Tyre pressure/temperatures??

[ApatheticEnd]

I run supercorsas at 27/23 cold for a 30+ day. As a general rule, if you start turning race times, time for race tires. Street rubber is scary and not worth the risk when you start to pick up the pace IMHO.

[Sean'o]

This is a question that you should probably ask a michelin rep, no not the guy at the shop you buy them from, get in contact with someone at michelin that should be able to access the correct information for you.
I notice not many of the racers have replied to this, thats because there is no way we would run pilot powers on the track, most of the other answers are just opinion or personal experience, most likely with other brands of tires so that has absolutely no bearing on your tires, all brands are different, even new models of tires are different to the old ones eg: pirelli dragon supercorsa pro, 26psi cold comes out to about 31psi hot on the track, the new diablo supercorsa are recomended to run at 28 on the track, the bridgestone bt002 are recomended to run 34 hot on the track. What im getting at is there is no difinitive answer to what pressure you should have your tires set to. Set them a couple of psi lower than you would for the road, take it out for 6 laps, heat them up, see how they feel. Check pressure as soon as you come in, if they were sliding drop a psi or 2, take it out again, heat them up and then go for it, still sliding, check pressure, drop anoth 2psi, when you get it so that it feels nice without sliding to much, check pressure, thats the hot pressure to aim for, take it home, check pressure when tires are cold, that will be the cold psi to set them to on a similar weather day. Keeping in mind all this will do no fucking good what so ever if your suspension isnt set up and working right.
Call the michelin man

[g0zer]

Originally Posted by Sean'o

I notice not many of the racers have replied to this, thats because there is no way we would run pilot powers on the track

most of the other answers are just opinion or personal experience, most likely with other brands of tires so that has absolutely no bearing on your tires

sean, just cos someone doesnt race doesnt mean they are incapable of understanding how pressure and temperature affects tyres.

the comments that are talking about tyres other than pilot powers clearly state that they are talking about other tyres and irrespective of the compound or manufacturer the theory and physics remains the same and helpful to know.

[Seymore]

Bridgestone 002 and 003 race tyres should be 35 hot ... give or take a little bit ...

To test at the track do 3-4 laps pull into the dummy grip and have someone there to check and adjust... repeat untill they are about 35 then do some more laps and see how they feel and start adjusting for feel from there...

Setting them at a temp cold does bugger all cos track temperatures change ..

I set my road tyres to like 35 or 36 but i dont ride hard on the road.

[Spock]

Originally Posted by Seymore

Bridgestone 002 and 003 race tyres should be 35 hot ... give or take a little bit ...

So what cold pressures do you start with? I assume the tyres have to have some pressure in them to begin with?

[dragsta]

Originally Posted by Sean'o

This is a question that you should probably ask a michelin rep, no not the guy at the shop you buy them from, get in contact with someone at michelin that should be able to access the correct information for you.
I notice not many of the racers have replied to this, thats because there is no way we would run pilot powers on the track, most of the other answers are just opinion or personal experience, most likely with other brands of tires so that has absolutely no bearing on your tires, all brands are different, even new models of tires are different to the old ones eg: pirelli dragon supercorsa pro, 26psi cold comes out to about 31psi hot on the track, the new diablo supercorsa are recomended to run at 28 on the track, the bridgestone bt002 are recomended to run 34 hot on the track. What im getting at is there is no difinitive answer to what pressure you should have your tires set to. Set them a couple of psi lower than you would for the road, take it out for 6 laps, heat them up, see how they feel. Check pressure as soon as you come in, if they were sliding drop a psi or 2, take it out again, heat them up and then go for it, still sliding, check pressure, drop anoth 2psi, when you get it so that it feels nice without sliding to much, check pressure, thats the hot pressure to aim for, take it home, check pressure when tires are cold, that will be the cold psi to set them to on a similar weather day. Keeping in mind all this will do no fucking good what so ever if your suspension isnt set up and working right.
Call the michelin man

I got No response from Michelin Australia at all, Pretty crap service...
I did a lot of google searching of there websites around the world and found that there websites tend to recomend 42psi front and rear for high speed road useage, and bugger all about track useage...
Thanks to all who have responded to my thread, I will do some trial and error work at my next trackday..
(does anyone have contact details of Michelin Rep/dealer??)

