PIRELLI VS MICHELIN

[tug296]

After racing with Michelins for years, did the Moto ST 8 hr. at Daytona on spec Pirelli's on the same old bike, a Honda VTR 1000 which is a tire eater.
Always ran the old M2 Pilot's on it {except for rains} and they were excellent for sprints.
Chose the hard compound Pirelli Diablo Superbike slicks, went through 2 fronts and 3 rears doing just over 745 miles, the last set is still on the bike as I ride it on the street a few times a month.
The Michelins would wear all the way to the edge on both front and rear, the Pirelli's wear was about 1/8 of an inch from the edge, I guess the difference in profile makes the difference in wear.

The Pirelli's grip was very good until the left side was done, when it reached that point it would slide a bit but never just gave up without warning. The Zyvax guys were pitted next to us, they ran thier last rear tire down past the chords and didn't slow up too much until the checkers,  maybe a softer compound or just more laps.

That last rear still has plenty of rubber before the indicators, I've been racing the Corvette recently and trying to heal up, I plan on racing at Jennings or somewhere before Daytona in Oct, and at least practicing on the Pirelli's.
Keeping it simple as I'm certainly no tire expert.

[proechel539]

If you're not racing supersport I would go with the Bridgestone slicks, they are the ultimate SV tire, as long as you dont need DOT's

[Jwhite316]

It really depends and if your not running around doing 15's and 16's on an SV your tire choice wont make much of a difference.  Although the SV Monk Ed Key runs Pirelli....so I'd probably observe what he does and do that exactly lol.

[red900]

Ed Key....  Need i say more?

[gkotlin]

The Pirellis are the best.  The soft grippy rubber mmmm...  They heat up quick.  They stick great.  The new fronts have a firmer feel.  I upped my front pressures about 1lb - 1.5 lbs.  LOVE THEM! SC1 front SC2 rear.  Done!  Ride the snot out of it. 

[MELK-MAN]

contingency is something to consider.. you can win ALOT of CASH (dinero, clams, dough, etc) with Michelin. THE BEST contingency program without question.

[MACOP1104]

contingency is something to consider.. you can win ALOT of CASH (dinero, clams, dough, etc) with Michelin. THE BEST contingency program without question.

I won about a thousand dollars cash this year as a Novice with Michelins over 6 race weekends.  Not bad...    Anyway, still waiting to try out the new 160 B2 on the SV.  I don't think they hit the US yet and everyone is out.  It's either the A or the commercail Power One if you need a 160.. 

[Gino230]

I'm a big fan of Pirellis. I run the DOT's and the front grips great and lasts forever. I have seen the front tire pushed for 8 hours in the Daytona Moto ST race on the Ducati 1000- at lap times that would have won a sprint race- that's gotta tell you something.

The rear doesn't seem to have the same endurance as the front, Max grip for maybe 50 laps or so, then it will start to squirm and slide a bit but never fully lets go.

Almost everyone in the Moto Corse pit on LW bikes has gone to Dunlop, they seem to like them, more edge grip and they last longer. However, Kevin M. is still winning all the races on Pirellis, so go figure?

Also Pirelli now has a new SC1 front (blue) that grips like a soft and lasts like an endurance tire! I tried it this weekend, it is great, but I got a little chatter from the front at PBIR turn 5 (the long right) not sure if it's the tire, the track, or maybe I need to make some adjustments for the softer carcass, I had not turned a clicker in several races...

[MELK-MAN]

I'm a big fan of Pirellis. I run the DOT's and the front grips great and lasts forever. I have seen the front tire pushed for 8 hours in the Daytona Moto ST race on the Ducati 1000- at lap times that would have won a sprint race- that's gotta tell you something.

The rear doesn't seem to have the same endurance as the front, Max grip for maybe 50 laps or so, then it will start to squirm and slide a bit but never fully lets go.

Almost everyone in the Moto Corse pit on LW bikes has gone to Dunlop, they seem to like them, more edge grip and they last longer. However, Kevin M. is still winning all the races on Pirellis, so go figure?

Also Pirelli now has a new SC1 front (blue) that grips like a soft and lasts like an endurance tire! I tried it this weekend, it is great, but I got a little chatter from the front at PBIR turn 5 (the long right) not sure if it's the tire, the track, or maybe I need to make some adjustments for the softer carcass, I had not turned a clicker in several races...

