[Charles]

I completed an evening track riding session at Nelson Ledges yesterday. After my final lap, I found my Pirelli Diablo Superbike rear tire in this condition. It's a 180/55/R17 and it has approximately 7 track days on it (I ride track days only and do not race). I do not use tire warmers.

I have been track riding for only about four years now, but cannot recall seeing this type of wear pattern; I'd be curious to hear your thoughts: Is this normal tire wear or does it appear to be some sort of flaw in the tire?

LINK TO TIRE WEAR VIDEO:

 

[182 Racing]

7 track days on the same tire seams a bit excessive use to me. I am not sure about the superbike slicks though. Looks pretty shot to me.

 

[jtdbsr]

Congratulations, you have attained Alien status! Last time I saw something similar was on MM's bike at PI.

Are they Superbike Pro slicks?

 

[Charles]

7 track days on the same tire seams a bit excessive use to me. I am not sure about the superbike slicks though. Looks pretty shot to me.

Congratulations, you have attained Alien status! Last time I saw something similar was on MM's bike at PI.

Are they Superbike Pro slicks?

Yes, Superbike Pro slicks.

These were my first slicks ever, and I'm just trying to figure out if this is a common wear pattern... it looks unusual to me.

If it is normal, and 6-7 track days is the expected amount of work to get out of em, I'm okay with that. These tires performed awesome for me while they lasted, and I suppose it's time to buy another set, or at least a rear one!

 

[vfrman]

I think 7 track days is a pretty good run for those tires.

 

[Jaffa]

'I do not use tyre warmers'....... what do you expect from a slick tyre that is designed only to run at temperature.

If TOTM was still running.....you would be a clear winner.

 

[Charles]

'I do not use tyre warmers'....... what do you expect from a slick tyre that is designed only to run at temperature.

If TOTM was still running.....you would be a clear winner.

Wait a minute, not so fast there Jaffa, you need to complete some homework on the Superbike Pros... The last time I checked it was 2014, and earlier this year (and previous years), Pirelli announced that the new Diablo Superbike Pro (the tire that we're talking about here), was designed as a "meeting point between the racing world and the sporting rider who trains on track..." I'm not a racer, so the latter applies to me.

Unlike the 'Diablo Superbike' tire, which does require tire warmers, the Superbike Pro does not. In fact, since I do not own tire warmers this was the ONLY reason that I bought the Superbike Pros in the first place. Otherwise, the purchase would not have made much sense now, would it?

 

[Charles]

'I do not use tyre warmers'....... what do you expect from a slick tyre that is designed only to run at temperature.

... and here are a few references that you may use to complete your homework assignment


Cycleworld
Pirelli Diablo Superbike Pro Tires Updates for 2014

MotorcycleUSA
Pirelli Diablo Superbike PRO Tire Review - Motorcycle USA

CanyonChasers
Pirelli Diablo Superbike Pro Red Stripe Review | Canyon Chasers Motorcycle Sport Touring

I was actually glad to see the picture in the Canyon Chaser article, it looks familiar.

 

[Jaffa]

Your response confirms my previous comment.... There is only one reason you would post that video.

Don't need to do homework to know what heat cycles do to soft rubber.

 

[Todka]

Good info. I didn't know about this tyre. Thanks.

 

[Charles]

Good info. I didn't know about this tyre. Thanks.

You're welcome! I didn't know about this tire myself until April of this year when I stumbled across the Pirelli dealer at Mid-Ohio installing a set. For track day riders who do not yet have the tire warmers and everything needed to run them (front/rear stands, generator, truck or trailer for hauling), these tires make a lot of sense. And from what I'm gathering, 7 track days on the rear is a decent run, so I'm happy with them. I'm going to put another rear one on before my next track day.

 

[W17]

Was it hot day ? I have seen street tyres do the same thing on hot days at high speed .
I do not recommend these tyres to riders who like to push a little harder at the track they are not up for the job .

 

[rubbish]

I don't care what sort of special tire Pirelli decided to make...heat cycles is what kills tires, and by not having tire warmers you're putting a lot of heat cycles on it. If you want some tires that last long and you can still go a pretty good pace (for a track day) without warmers, get some Q3's or something alike. If you want slicks, get tire warmers! No question about it. If you don't think you're fast enough for slicks and don't want to get warmers (though not sure why wouldn't), then it's simple...don't get slicks.

 

[tye1138]

The Pirelli Superbike Pro's are garbage first off, they're a stiffer rubber so they last longer, but they don't work well. Second off, no tire is designed for 7 track days, what are you crazy? Shit, I burned through my OEM Diablo Corsa's on my 848 when it was new in ONE track event, tires were shot. Thats back when I didn't know how to ride! Tires simply can't handle the stresses and it absolutely amazes me you got around the track without crashing.

As a reference, Diablo Superbike Corse tires, the "real" slicks, last about 20 - 30 laps at a decent pace. The Superbike Pro doubled that length of time to 60 laps, but with substantially less grip. Mind you, those numbers are using warmers set to 170F in between sessions and proper tire pressures.

So if you do 6 laps per session and 6 sessions per day thats = 36 laps per event. That means, after two events, you're tires should be toast. The problem is, you may not even know what a good tire feels like because the Superbike Pro is such a piece of junk, it may not even give you the feedback necessary to go quick. Thats one of the reasons I switched from Pirelli to Dunlop and started immediately picking up speed, because the Dunlop had so much more feedback and grip.

