ok i just ordered a new rear tire. its a soft tire. the price was just way to good to not take it.
my question is, do i have to use a soft tire for the front? because i have a Pirelli front tire laying around thats barely been used, and was wondering if i should use that. im not sure if its soft or not, i can check later if i remember. and its from a different company
Full Version: Tires
the Pirelli is a Dragon SUpercorsa
I always liked to keep the same compound tire... that way they heat up and get traction @ the same time...
Some good reading...
Members of Tire Rack team had the chance to experience this phenomenon at Michelin's Laurens Proving Grounds. Participants were allowed to drive around a large radius, wet curve in vehicles fitted with tires of different tread depths -- one vehicle with new tires on the rear and half-worn tires on the front and the other with the new tires in the front and half-worn tires on the rear.
It didn't take long for this hands-on experience to confirm that the "proving grounds" name for the facility was correct. The ability to sense and control predictable understeer with the new tires on the rear and the helplessness in trying to control the surprising oversteer with the new tires on the front was emphatically proven.
And even though our drivers had the advantage of knowing we were going to be challenged to maintain car control, spinouts became common during our laps in the car with the new tires on the front and the worn tires on the rear. Michelin advises us that almost every driver spins out at least once when participating in this demonstration!
Experiencing this phenomenon in the safe, controlled conditions of Michelin's Laurens Proving Grounds rather than in traffic on an Interstate ramp in a rainstorm is definitely preferred!
Recommendations
Tires should be serviced periodically following the rotation patterns provided in the vehicle's owner's manual or as established by the industry to help enhance wear quality and equalize front-to-rear and side-to-side wear rates. The minor differences in tread depth between tires that might be encountered immediately after periodic tire rotations at 5,000-7,500 mile intervals won’t upset the vehicle's hydroplaning balance and should not preclude rotating tires. For that matter, any differences in wear rates actually indicate that tire rotations should be done more frequently. Ideally tires should be replaced in complete sets. However when tires are replaced in pairs, the new pair of tires (assuming the vehicle is equipped with the same size tires all of the way around) should always be installed on the rear axle and the existing partially worn tires moved to the front axle.
While insufficient tire rotation intervals and/or out-of-adjustment wheel alignment angles often caused the differences in front-to-rear and side-to-side tire wear rates in the first place, the need to keep deeper treaded tires on the rear axle to resist oversteer conditions caused by wet road hydroplaning is important. Unfortunately this precludes the future possibility of ever rotating tires.
Members of Tire Rack team had the chance to experience this phenomenon at Michelin's Laurens Proving Grounds. Participants were allowed to drive around a large radius, wet curve in vehicles fitted with tires of different tread depths -- one vehicle with new tires on the rear and half-worn tires on the front and the other with the new tires in the front and half-worn tires on the rear.
It didn't take long for this hands-on experience to confirm that the "proving grounds" name for the facility was correct. The ability to sense and control predictable understeer with the new tires on the rear and the helplessness in trying to control the surprising oversteer with the new tires on the front was emphatically proven.
And even though our drivers had the advantage of knowing we were going to be challenged to maintain car control, spinouts became common during our laps in the car with the new tires on the front and the worn tires on the rear. Michelin advises us that almost every driver spins out at least once when participating in this demonstration!
Experiencing this phenomenon in the safe, controlled conditions of Michelin's Laurens Proving Grounds rather than in traffic on an Interstate ramp in a rainstorm is definitely preferred!
Recommendations
Tires should be serviced periodically following the rotation patterns provided in the vehicle's owner's manual or as established by the industry to help enhance wear quality and equalize front-to-rear and side-to-side wear rates. The minor differences in tread depth between tires that might be encountered immediately after periodic tire rotations at 5,000-7,500 mile intervals won’t upset the vehicle's hydroplaning balance and should not preclude rotating tires. For that matter, any differences in wear rates actually indicate that tire rotations should be done more frequently. Ideally tires should be replaced in complete sets. However when tires are replaced in pairs, the new pair of tires (assuming the vehicle is equipped with the same size tires all of the way around) should always be installed on the rear axle and the existing partially worn tires moved to the front axle.
While insufficient tire rotation intervals and/or out-of-adjustment wheel alignment angles often caused the differences in front-to-rear and side-to-side tire wear rates in the first place, the need to keep deeper treaded tires on the rear axle to resist oversteer conditions caused by wet road hydroplaning is important. Unfortunately this precludes the future possibility of ever rotating tires.
thats mostly as far as cars, its some what different on a motorcycle due to the the fact that you can wear down the outsider of the tire before the middle and vice versa. the pirelli tire i have is barely worn down and is only worn down on the outter out most of the tire (crazy lean angle on a rough road, chewed the tires)
i've mixed so many different tire's and never had had a problem, only thing i've heard is not to mix bias ply and radial tire's
QUOTE (Chewy @ May 1 2010, 11:00 PM) 
i've mixed so many different tire's and never had had a problem, only thing i've heard is not to mix bias ply and radial tire's
er... well.... i have no idea what they are. again, there are new models out so its hard for me to find information on them. (the ones i have are older models, i think)
It's generally good practice to have the same tires front and rear, but for riding on the street you'll more than likely be ok with a mismatch. Just know your soft compound rear tire will wear out rather quickly.
QUOTE (wantahertzdonut @ May 3 2010, 06:57 PM)
It's generally good practice to have the same tires front and rear, but for riding on the street you'll more than likely be ok with a mismatch. Just know your soft compound rear tire will wear out rather quickly.
i just need it to get me to july. right now when i take a fast turn, i i can feel tthe bike sliding; i have the dunlop DOT race tires on.
Race tires, really? Are you doing track days on this bike? If it's bad enough that you're washing out then then get something on there. And if it's cheap and you're only using it for 2 months you'll be alright. I don't know how you ride but be mindful of how the bike is behaving and check your tires before you go out.
For what it's worth (this is for everyone), you're wasting your money if you're putting race tires on a street bike. Most of them require to be warmed up before you hit the pavement with tire warmers, otherwise they'll wear out very fast. There's no way you'll ever need the extra grip afforded by these. Some tires will even chunk or even break apart if you go out on them cold.
DOT's are ok for the road but even then they'll still wear out excessively fast. I run Bridgestone Battlax's on both my street bike and track bike, which are just a sport touring tire. They grip just fine and have a very nice wear life, and they're cheap!
For what it's worth (this is for everyone), you're wasting your money if you're putting race tires on a street bike. Most of them require to be warmed up before you hit the pavement with tire warmers, otherwise they'll wear out very fast. There's no way you'll ever need the extra grip afforded by these. Some tires will even chunk or even break apart if you go out on them cold.
DOT's are ok for the road but even then they'll still wear out excessively fast. I run Bridgestone Battlax's on both my street bike and track bike, which are just a sport touring tire. They grip just fine and have a very nice wear life, and they're cheap!
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