Squidly McSmearstain
Well-known member
I did a two day event at Buttonwillow this past week end with Keigwins. I had Pilot Powers (NOT the race version) on my bike, and I learned some interesting things.
First of all, I'm slow. I was in the B- group during the event and I was definitely one of the slower riders in the slowest group. This was my second track day, and my first at Buttonwillow and my first on my new (to me) track bike; a 2000 Aprilia RSV-R. I didn't expect to be fast, and I did not disappoint.
The first thing I did on Saturday morning (after unloading) was to head to the tire truck and ask for a pressure recommendation. The Dunlop truck was at the event, so he wasn't too informed about Michelins. He suggested 29 or 30 front and rear. I adjusted the pressure to 29 front and 30 rear.
As I was getting a feel for the bike and track I was SLOW. We're talking about street riding speeds on the track. I got a tow from Phil at Keigwins, and his suggestion was to simply keep doing what I was doing. He gave me a couple of small body position suggestions, but overall he said just work on upping my speed with my current lines and current body position. My lap times were absolutely pathetic, but my goal was to get a feel for lines and body position and then work on speed. After my fourth session I finally started to get a feel for the track.
In my fifth session I tucked in behind a Keigwins rider on a GSXR (it turned out to be Linda Keigwin). I followed her for four or five laps and it made a HUGE difference for me. The whole session was like turning on a light switch, and I was FINALLY getting around the track at a reasonable pace. The bike performed well, I was pleased with my lines and my pace was no longer embarrassing. When I got back to the pits, my tires were showing the results of my increased pace and I had the expected gumballs on the front and back tires. My last two sessions of the day were improvements and at the end of the day I felt pretty good.
The next day, I ran the same pressures in my tires (29 front, 30 rear). I took the first session easy as I waited for the sun to heat up the track. Even though I was taking it easy, on my third lap I get some rear end wiggle coming out of the sweeper as I got on the throttle. I actually thought it was pretty cool. I didn't "spin up" my rear, but I was starting to get aggressive enough to feel it. I had great expectations for my next session.
My next session, I took a full lap at about 60% as I waited for heat to build in my tires. On my second lap I upped the pace a little bit. By my third lap I figured my tires were up to temp, so I decided to start pushing to about 90% of my skill. Turn three to turn four is a left - right transition with a small elevation change. As I crested the hill for turn four and had it leaned over I experienced my first slide. Both the front and rear tire lost traction and the bike slide left about 6 inches (it felt like 6 feet!!). The slide was a VERY distinctive feeling and it scared the crud out of me. It took everything I had to not chop throttle. That was it, I lost confidence and never got it back throughout the week end.
I had my bike checked out by Dave Moss. He said I needed two or three more pounds in the front tire, and he made some slight adjustments to the suspension (his shop had already set the bike up for me prior to the track day). I went back to the track running 32 front and 30 rear with a bike set up verified by Dave Moss. Despite my slowing speeds I could not regain confidence. I continued to get rear end wiggle coming out of a few turns, but the wiggle felt different. The oscillation was slower than I'm used to. I now understand when racers describe tires as feeling greasy. That's a perfect description.
Now, I MUST let you know how absurdly slow I was going. I mean we're talking about REAL SLOW lap times. Basically, I cooked my Pilot Powers going at tremendously slow speeds.
Coming home I've done some internet searching and there's evidently a LOT of questions about tire pressure for Pilot Powers as track day tires. Evidently Spencer and Schwantz suggest 37 psi for Pilot Powers on the track. There's some thoughts that the Pilot Powers don't shed heat well.
All I can say is that as one of the slowest riders on the track I cooked a set of Pilot Powers running them at around 30 psi. They were not confidence inspiring at all for me. I'm NOT a tire expert and I'm a NOVICE track rider. Given my skill level and speeds I find it amazing that I put as much heat as I did in the Pilot Powers.
As I was loading my bike up after my last session, I got some help from Scott Calvert (he let me pit next to him during the week end and shared his EZ up). As he pushed my bike into the cargo van he said, "Wow, you've REALLY cooked these tires." At the speeds I was riding I should have barely heated them up.
YMMV, but my experience is that Pilot Powers are either a bad choice even for slow, novice track riders (like me) or should be run at street pressures on the track. I know for my next track day (even though there's some tread left on my Pilot Powers) I'm getting a different set of tires before I hit the track.
