Consider one of these tire changers if you do a lot of changes, it's the cost of one set of tires and it makes it a lot easier to shop around for cheap tires, move tires around, use half-worn tires and choose trackday tires at the latest possible time accoring to the weather forecast. Reifenmontiergerät - Hama-Racing Having only one set of 999 wheels I have a set of D211 GP Racer (fantastic grip in the dry) and a set of Sportsmart2 ready (but not mounted) for my trackdays next week. If it looks like a bit of rain I will use the Sportsmart2 and after the trackday I will put them on my ST4 roadbike. br Jim
The only thing I'd say is don't get Bridgestone BT16's on an 848, Very slow steering and not nearly as good as the OEM Super Corsa. Cant wait to get them off.....probably try the Metzlers as Ive heard nothing but positive feedback too
I fell out with Bridgestones when the 014 was around. Loved them before that BT56s and BT012SS were unbelievable at the time, but the 014s put me off forever. To be honest, the Power 3s that I have had on (until about 4pm tonight) have been ace. They've done 5500 miles too and are great, I just want something different and a little more grippy without going up to trackday tyres like the Supercorsas.
I'm gonna look at this kind of thing, was speaking to my mate about this idea too. If only so I could get more use out of tyres and use track ones for track days and more cut ones in early Spring / late Autumn without having to go to the shop. Also would let me save cash on tyres over the long run as I could buy online and fit them myself...
I'm seriously considering buying a manual tyre changer and balancer as I do trackdays and the cheapest place by me to swap some tyres over is £20 a pop, I must have had at least 5 changes this year. Can anyone recommend a good quality changer and balancer?
Wow! Just Wow! Had the M7RRs fitted this afternoon and took the bike out for a spin to scrub them in tonight. 20 degrees (give or take) and bone dry but even in favourable conditions, these tyres are much, much better than anything I've ever had before. They make the Power 3s (which I really liked) feel shit in comparison. Well, maybe not shit, but the Metzelers are out of this world, definitely a step change from the Power 3s. I went down the A92 to Montrose, which is quiet and open to get them scrubbed in and found myself flinging the bike around after only about 15 miles. By the time I got to the S bends just north of Montrose itself, the tyres were feeling ready to rock. And rock they did! I ended up out for 2 hours caning the 848 all the way on a properly twisty, bumpy and hilly country roads. They were unbelievable the whole way. Definitely the best tyres I've ever used and just superb on the 848. I know already from tonight that they will be fantastic on the track next Friday too, they seem to offer a lot more grip than the Power 3s ever did and the confidence I've been looking for is there with the M7RRs. Thanks so much for the recommendations guys! Fantastic tyres. :Happy: Andy
One question... I didn't check the pressures he'd set them at. They felt fine so I just went out and rode the thing. I was advised by a setup specialist last year when I had work done by him to run 2.1 bar front, 2.0 bar rear (30.4/29). Which seemed to go against everything I'd done before then, but it worked fine in the Power 3s. I went out to the garage just now to check the pressures now they're cold and the front was about 2.4 bar and the rear 2.8 bar (which is roughly 34/40). I've put them down to the lower pressures but the front wasn't far away anyway I guess. I can't take the bike out again until Monday so I suppose I'll find out then if they're better lower or higher. What pressures do people run and does it make much of a difference? I've never experimented really, always used book pressures on all my bikes until I had the setup done and he told me that book pressures were way too high. Any advice?
Well that's me decided. Couldn't decided between the DRC and these new M7RR's but as everyone is raving about them and the DRC's are on back order everywhere over here I'll try the metzelers.
DRCs are a very good tyre. But they are now 3-4 year old tyre technology and have been superceded by the brand new M7RR for all round fast road riding IMHO.
I will be looking at. DRC or M7's soon as this is what my tyre looked like after my ride from Peebles-Selkirk the other day.
I can't believe how sold I am on the M7RRs after one ride on them. I'll dick about with pressures but I'll go to the 30fr/29r that the suspension guy told me to use. If I don't like it, I'll go back to book pressures (which are 32/34?). I doubt I'll even notice that sort of difference really. The tyre guy had the rear away up at 40ish and it still felt good last night...
I personally would never go less than 33/36(r) on the road in case of pot holes, what u have there to me sound more like trackday pressures!
Just checked the manual online (mine is at home) and the book pressures are 2.1f/2.2r which is 30.4f and 32r. I'll stick with the setup guy's advice for the meantime. Sounds like I want to drop them both by about 5 psi for track use though.
Well I ended up with the Sportsmart2 as they were recomended by my local Ducati-Guru and in stock (I need them NOW) and I can see on the weather forecast that I will be trying them out on Anderstorp Raceway next week in mixed weather as my D211 are really bad on a cold/wet track. Anderstorp is an old F1 track, really fast and with large upswept corners so the tires will be put to the test, I'll let you know how it goes and I hope not to drop the bike this time... br Jim
Just another wee update. Took the bike to the Ducati Glasgow tracknight on Friday. Reverse Direction at Knockhill and it was amazing. The tyres were superb in that they did what you'd want without ever making themselves known. Quietly brilliant. Warmed up after 1 lap (2 at the most) but I gave them 3 to be sure. Knockhill is a very short lap as well so this was pretty impressive I thought, but it was 24 degrees when we first went on track at 6pm. I ran them at the road pressures 30f/29r and they were just fine. Nicely rippled at the end and incredibly tacky after each session. Considering they perform so well on the road, I'm delighted with their performance on track. They were noticeably less track-biased than my mate's Dunlop GP211s and the Supercorsas that most boys had on, but they do what I need them to and they rock. Happy. :Happy:
D211s are my favourite track tyre - they offer immense grip, feel, and allow you to run really low pressures without losing carcass stability. You can't really compare them to the M7RR given the 211s strong track focus and poor wet weather performance. SCs and 211s are comparable.
