My wet´s experiment

[keny]

:biggrin:

As temps where I live are usually low at fall and spring, and its sometimes

werry wet also (like this fall) I have woundered how racing wets whit ther soft

compound would work.

As I heard from a friend that he knew someone that had used them whit great

result I got even more currius to try a set. OK, I know they are not road

legal!

Last fall I was at a used bike parts market type sale and came ower a set of

wets for 50€ (Michelin rear and a Pirelli front in the classic

block tread

pattern) that had only done a few warm up laps, then been sitting in a

garage for soem years (acording to seller), so I buoght them. During winter I go

hand on a spare front rim, and finally borrowed a rear rim from a friend (that

has a old kawa Z1000 whit a 3rd gen swingarm on it) as he has the bike apart

(been for 3-4 years now). For sertan reasons I didnt get the testing done under

spring, but 2 weeks ago I did put them under as temps here droped to max +15

degres celsius during days, and it also rained a lot.

So what do I think of them. I only have just little less than 1000km on them

now, but so far I like them. In wet weather I now ride as fast as whit the road

tires (roadsmarts) in dry warm condissions. In the dry I scrap pegs more often than before. Ok I dont ride ridiculus speeds, seldom more than 140km/h at straights on the twisty bits.

The wear seem not so bad as I supsed. Rear you can se its some worn and the

tread blocks has rouned a bit, and at the edges the sides if the tread blocks

have sufferd some.

I also road one day in higher (+18 celsius)temps and dry and in higher street

speeds( 120km/h +) in twists they did start to move around a lot (bike felt

nervus), still gripped and held the line ok. Also they do produse some headshake

at times, nothing I have seen as a consern, but still.

Riding at 80-120km/h speer at tight twisty road when thay dry at ~+15degres

celsius the front felt just slightly warmer than my hand, the rear warm but no

near hot. at same speeds and about 5 degrees warmer temp the RS rear would have been werry hot.

So they offer super grip in wet and cold temps dry. They do produse some

headshake, and dont like hard speed in dry condissions (ok I didnt expet other)

The super soft rubber also has more roll resistanse, you feel it pushing the

bike acctually, so gas milage is a bit lower. I normally get about 320-330 kms from

~17-17.5 liter (when the fule guage start to blink) but now I fulled up 17.7

liters and the odo had 274kms.

And they also rob some power, but that not a bad thing in wet weather I think.

So summary

If you like to have secure wet rideing and the temps are low so you also can

ride the dry days, they offer werry good perfomance at the cost of fule

consumtion and some headshake, and of corse they are NOT road leagal!

(avons have roadlegal wets, but they do not have as soft compound)

The milage you get from them is still unproven, but seem better than what I

expected, the testing contiue...

They sure have bosted my wet rideníng confidens to a whole new level :tour:

[timmythecop]

wow. I thought they would shred to pieces in 10 miles. Must have been fun throwing the bike around in the rain with added confidence. Alas, here in DC, it is the 2nd day of fall and it was 96 degrees. :pissed:

[V4 Rosso]

Good info! Here it doesn't get as cold as in Finland and certanly not for long periods, still this is something that is worth looking into.

(avons have roadlegal wets, but they do not have as soft compound)

But they may heat up quicker as they are designed for road use and not track use.

[keny]

(avons have roadlegal wets, but they do not have as soft compound)

But they may heat up quicker as they are designed for road use and not track use.

Well the idea whit the wets are that they dont need to get heat up to grip, they work from first meter, the heat they build just distroys performanse and the tires.

As soon as a normal road tire hits wet tarmac they cool down, its the cold rubber that gives the grip, a reason many tires dont perform in wet condisson as good.

So the Avons need to be a rubber compound that works in normal road tire temps also, so they can not perform as good in wet as real racing wets.

Also the reason racing wets are not road leagal, they dont work in hot dry condissons, they melt and slide as they get wery hot.

This is a hunge but I belive the wets dont work optimal if the tarmac is warmer than +15-+20 degrees celsius.

[Guest]

Keny:

Slight correction. Avon AV49 Pro Extreme Rain tires come in both a DOT street legal compound and a super super soft on DOT race only compound.

I run the Avon AV49 Pro Extreme Rain (DOT version) on the front end of my super moto on the street and they stick like cat feces in shag carpet even in hot dry weather. They're toasted after about 1000 miles but boy do they grip.

Pete

[keny]

I have to make a add, in case someone do as I and try a set of racing wets.

Had a bit of hurry today, and condissions were dry whit ~+5 degres celsius.

at about 140-150 km/h riding a long bend the bike moved around quite a bit, still held line perfect.

After the bend as I came up straight I got a nice head shake, the handlebar moved from left to right ,about 5 cm front and rear in the handlebar, then got stedy. Bike was going straight all time, just the steer action and bike whent straight as a train all time. I wounder if thes is just a normal act for a race tire (read baout it somewhere in a mag), as I never got the feeling the bike was going oet of contoll, just moving "around"

Still a thing that sure can scare someone not used to ride bikes, or less experiense of rideing.

Well I guess there is the stamp "Not for highway use" for a reason :blush:

[Veefer800Canuck]

Race tires are designed for ultimate side grip.

Straight-line stability is not nearly as important as side grip and turn-in rate.

If the bike moves around on the straightaways a bit, it doesn't bother the racers.