tyres and trackdays

[Luke2152]

Just brought my first dedicated trackday toy. Gix 1000 k1 ex racer. Pretty excited to get out on it. I'm not sure about tyre choice. It comes with slicks and wets - I've never ridden slicks and I suspect I don't have the talent to get the best out of them. Would I be better off on a road legal track tyre? Either way I'll probably be buying used scrubs until I can really do them justice.

Also I don't have tyre warmers (yet). I'm guessing they are pretty much mandatory on slicks?

[graeme4130]

Ideally, you'd run tyre warmers on any track tyres, not just slick. Although with slicks, they're more important, as A) they're terrible when they're cold, and B) tyre warmers will reduce the number of heat cycles you'll put through them in a day as they're not cooling between sessions, and nearly all race tyres are quite susceptible to heat cycles
There's a few different types of slicks around, but I rate the Bridgestone V02 and the Dunlop KR slicks amongst the best I've used.
If you're looking for Cut Slicks, then Dunlop 212's are really well rated, or you can go the traditional route of Pirelli Supercorsa's

Bridgestone V02's are good value too, and you can get them, Pirelli's and Dunlops at the best prices through https://www.fwr.co.uk

In terms of Tyre warmers, you get what you pay for pretty much. Sure, you can buy a set of warmers for £100, but they'll either not last last long, or you'll only be getting your tyres warm rather than the circa 80deg you want.
I use Capit Warmers, which are around £250 for a set, but they're superb, and used by most of the WSBK and MotoGP teams, so most be either really good or paying them well

[Renn Sport]

^^^what he said... but don't buy Diamond Tyre Warmers.... my bro has had 3 sets and they all fail within a year. He's bought some Capit warmers and is really happy.

[Gavia]

Luke2152 said:

Just brought my first dedicated trackday toy. Gix 1000 k1 ex racer. Pretty excited to get out on it. I'm not sure about tyre choice. It comes with slicks and wets - I've never ridden slicks and I suspect I don't have the talent to get the best out of them. Would I be better off on a road legal track tyre? Either way I'll probably be buying used scrubs until I can really do them justice.

Also I don't have tyre warmers (yet). I'm guessing they are pretty much mandatory on slicks?

I assume you’re a novice, although your post doesn’t make it clear. If so, any tyre is probably good enough to begin with. Slicks really aren’t a good idea as they need to be worked hard to generate heat / keep heat in and at novice pace that’s unlikely to happen.

There’s a lot of BS around tyres and the reality is that the more track focussed stuff is only any good when worked hard enough to get heat in them. You’re better off using a more sports touring biased tyre as the blocks will move around and generate heat easier. As you get faster then move up the tyre ranges.

Warmers are only any good if you keep the heat in that the warmers have generated. For example a Dunlop 212 is a very track focussed tyre and lethal if not kept up to temperature. I wouldn’t dream of using one on the road.

Renn Sport said:

^^^what he said... but don't buy Diamond Tyre Warmers.... my bro has had 3 sets and they all fail within a year. He's bought some Capit warmers and is really happy.

Then all he has to do is return them and Diamond will replace them free of charge. All their warmers come with a 12 month guarantee.

[Luke2152]

Thanks for the replies. I've done about 10 trackdays over the last 10 years on a variety of machines. So while I wouldn't call myself a novice...I'm certainly a novice to the serious trackday brigade! So next purchase will be a set of tyre warmers and a few sets of half used supercorsa's. Bring on the warmer weather!

[graeme4130]

Luke2152 said:

Thanks for the replies. I've done about 10 trackdays over the last 10 years on a variety of machines. So while I wouldn't call myself a novice...I'm certainly a novice to the serious trackday brigade! So next purchase will be a set of tyre warmers and a few sets of half used supercorsa's. Bring on the warmer weather!

UK warmer weather feels like it's a long time away. Get yourself on a Winter Euro and enjoy some spanish winter sunshine. It'll make you wonder why you ever even bothered with UK trackdays

[Birky_41]

graeme4130 said:

It'll make you wonder why you ever even bothered with UK trackdays

That last bit... So true

[moanthebairns]

Birky_41 said:

graeme4130 said:

It'll make you wonder why you ever even bothered with UK trackdays

That last bit... So true

[Gavia]

moanthebairns said:

Try using a bit more of the track, it’s amazing how much faster you can go

[moanthebairns]

Gavia said:

moanthebairns said:

Try using a bit more of the track, it’s amazing how much faster you can go

Ken, I thought that myself

[mckeann]

His name is Gav