[Stephan]

You are looking at about 4-5psi from cold to hot in the warmers...

[Seymore]

Originally Posted by Spock

So what cold pressures do you start with? I assume the tyres have to have some pressure in them to begin with?

Depends on what the day looks like and how much rain the day before etc ...


if its a warm day usually 28.5 -29 ... cold 30 .. raining ..32 ... thats a very very general rule I use .... just helps to get the tyres in the ball park ..

You should also note I have only used the bridgestones .. well except for a short stint on pirellis .. didn't rate them..

You supension will also play a big role in how your tyres perform etc

Seano is making a good point about tyres for on the track and going faster etc ...

[DTM]

Have a look here. Pressure gain ball park is about 5 to 7 psi

Feel The Track! Tire unusual markings and wear patterns

I agree, wet riding you want higher presure to stop the tread closing over. But bigger assets also help too Anyone know where I can get some?

[smeghead]

.. sorry Dan, using mine .

Originally Posted by DTM

But bigger assets also help too Anyone know where I can get some?

[pottz]

well in my experience with the pilot powers at the track they seem to work best around 35 front and rear hot (after a session)
ive tried a bit more and a bit less but they seem to heat up too much and chew the crap out of them.

just my personal experience and im very slow.

[Rich]

I have been running Pilot Power 2Ct's at 34 to 36 hot on the road...

Works well for me...

Wouldn't run them as a track tyre, not enough grip, they will slide rather easily...

[Ausinanas]

...
I did a lot of google searching of there websites around the world and found that there websites tend to recomend 42psi front and rear for high speed road useage, and bugger all about track useage...


mate i wouldn't go near 40 cold psi
as anytime it gets a mention in FastBikes
they say it will end in disaster...

( but i guess that depends on how hard ya gonna go)

as i said before FB recmmends 30/29 as the more psi ya put in the less grip you'll get ....

[Spock]

Originally Posted by Rich

I have been running Pilot Power 2Ct's at 34 to 36 hot on the road......

That'd be about 30-32 cold - majorly underinflated according to the tyre and bike manufacturers - but what do major bike and tyre companies know anyway....

[Rich]

Tell the tyre and bike manufacturers to come riding with me at 200+...two up...

You have to remember Spock...their recommendations are for your average rider at legal speeds...

And is their tyre pressure setting cold, good the world over...

Can I set it at 4am in the morning at 12 degrees ambient and expect it to work later in the day at 40 degrees ambient..

Errrr...No...

[Ausinanas]

Originally Posted by Spock

That'd be about 30-32 cold - majorly underinflated according to the tyre and bike manufacturers - but what do major bike and tyre companies know anyway....

the bike companies probally can't recommend tire pressure's for anything over the speed limit
as they can't really say if you go 200kph stick 32psi in

imagine all the law suits they would get with
you said "32psi was good for 200kph but the tire lost grip and killed my bike/partner" ...

[Spock]

Originally Posted by Ausinanas

the bike companies probally can't recommend tire pressure's for anything over the speed limit
as they can't really say if you go 200kph stick 32psi in...

My understanding is the faster you go (in a straight line) the more pressure you want in your tyres. So if a manufacturer recommends 36-front/42-rear - it's because that's safer at 200kph than 32psi.
So maybe you're right.

[thro]

^^ on a bit of a tangent, but also, i suspect that the 36/42 psi settings are recommended by michelin/honda/bridgestone/yamaha/etc with teh knowledge that your typical road rider will check pressures once a week/fortnight/month, and if they have 42 psi in the rear, chances are after 2 weeks it still has at least 30+ in it and is safe

Remember... road tyre manufacturers have to cater to the lowest common demoninator


edit:
The "arse covering" mentality of an OEM also probably considers that its much safer to have a tyre slide a bit, rather than delaminate at 200km/h and cause a wheel to lock up... so they probably err on the side of "over inflated".

[ENVEE 2]

^^^ do you know this is the OEM's stance on recommended tyre pressures??
clicky this linky, http://www.feelthetrack.com/downloads/article%202.pdf

find the section on tire(sic) pressures, have a read!

[thro]

^^ hmm... not what it says on my swingarm/oem owners manual

edit:
Though i guess thats an OEM suggesting track pressures, rather than the manual/swingarm being suggested road use pressures...