Best street tires for hawk?
 

I've gone from the stock Dunlop 204, then to 207's, 207GP (when doing lots of track days), and now 208's. time for another set. What's the current best street tire that's nice and sticky? I only care for at least 3000 miles worth of life, so track day rubber is fine too.

I like the Dunlop qualifiers. Had them on the track and they performed excellent. I have 4000 hard miles on the set right now including a track day. The front looks good, the rear is at the wear bars. Got another brand new rear 2 days ago.

The Q's are good stuff. Also the new M3 and the Pirelli Diablo Corsa. Trackday rubber will take much longer to heat up on the street, but otherwise the (Metzeler) Racetec, (Pirelli) Supercorsa, or (Michelin) Pilot Race are all great choices. I liked the feedback of the Pilot Race and Racetec. The (Dunlop) 208GPA felt vague on turn-in and mid-turn compared to the other two.

+2 on the Qualifier. -1 on the Pilot RACE. +2 on the Pilot POWER. Remember, he asked about street tires.

I'd have to say as far as street tires go I was VERY impressed with the dunlop Q as well. It took a beating including 4 track days and still had plenty of street life too. Very sticky and quick warm up, I think it was just a little less sticky than the 208 gpa's I have now.

Can't remember which, it was either Cycle World or Motorcyclist, picked the Dunlop Qualifier as the best tire in their anual Best of Motorcycling issue.

Wow - 4000 miles. I had several sets of D208s before my current (first) set of Pilot Powers, and I never got 2000 miles out of them. Most of the rears were bald by 1500-2000 miles, and the fronts were close behind. I never rode any track days until my Pilot Powers went on, but they seem to last longer. I think I'll be at about 2500 miles (with one track day) when they get replaced. It sounds like the Qualifiers have much better mileage than the D208s did. (Or else I'm really hard on tires.)

+1 on the Qualifiers...1000 mi on mine so far and really like them (compared with 204's anyway as my experience with tires is limited..)

Oh. I thought he had mentioned using 207GP, which were classified as DOT race rubber, no?

I love my Michelin Pilot Powers - heat up well, plenty sticky, feels great through corners and last a good length of time for value of money - and they're great for a mixture of riding ie road/track.

My buddy is offering to give me a pair of slightly used Pilot Race tires.
Thing is, the rear is a 190 vs our 180.
Reading previous threads...190 is overkill...understood, but will it fit ?
...meaning will clear the chain on the left under driving conditions ?

By the way, what does squid mean ?

The 190 will fit.

A squid is someone who rides above their skill level, believes they are a better rider than they really are, or both. Usually accompanied by an immature attitude towards riding.

Unless you own a Ducati, in which case instead of being a squid, you are a Guido.

OK, I will scoop those tires and enjoy !

I have way more poor qualities than listed above...glad the dude
that put the squid label under my name didn't notice :)
(I'm old school...don't know how to affix one of them little
smiley faces ? ) If my 14 year old was awake...he'd show me ....

Oh the smiley guy actually worked !!! I'm not such tool after all !!!!

:lol:

A poor one at that.

Don't worry that'll change as you post more. it's just how many post you have.

It's true. Superhawk22 doesn't really race MotoGP, even if he looks like he does in his avatar. ;)

This sums it up. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=squid

Read them all.. there are some pretty good ones.

I used to have this on my website. Dunno why I ever took it down. It's pretty funny:
************************************************** ****
Are you a "poser"? Erm, you don't know, do you? Let's first start with the definition. A poser is someone who has a ton of money invested in their bike, but has no idea how to ride it. "Poser" and "squid" are sometimes interchanged and have somewhat similar meanings. So, now that you know what one is, let's take the test. Add up the applicable points below and grade yourself using the scale at the bottom.