First of all, I'm slow. I was in the B- group during the event and I was definitely one of the slower riders in the slowest group. This was my second track day, and my first at Buttonwillow and my first on my new (to me) track bike; a 2000 Aprilia RSV-R. I didn't expect to be fast, and I did not disappoint.
The first thing I did on Saturday morning (after unloading) was to head to the tire truck and ask for a pressure recommendation. The Dunlop truck was at the event, so he wasn't too informed about Michelins. He suggested 29 or 30 front and rear. I adjusted the pressure to 29 front and 30 rear.
As I was getting a feel for the bike and track I was SLOW. We're talking about street riding speeds on the track. I got a tow from Phil at Keigwins, and his suggestion was to simply keep doing what I was doing. He gave me a couple of small body position suggestions, but overall he said just work on upping my speed with my current lines and current body position. My lap times were absolutely pathetic, but my goal was to get a feel for lines and body position and then work on speed. After my fourth session I finally started to get a feel for the track.
In my fifth session I tucked in behind a Keigwins rider on a GSXR (it turned out to be Linda Keigwin). I followed her for four or five laps and it made a HUGE difference for me. The whole session was like turning on a light switch, and I was FINALLY getting around the track at a reasonable pace. The bike performed well, I was pleased with my lines and my pace was no longer embarrassing. When I got back to the pits, my tires were showing the results of my increased pace and I had the expected gumballs on the front and back tires. My last two sessions of the day were improvements and at the end of the day I felt pretty good.
The next day, I ran the same pressures in my tires (29 front, 30 rear). I took the first session easy as I waited for the sun to heat up the track. Even though I was taking it easy, on my third lap I get some rear end wiggle coming out of the sweeper as I got on the throttle. I actually thought it was pretty cool. I didn't "spin up" my rear, but I was starting to get aggressive enough to feel it. I had great expectations for my next session.
My next session, I took a full lap at about 60% as I waited for heat to build in my tires. On my second lap I upped the pace a little bit. By my third lap I figured my tires were up to temp, so I decided to start pushing to about 90% of my skill. Turn three to turn four is a left - right transition with a small elevation change. As I crested the hill for turn four and had it leaned over I experienced my first slide. Both the front and rear tire lost traction and the bike slide left about 6 inches (it felt like 6 feet!!). The slide was a VERY distinctive feeling and it scared the crud out of me. It took everything I had to not chop throttle. That was it, I lost confidence and never got it back throughout the week end.
I had my bike checked out by Dave Moss. He said I needed two or three more pounds in the front tire, and he made some slight adjustments to the suspension (his shop had already set the bike up for me prior to the track day). I went back to the track running 32 front and 30 rear with a bike set up verified by Dave Moss. Despite my slowing speeds I could not regain confidence. I continued to get rear end wiggle coming out of a few turns, but the wiggle felt different. The oscillation was slower than I'm used to. I now understand when racers describe tires as feeling greasy. That's a perfect description.
Now, I MUST let you know how absurdly slow I was going. I mean we're talking about REAL SLOW lap times. Basically, I cooked my Pilot Powers going at tremendously slow speeds.
Coming home I've done some internet searching and there's evidently a LOT of questions about tire pressure for Pilot Powers as track day tires. Evidently Spencer and Schwantz suggest 37 psi for Pilot Powers on the track. There's some thoughts that the Pilot Powers don't shed heat well.
All I can say is that as one of the slowest riders on the track I cooked a set of Pilot Powers running them at around 30 psi. They were not confidence inspiring at all for me. I'm NOT a tire expert and I'm a NOVICE track rider. Given my skill level and speeds I find it amazing that I put as much heat as I did in the Pilot Powers.
As I was loading my bike up after my last session, I got some help from Scott Calvert (he let me pit next to him during the week end and shared his EZ up). As he pushed my bike into the cargo van he said, "Wow, you've REALLY cooked these tires." At the speeds I was riding I should have barely heated them up.
YMMV, but my experience is that Pilot Powers are either a bad choice even for slow, novice track riders (like me) or should be run at street pressures on the track. I know for my next track day (even though there's some tread left on my Pilot Powers) I'm getting a different set of tires before I hit the track.
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) and it too is a tad on the powerful side 
.
