Topic: Roadrace tires

[bwaller]

I don't think we've beat this topic to death....yet! So if you have opinions and experience I'd appreciate hearing about classic racing Avon, Dunlop's, Conti's or Heidenau's especially.

AVON Since I restarted racing I have only used Avon but early on I had a serious look at Dunlop's. Avons are always available in the off season and may be a tad less scratch besides. I had a problem with my AM23 in rainy conditions this season, but I wonder if I was too tentative once I started loosing traction and and didn't build up enough heat as a result. Kind of a fine line on the edge of traction...go harder to keep some heat in them or pussy foot around sideways. I've never had a bad word in the dry, it's a poor man's cut slick. Agreed, an AM22 100/80/18 front would be great. 

DUNLOP Talked to a couple US fast guys and they prefer Dunlops over Avons, both have ridden both brands. Individual concensus is traction, wear and durability is rated top shelf with the Dunlops. Both have used 124 or 124A fronts and 5" KR145 rears. They claim tubed tires & 4 strokes like harder compounds. The KR825 front is another front option. They both tell me the Dunlop needs more heat so tend torun harder in the sighting lap and still be cool for the first lap. Kenny Cummings like the 825/large 145 combination on his fast Nortons.  Problem is these tires have been tougher to find. Just recently I understand these classic race tires will be manufactured in the Buffalo NY Dunlop plant. Good news if it's true.

Product Description
DUNLOP VINTAGE MOTORCYCLE TIRES

KR145 IS USED AS A REAR TIRE,

801 IS A SOFT COMPOUND AND USED ON ALL TRACKS.

 Dunlop Vintage Spec Sheet   
        
Size   Type   Pressure Cold   Rim   Width   Diameter
        PSI   Bar   (Inches)   (mm)   (mm)
                        
275/375-18   KR825   23-26   1.6-1.8   1.85 - 2.15   95   600
                        
350/325-18   KR124A   29-33   2.0-2.3   2.50   110   634
                        
325/450-18   KR145A   29-33   2.0-2.3   2.50   116   622
                        
350-18   KR124   32   2.2   2.15 - 2.50   102   638
                        
375/500-18   KR145   32-33   2.2 - 2.3   3.00   134   642
                        
375/600-18   KR145   32-36   2.2 - 2.5   4.00   170   652
                        
350-16   RS2   26-29   1.8 - 2.0   2.625   107   618



CONTI'S Still not much news on the Conti's. All claim to love the feedback on a dry track. In the rain less information, but the "he said-she said" isn't as positive. As I mentioned though radials are not permitted in my world.


HEIDENAU Forgive me but I find the profile kinda goofy looking. There isn't a profound tire edge, plus the front tire has a wide cut right through the tire edge. That never gave me a warm & fuzzy feeling. You can't argue with success though and people really like them. I always hear they're best suited to smaller displacement, but that could be BS. The K65R tires are available with a 100/90/18  with a 130/70 rear. I saw a GPZ550 yesterday with these and the guy is happy.

So that's my take, but I'm all ears. I just installed a new set of Avons and have one more spare new set. After that if I'm still in the game I may take a look elsewhere, should have done this earlier and developed an opinion before this. 

 

[simon#42]

my personal experience is now out of date and cannot comment on the conti's or heidenau's as i have not raced on them .
i did race on dunlops for many years and they gave me a very very good price on a pair of tyres . in the end though i switched to avons  even though they cost me four times as much .
the reason was consistency , dunlop are constantly altering compounds and constructions to improve the tyres but this made it a bit of a lottery , i did get tyres with the same numbers on
them behave very differently , when i spoke to dunlop they said despite the numbers the tyres were different . maybe if they are manufactured in america rather than birmingham this wont be an issue
if it wasnt i would go for the am22 front and the narrower dunlop for the rear .

[bwaller]

Interesting Simon, thanks.

[livefast_dieold]

Here in Italy basically everyone uses Conti now, and Heidenau on the wet.

I've switched from Avon to Conti recently, and I did really feel the improvement. Avon are honest, but the rear start to slipper around way before than Contis!

[simon#42]

yes the rear is to soft that was my reason for picking a dunlop rear . as we are not allowed tyre warmers i think the front avon would work much better from cold

[Rocketman]

I am considering a narrower front/rear combination on my CB550 of the Avon AM26 90/90-18 front and AM22 110/80-18 rear.  Does anyone have any experience with this set up?  The standard AM22 110/80 and AM23 130/650 may be more tire than my stock frame and HP can handle. 

My only experience with Heidenau was fitting a K44R/K65R set.  It took two of us on a tire changer and I thought we were going to bend the rims.  They were extremely hard to get on and off.

[simon#42]

 you may find the front to soft , i think the am26 is designed for a much lighter bike .
will be great for a couple of laps though !

[bwaller]

Actually after Avon #$%*canned the AM20 I used the AM26 for a couple seasons and it works well. For me the AM20 was the softer option as I got an extra race from the 26's.

[bear]

Do you blokes actually wear the tires out, or like us run out of heat cycles.
We used open wheeler ie Formula Ford tires and the like.
The soft compounds where good for about twelve heat cycles be for they converted to landfill.
Never managed to get a set close to the wear indicators.

Cheers,
Brian

[Rocketman]

Thanks Simon and Brent for the heads up on the AM26.  I scorched my Avon F2 and R2 at Road America.  The long straights and high speed corners were more than they could take. 

By the way, is it the Conti Race Attack tires everyone is touting?

Bear, I wear them out and I don't use tire warmers.  Maybe I need to start living in the 21st century. Interested to hear if others are using tire warmers.  Seems all the racers in the modern classes are.

[bwaller]

Bear, I never completely wear them out. They seem to misbehave before that happens, can't build enough heat with too much tread gone.

No tire warmers allowed in our P2. Martin I think they call them Road Attack 2 CR.

[simon#42]

hi bear , i can finish a rear off in about 20 laps on a big tz  but as brent said on a smaller bike they go rubbish long before the tread is gone  .
brent  is the am26 softer than the am22 ?

[bwaller]

Yes Simon, for me both the AM20 &22 are softer than the 26.