Michelin rear tires are as good as anything out there, and a NEW lineup of tires is said to be in the works to be released 2012 ! :)

Gino, one reason lots of you guys n' gals with Motocorse are liking dunlops (aside from it being a good tire) is that none of the riders there have set up the suspension for Michelin. Bob Cole has been on Michelin but is having some issues now as he is going faster, in part because he won't get the suspension set up for those tires.  The tire construction is a bit different than the other brands. at 15 seconds off lap record pace, it won't matter as much, but when you guys are pushing faster, and with similar corner speeds to some of the best CCS ridrs, your not going to have confidence if the suspension is not set up..

[roadracer162]

I too run the Michelin Power One on the Ducati 800 and more recently on the Ducati 748. I have found some good fortune with these tires and does require a little time to adjust to the difference in feel. One of the main reasons for my switch to Michelin is that I found myself going even faster on the Bridgestone Slicks and as Greg mentioned noticed some issues come up. the Michelin seems to have more grip and more stable in the fast stuff. I did notice a difference in the rear tire profile when leaned over. I also change my own tires with a No-mar manual changer and found that the Bridgestone tires easier to mount than the Michelin. I would assume the Bridgestone has a more flexible carcass that leant to the front chatter that I would always have problems with.


Gino- My times are about what your times are so I can only guess we have about the same corner speed and thus stress the tires the same. the Duc800 and the Duc1000 have very similar chassis and my geometry is set based on your chassis numbers. The Michelin I use now have improved the feel that I get from the chassis although my objective findings(lap times) tend to be the same. My personal best lap times have been better with the Bridgestone.


Longevity of the Michelin has proven to be good. I typically can get 100 laps out of the set using the A rear with the fastest lap being on the 87 lap. So not much drop off in performance. I have used the front in practice to 130 laps and I still see considerably fast times(within a second of my PB) with the Michelin V front.


Greg- I believe some of the issues that Bob may have is that he remains with the same pressure throughout the day. He has not used the control tire practice as you have suggested. At the last PBIR round I had similar issues as Bob with the tires giving a vague feeling. I lowered the pressures as we spoke of and that seemed to cure the issues.


Yes my 800 does not stress the 180 like a middleweight bike but most times I can carry very similar corner speeds and even get a better initial drive from the apex of the corner.

[MELK-MAN]

good info Mark, i may mention that to Bob next time. He may be "Setting and forgetting" and having the psi go too high. I was running 20psi cold with an A rear on the 600cc at PBIR. Worked very well. Ran 1 A rear all day in practice on Saturday.

[red900]

I'm a big fan of Pirellis. I run the DOT's and the front grips great and lasts forever. I have seen the front tire pushed for 8 hours in the Daytona Moto ST race on the Ducati 1000- at lap times that would have won a sprint race- that's gotta tell you something.

The rear doesn't seem to have the same endurance as the front, Max grip for maybe 50 laps or so, then it will start to squirm and slide a bit but never fully lets go.

Almost everyone in the Moto Corse pit on LW bikes has gone to Dunlop, they seem to like them, more edge grip and they last longer. However, Kevin M. is still winning all the races on Pirellis, so go figure?

Also Pirelli now has a new SC1 front (blue) that grips like a soft and lasts like an endurance tire! I tried it this weekend, it is great, but I got a little chatter from the front at PBIR turn 5 (the long right) not sure if it's the tire, the track, or maybe I need to make some adjustments for the softer carcass, I had not turned a clicker in several races...

The Pirelli's do work fantastic on the LW bikes.  The fact that the tire has the fastest heat up and lowest heat range out of all the tires helps, especially on the LW bikes.  The lower weight bikes dont have the weight to get heat into tires in some cases and the soft carcass Pirelli builds up the heat fast. 
Im glad to hear you like the SC1 front.  I have basically stopped carrying anything else due to the popularity of that tire.  I have a guy coaching on these things and just turned 1400 track miles at a top 5 expert pace.  It is outrageous... 

As for the chatter, i would suspect something else.  In most cases the softer carcass reduces the chatter.  As in the ZX6r, guys would switch to Pirelli to eliminate the chatter they would get o nthe other tires.  I remember Robbie Jensen nicknamed the Kawi the "Chatterbox"