You'll love this, contacted Dunlop via email for some pretty simple tech support stuff just asking about which compounds they'd recommend for a Mixture of fast road & track use on the blade if I went and had the GP racer 211's fitted (it's them or Metzeler K3 & K2 mix). I'm pretty sure the standard choice is soft/medium front and an endurance rear. Also wondered about the pressures for track riding as many forums differ with what people have used/got away with using the ntec tyres Needless to say the support reply I got I found quite shocking..... And there was me thinking the Honda fireblade is one of the most successful selling sports bikes of all time....... Why would you not make a tyre recommended for them is beyond me? Quote: Thanks for your e-mail. Sadly we do not recommend fitment of the GP Racer for the Fireblade which may help with your demission of which of the two patterns to use. I have attached our fitments which includes road pressures. You will still find the Sportsmart is a great tyre for track days and its mileage if given the opportunity in your riding style will be far better than that of the GP Racer 211. On top of that especially considering the time of year, its wet grip will also be superior to the GP Sportsmart track day pressures use front: 30psi (2.0 barr) and rear: 28psi (1.9 barr) cold tyre inflation. *If your using the tyres on a wet track day 34 psi (2.35 barr) front and rear when tyres are cold. Do not use track pressures when riding on roads. Regards #####censored####### Product Support & Service So there you have it
Sounds like politics to me, they are an oem supplier for Honda and I bet there is some clause about the tyres that they are officially allowed to recommend. I'd try contacting Tony from Tracksense. He gave me some great advice on Dunlops. Shoot him a mail.
Sounds like they are protecting them selfs . The GP racers are awesome in the dry but i wouldn't use them in the wet . they probably don't want to recommend them for road riders incase they have a slip and have a go about dunlop recommending them
I would have thought, and am probably wrong, that for any tyre manufacturer to publicly recommend a particular hoop, that hoop would have had to be designed alongside the relevant model, and/or be subject to various and rigourous testing in all typical riding styles and weather by several different impartial testers.????? Fuktifiknow.
Ideal way of saying it! I tried Racetecs recently (K2 front n rear), still found the Supercorsa's a little more stable. Still - they hardly last
Its ok, we've finally figured out why they cant be recommended, theres no 190/50 size which is what Honda recommend so Dunlop cant really tell you to go with a 190/55 following on from that he was a really helpful chap politics
got mates who race that have used both for a few years. and all have gone to the D211's because they say they are better. I'm impressed with what I have read and heard about them. As posted more about protecting themselves. would be asking them what bikes they are suitable for
The Dunlop race tyre is totally different to the D211 GP Racer available over the counter. The race tyre is made by the Dunlop Motorsport department, it has a different construction and a wide range of compounds. They run stupidly low pressures. No doubt they are very good, but they are around £360-£380 a set this year I believe. We're running on Pirelli Supercorsa's on the Supersport bikes and Racetecs on Superstocks. Cheers
Yeh, the race tyre is uk manufactured I believe, the gp racer are French ... As such they're slightly cheesier and surrender under intense pressure. Well...... That's the unofficial line
I'd better point out though there's a naming difference, the uk race spec tyre is what's classed as the competition version, the GP racer is the road&track version what you see on the Dunlop website and still classed as a top tyre, loads of good reviews so don't be put off, I'm still interested in em.
It's ok say Racetecs and Supercorsa's are brilliant, but they are wank in the wet, with little tread, and none while at lean. Many many road tyres would be better than these two choices in the wet, so to pick one tyre for road and track, it certainly wouldn't be a racetec interact or a supercorsa. As for one gripping more than another, there is very very little difference. They are made by the same company and in my experience of racing with both over the last few years, they have always used identical suspension settings with equal results. I have never found one better than the other in terms of grip. The K2 and SC2 fronts are a better tyre for the track for the likes of Gerrards, the first corner at Mallory, with a very very fast entry and trailing brake, as the carcass is slightly stiffer than the 1 compound, and the tyre deforms less allowing a more stable entry. Some say the Supercorsa is a better tyre than the Interact, but i've not found it. Supercorsa's have a tread pattern that accentuates wear, so the tyres do not last as long on the rear. If you put Dunlops on the bike on track, you will be faster, end of. They are quicker, with more grip and to make them move you have to be faster. Laptimes will be better, but then you have to pay Dunlop prices and so you would want them to be faster! A lot of lads that race in 600's and 1000's who race Dunlops and do well sometimes move to national level, in superstock series at BSB and struggle going to the control Metzeler tyres, complaining of excess tyre movement, instability and lack of grip. It's almost as if the Dunlops are too good to allow transition to the top level control tyre classes. All too many times this year i saw front runners on Dunlops and people would actually comment "Yeah but he is on Dunlops, wait til he has to put Meztelers on next year at British". Of course good riders are good riders and will adapt, but Dunlops versus Pirelli & Metzelers, are a world apart. My advice would be Michelin Pilot Power 2CT's. They are amazing tyres, i've used them on road and track when i had a road bike, and i even know people who have raced very successfully on them, plus their tread-to-the-edge pattern lends itself to wet weather riding on road and track. They aren't a racetec interact, but they grip in the cold, grip in the wet, they will last, and they will grip. Of course what i really recommend is take the bike in a hire van, and before you go, stick some race scrubs on for £60 from a racer selling his off, but obviously not everyone wants the extra expense which is understandable. Bongo
Good advice Bongo, however it's strange how the Michelin cup boys don't rate them? Even mr otter calls them wank. Personal preference I suppose but I don't have issues with the RT/SC in the wet, but then Again I'm not quite as fast as you..... Ps did I see that Mr Myler running in 848 challenge this year?
Otter is on about the Power ones though mate, their 'road legal race tyre', i'm not a fan of them either after knowing countless lads crash on them when they cool off. They are supposed to be a decent tyre when they're run in their temperature window, but why anyone in their right mind would buy them for the road is beyond me, as they clearly don't work cold. I'm talking about the Pilot power 2CT, which is totally different to the Power ones. It's the tyre that Colin Edwards put on his GP bike and lapped within 8 seconds of his GP race times (which is ridiculously good lap time), when they did the promo for the tyres. They really are a good tyre. Ryan is doing the 848 this year yeah! We both went for a change lol! Bongo
I hated power ones and so do many of my mates both road and track, I have supercorsa's on my 848 and run them on the road at around 2.2bar and they are awsome, im ran Power Pures last year and this on my blade they seem awsome, masive lean on the road and they seem to grip hard, I have not noticed any problem in compare with the BSB's.. The corsa's are shite in the damp, maybe better in the full on wet but again the Pures have been ace!
Be interesting to see how you get on. as a side note, are you going to play at the wsbk support race (a round of the british superstock) or the 'anything goes' 200km thing at silverstone in support of Motogp?
I don't know yet mate, if i can get a ride at one i'll do it, depends what's going really. I don't know if there is gonna be a stock thou class. I know there is a Bemsee Mini twin support race at WSB this year. Last year was amazing on the 600 lol
