Compared to the Dunlop Sportmax Sportsmart I used last year (on a 916), I find the R10 wear down pretty fast. I went through 7 trackdays last year and the Sportsmart were not even worn down after the season. I have driven 1½ trackdays on my 999 and the rear tire looks pretty beat already. I am pretty sure that the bike is setup correctly and I am not among the fast drivers either. What is your experiences with the R10? tnx Jim
They're awesome track tyres Only done 1 day at Rockingham on mine so far, just running the motor in in the intermediates so they look sweet as. 7 days on 1 set of tyres seems like you're missing out on how good the bike actually is purely because the tyres are too hard to allow you to really push the bike hard. In the past i've been happy to fit new full slicks everyday just so i can scare myself and still have an excess of grip. If you haven't felt the extra grip of the R10s, and aren't going any faster, wear them out and go back to the sportsmarts or an alternate. The money you save on tyres can go on track days because i can guarantee you'll not do 7 days on R10s, they're too soft to even think about it.
You know I can't go back to lesser tires :tongue: I was just not prepared for the 3-fold tire cost creeping up on me I am just starting the season too and learning the new track-999 which is a whole lot faster than the 916 and I have felt the great grip of the R10 (on a dry track). I am not convinced it's any good on a wet track so I have bought a set of rain wheels. Next trackday is friday and I'll work some more on destroying that rear tire! Jim
Oh god no dont try them in the wet. They're not great when cold let alone wet. The way i look at tyres is, good ones might end up costing a fair bit, but 1. they'll let you explore the limits of the bike or your talents safely, and 2. even a slow crash would cost you more. So it's cheap in that sense. As for the wet stuff, again, full race wets will scare you as to how hard you can go, or a really REALLY good alternative are Michelin Pilot Road 3s. Quick warm up, big leans and wheelies no matter what the weather.
Yeah - I wonder if that leaves a gap between the R10's that only work well on warm dry tracks and the full wets that works best when it really rains... Jim
I've been using r10's for a while and found that the rear was get really chewed up, I was running 32psi hot, I spoke to Bridgestone about it and they said I should be running 28psi hot in the rear and 31psi hot in the front, once I change to these pressure the Tyre looked so much better. Not saying you are going to get more than 3 maybe 4 trackdays out of them though.
After 4 days on the great Swedish Mantorp track I have run my R10's with 28 back and 31 on the front and it works fine for me. That is - when the track is dry. I forgot my wheel lifters (!) and had to ride for two days without trie heaters on a semi-wet track and that does not do good things to lap times but I got some experience dealing with a slipping back tire!! I spoke to a guy driving much faster than me who have used R10's last year and he said that the Superbikes eat the back tire pretty fast and should run better/longer on the hard version (Type 2) and I will try the harder Type 2 soon when my second Type 3 back tire is worn down. Jim
Then I put on a new rear shock with a lot more dampening and a stiffer spring and at the same time I switched to a Type 2 (hard) R10 rear tire and that does good things to the wear. I have driven two days on a pretty fast track now (Anderstorp Sweden) and it only shows a little wear while still being completely reliable in corners with no slips at all. It was a 190 profile and I'm not sure I like it better than the 180. It seems a little slower into corners and a little harder to 'keep down' (or maybe I'm just imagining it I don't know). br Jim