All of that to say… yea, the numbers simply don't add up. That tire was shot after your 2nd track event and you just kept riding it because you didn't know better. Does it take wadding up the bike to finally put new tires on it? Remember, those things are the only thing keeping you up, so its something MOST people simply don't Eff around with. Warmers will help a lot, you may get 3 events out of a set of hard compound slicks, but with substantially reduced grip.

 

[phillthy]

Looking on the bright side you used a pro for full life and didn't crash, and without warmers. Lucky boy

 

[Ivano796]

Hallo gents, for me is a tyre flaw.

 

[Charles]

Was it hot day ? I have seen street tyres do the same thing on hot days at high speed .
I do not recommend these tyres to riders who like to push a little harder at the track they are not up for the job .

Yes, I have ridden a couple of hot days on this tire and two of the tracks that I ride probably are considered 'high speed' as well.

I don't care what sort of special tire Pirelli decided to make...heat cycles is what kills tires, and by not having tire warmers you're putting a lot of heat cycles on it. If you want some tires that last long and you can still go a pretty good pace (for a track day) without warmers, get some Q3's or something alike. If you want slicks, get tire warmers! No question about it. If you don't think you're fast enough for slicks and don't want to get warmers (though not sure why wouldn't), then it's simple...don't get slicks.

Yes, I agree, heat cycles kills tires. I might try out the Q3s some time in the future, but for now I'm going to stick with the Superbike Pros. At this point, I do not consider myself a 'fast' rider so I'm not too concerned about graduating up to 'real' race slicks like all of you fast guys. When and IF I shave off 5-8 seconds from my lap times, I might consider it then.

 

[Charles]

The Pirelli Superbike Pro's are garbage first off, they're a stiffer rubber so they last longer, but they don't work well. Second off, no tire is designed for 7 track days, what are you crazy? Shit, I burned through my OEM Diablo Corsa's on my 848 when it was new in ONE track event, tires were shot. Thats back when I didn't know how to ride! Tires simply can't handle the stresses and it absolutely amazes me you got around the track without crashing.

As a reference, Diablo Superbike Corse tires, the "real" slicks, last about 20 - 30 laps at a decent pace. The Superbike Pro doubled that length of time to 60 laps, but with substantially less grip. Mind you, those numbers are using warmers set to 170F in between sessions and proper tire pressures.

So if you do 6 laps per session and 6 sessions per day thats = 36 laps per event. That means, after two events, you're tires should be toast. The problem is, you may not even know what a good tire feels like because the Superbike Pro is such a piece of junk, it may not even give you the feedback necessary to go quick. Thats one of the reasons I switched from Pirelli to Dunlop and started immediately picking up speed, because the Dunlop had so much more feedback and grip.

All of that to say… yea, the numbers simply don't add up. That tire was shot after your 2nd track event and you just kept riding it because you didn't know better. Does it take wadding up the bike to finally put new tires on it? Remember, those things are the only thing keeping you up, so its something MOST people simply don't Eff around with. Warmers will help a lot, you may get 3 events out of a set of hard compound slicks, but with substantially reduced grip.

Tye, thanks for your reply... you've gotta remember, I'm probably not near as fast as you; I'm sure you'd be lapping me in no time at all if we ever rode together on the same track.

I'm gonna have to disagree with you on your comment that the Superbike Pros are garbage; perhaps they're not up to meeting the requirements for racers and fast guys like you, but for us measly little track day guys I believe it's an excellent option. In fact, I just put another one on! (see attached pic).

As long as Pirelli keeps investing time and research in developing and marketing this tire as a 'track day no tire warmers' kind of tire, I'm okay using it until my speed necessitates a change. Though the next time I might just use it for 6 track days instead of 7!

And here's a video review from MotorcyleUSA that sort of backs me up on this...

Pirelli Superbike Pro Video Review:
Motorcycle Videos - Pirelli Superbike PRO Slick Tire Review Video - Motorcycle USA



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[tye1138]

The reason I personally consider the Superbike Pro slick garbage is because its a deceiving tire.

Ya still need tire warmers, ya still need to manage pressures and they still don't last very long. So you get all the issues REAL sicks have, yet you're missing a lot of the benefits of an actual race tire, what's the point? Why buy a tire that isn't going to give you the confidence necessary to push harder?

What's so nice about race tires is that they're pretty soft and DOT race tires don't need to be super hot in order to grip for a slower rider. When you pick up pace, you will automatically heat up the tire more. The Superbike Pro is a hard tire, thats why it works. To me, thats a scary proposition.

So its a tough gamble and in my opinion, the one thing you never F around with are your tires.

 

[jtdbsr]

Tye, not everyone is up to the hassle of using warmers and no, the Superbike Pros do NOT need warmers. Every review I read about them says 6-7 days easy out of a set, although the rear tends to go off and they have less traction than full on race slicks.

The reasons I use race rubber is 1. because racebike, duh! and 2. two laps a session to warm tires equals an entire session after a full day. Being able to go from pit lane is awesome

I do miss being able to pull in, put the bike on a rear stand and chill though.