep with the B-stones........so i said what the hell and gave the folks over at Tamahawk a ring.

Good prices and seems they are built on the carcass of all our popular tires from the big names........so anyone used them and have a open minded honest take on them?

I ordered up a set of the Superbike Slicks in Medium for my 750 for a trackday to test out. Price was right, $210 for a set.


And yea......i know the whole, "is it worth a $2500 crash to save $100 on a set of tires ....yadda yadda. But im just giv'n them a shot, if they stick....great if not, im not out a lot. Seems a few racers are using them with success. And again im a cheap bastard

Any thoughts?

 

Sorry your having trouble getting us. I'll find out what's up with that and make sure it's fixed.

On the Tamahawks, talk to Ivan. He found out some things that really helped him out when he was at VIR.

 

Well i do plan to get with you for some B-stones come race time. I really have been happy with them.

Ut-oh.......i hope what he found out was not how to slide on his mellon, ahaha.

 

No, nothing like that. He was trying different compounds and we were talking about them. He found some good set-up for them.

 

I'd love to hear your opinion on the Tomahawks, just for learning's sake. Instinct tells me to call them crap, but there's no objective evidence one way or the other.

 

Well the old "you get what you pay for" saying tends to make me and prob everyone else leary about them.


But then again, that old catch phrase doesn't hold up much on many products these days. Great products out there that cost less because they don't advertise like mad or sponsor big names etc.

Personally my guess is for a middle of the pack type rider that I am, they will be just fine. I mean heck the carcass is the meat of the tire and what gives the general feedback and its a big name carcass.

Ill let you all know on Friday the 10th (if i survive)

 

i just got a set...and called them up and they sent a ups pick-up for them the next day. They mixed brands of tires. On the website they said they won't do that if you ask them not to mix. I did, and they did so back they went. I like the look of them but what the heck does that mean? They didn't have a set in soft/front, med/rear that matched in house at all! So ask!

 

well i ordered a med rear slick and med front slick....guy said they had both in stock. Is that what you mean for "matching"

Or do you mean the carcass??

 

yea he means carcasses. I had one set, the rear was out of round and I had cold shearing problems. The out of round was minimal but noticable at high speeds. I didnt bother trying to get my $$ back, just sent them an email and explained my problems with pictures. I never heard back from them. I figured they were ridiculously cheap and I got what I paid for. Its not like I didnt use the tires because i did, I just thought they sucked.

Hope it changes and keep in mind this was last summer 04, maybe they're better now.

 

Yea they have claimed to have new products since last winter. So we will see i suppose.


What PSI anyone run with them? Im guessing in the 30 psi range.

 

I have been considering giving them a try also, so please let us know what you think of them.

 

Have you thought about trying the Maxxis tires. If your not that fast (be honest) you probably wont even know the difference, they last forever, and are really cheap.

 

Whats up Jeff?

 

Does Maxxis make a race tire. I am fast enough to tell the difference of street performance vs race tires.

Im no slug by any means, just not a top 3 type of racer in most cases.

Fair to say im a top ten performance.


Well the tires came today. Tomahawk screwed up and sent me DOT race instead of the slicks. Oh well no biggie.....more of a trial run than anything. Label says they are on Pirelli SC carcass's......they look nice, stink like new tires. The tread they use is about like a Pirelli SC that is virtually all worn off to nearly a slick anyhow.

Ill post up on how they perform. I plan to run Pirelli PSi in them.

 

Well i gave the tires a shot. They seem to work pretty good.

I started to just slightly over heat the rear, but the day was 90+ degrees outside and sunny, very hot.

I started with 31 psi in the rear and worked up to 32.5. I think as it got super hot out i should of been running nearly 33 rear.

All and all they stuck good though.

 

How did they wear? How many mile / laps did you put on them?

 

2 mile track.....i put about 25-27 laps on them.

Wear looks good, though it was 95 degrees outside.

 

What other tire brands and compounds have you run before the Tomahawks and how do they compare?

 

Did you know which carcass they were built on before you got them? Is that a purchase option? (You can probably guess this line of questioning is leading to setup issues. Tire diameter, etc.)

 

Pretty sure you can request either Pirreli or Dunlop carcass's. I found this out afterward though.

Least i can say is if you are on a tight budget, give 'em a roll, they worked for me. Gotta say i was a bit leary at first.....but after haul'n ass a few laps i was fine.