POSER POINT VALUES (PPV)

Body

Carbon Fiber Frame - 50
Carbon/Kevlar Bodywork - 25
Carbon/Kevlar Fiber Tank - 20
Chameleon Paint - 15
Large Metal Flake Paint - 15
CF Hugger - 10
CF Front Fender - 10
Polished Frame - 10
Polished Swingarm - 7


Wheels/Tires/Suspension

Carbon Fiber Rims - 25
Single-Sided Swingarm Conversion - 20
Magnesium Rims - 15
Polished/Chromed Lengthened Swingarm - 15
Chrome Rims - 15
Polished Rims - 10
Lengthened Swingarm - 10
Polished Lip of Rim - 5

Large (>1") Unused Portion of Tire on the Sides - 10
Small (½"-1") Unused portion of Tire on the Sides - 5
Ohlins or Other Aftermarket Suspension and Large Unused portion of Tire on the Sides - 20
Ohlins or Other Aftermarket Suspension and Small Unused portion of Tire on the Sides - 10


Exhaust

Anodized Titanium (Rainbow colored) - 15
Aftermarket Underseat - 15
Shotgun - 10
Carbon Fiber - 5
Titanium - 5


Accessories

Neon lights - 20
No Rear Fender (at all) - 10
Carbon Fiber Case Cover(s) - 7
License Plate Located Inside Rear Fender - 5
No turn signals (at all) - 5
Colored Aluminum Bolt Kit - 5
Alarm System - 5
Colored Headlight bulb - 5
Carbon Fiber Dash Cover - 5
Other Carbon/Kevlar Fiber or Carbon-lookalike Accessory - 2 for each part
Polished or Chromed Accessory - 1 for each part
Stock Fender - SUBTRACT 5
Still Have Reflectors - SUBTRACT 5


SCORING

-10 to 0 Why even own a sportbike? Go buy yourself a BMW K1200LT.

1 to 10 You like to ride your motorcycle and can ride it well, for the most part. More
than likely you’re really a true poser, though. You just bought your bike and
are too poor to afford carbon fiber right now.

11 to 25 Some of you can ride, and some of you can’t. If you’ve done some track days and
not crashed then you can ride pretty well. Otherwise you’re still saving money
for the chrome wheels and CF tank.

26 to 40 You ride on weekends to the local hangout and talk about bikes. Then you ride
home. Rarely do you see anything resembling a turn other than the cloverleaf on
the way to and from the hangout. You spend more money on your bike in a month
than you do for your rent or mortgage. You have 1000 shares of Lockhart Phillips
stock.

41 to 60 Generally you ride around in a straight line real fast, can’t turn, can’t brake,
and think the MSF stands for “Motorcycle Stunt Fund”, to which you donate $100 a
year. You have specially made sandals that have a shifter pad on the left foot.

61 to 80 You like to do stunts on your bike such as stoppies and wheelies, but wrecked
last week when you botched up a burnout. When this happened you scratched your
unused knee slider on your color-matched-to-your-bike leathers. You told all
your friends who didn't see the incident that you finally got your knee down.
Fortunately the CF case covers, CF-look bar ends, and CF-look mirrors saved the
new chameleon paint job.

81 to 99 You are only one step away from the ultimate poser. You rationalize that all the
modifications make your bike so much lighter and more flickable than even a
factory racebike. Unfortunately the neon lights are weighing you down and you're
thinking about tossing them.

>/=100 You are the Ultimate Poser. You won first place in this spring's bike show for
the "Most Modified Sportbike". You have more money in your bike than is legal.
When you go riding on the weekends with your buds, your excuse for being in the
back of the pack is that you don't want to push it and wreck your toy. Fact is,
you just can't ride. "Countersteering" is not in your vocabulary. You only ride
to pick up chicks.

Ah, I see.
Thanks for filling me in.

That whole site is hilarious, especially that page.

But we digress... Thanks for the inputs- I'm goinig with the Dunlop Qualifiers.

As for the poser points- I've been losing them. Got rid of the red anodized sprocket nuts with the 520 conversion. Lost the carbon fiber fender when I hit a deer. Reinstalled my rear turn signals. And I got tired of polishing the wheel lips so I painted the wheels charcoal grey.

Sorry to butt in, thread jack and leave....

The best explanation I have ever heard of a "squid" is:

Have you ever seen a squid swim? They squirt, very quickly in a straight line. They almost come to a stop, turn, and then squirt in another direction- again going in a staight line.

That is how a newb rides a sportbike- they sprint in a straight line, park it in corners to turn, and then sprint in a straight line....

Great explanation, I thought.

oh yeah.. tires.

I've got over 50,000 miles on my hawk, and my vote is for Metzlers.... Sportecs are great tires.

There you go, talking about me again.

Birds of a feather... ;)

Yes...what?? what?? squid together?? LOL!!

Wheelie together. :P