Converting street bike to track bike

[vince]

Get the Brigdestone BT003RS. Track and street rated very good price too. One hell of a good tire. And they have it in your size. End of story. And I have used this tire.

[AREONE]

   Wow & i thought i had a hard time picking out a tire .        I recommend the Dunlop sportmax Q2,good price &  excellent grip.Like Carlson said everybody has a different opinion about tire's.   

[vince]

Here's what I see about tires. When I go on rides I see Dunlops on bikes where the rider is still on his first bike and tires and has not used anything else. Those that have been around for a while and have lots of road miles are down for just a few choices and I could name then but it is always anything but Dunlops. You know they are no good when they are the most used OEM tire, cheap.
Now those BT003RS, they come in your size for one thing. I would race on these tires and would say you could win on them. Are there better tires, you bet and I have used them but these are right there on the top of choices. For the street are they my first choice for the street, no but this is a very high end street tire and for a 250 this tire will last a very long time. Any tire on a 250 will street or track. This tire when it is on your bike just siting on the bike it feels like it is sticking to the road. And the other thing about this tire is the price, you just can't beat the low price and the tire is always on the shelve or in stock some where. You can run this tire at 34, 36 lbs for the street and 30, 28 lbs for the track no trouble. I think this tire just plain does it all.

[Deplorable, thank you!]

Well, I am not anti DUNLOP like Vince, on the contrary I have about 40 customers who ride on the Q2's-many of which also do trackdays successfully on them as well ! I have ridden on them for about 9200 miles (2 sets) and thought they were damn fine tires and had no problems or issues with them. (I still liked the Metzelers better, but...)
 That said Q2's don't come in your sizes, so it is a dead argument.

Pirelli Sport Demons are what I have on my 250 Ninja and have for several years-I like them fine and there isn't enough hp available to be able to make them do anything bad-I run out of cornering clearance long before I run out of tire. The same went for the Bridgestone BT45-although the profile of the Pirelli Sport demons feels much better--but yes they are both bias ply--I am not really sure this would make a significant difference at your skill level, hell the extra flex may actually improve feedback and feel......giving you more confidence in your riding abilities and the bike......

 The BT003RS--I have ran one set of those on the street and I also ran a set out at dctc that I ran for about 200 miles. These are "good" tires and about the biggest fault I saw with them, they were a bit slower to warm up (on your 250 that will be problem in cooler or wet weather) and in the wet they definately inspired nothing but the thought to stay home and ride another day---for an everyday tire (if you plan to ride rain or shine, early spring and late fall) this would not even be a considered tire IMO

It appears you have very limited choices--or atleast what I would consider "good choices";
 2 tires sticking out though would be;
  just a simple Michelin Pilot Power-the rear is only offered in a 150-so some chassis adjustments are going to be needed-but that isn't exactly "dialed in" yet for you anyways. (One could always argue, D almost exclusively runs on this single compound tire and look how well she rides them  ;-) plus in your size they are under $200 a set and a radial
--But the Metzeler Lasertecs have been incredible tires (very similar to what I raced on for over 10 years) and this would be another very good choice-however again the rear size ...well the profile would be an 80 instead of a 70... but these are about $50 more than the Pilot Powers, and these are also Bias ply (which I do not think is a bad thing in this case)---these tires are by far and away the best rain tires you can buy, short of actually buying a full on racing rain tire, so there is some added benefit besides what they offer in the dry.

[gdawgs]

I will thirdly support that Pirelli Sport Demons are the way to go.  You can't argue with the whole Ninja 250 community and their choices. 

Just go with what ten thousands prior to you have gone with.  It would be hard to say they are all wrong. 

[beedawg]

Just go with what ten thousands prior to you have gone with.  It would be hard to say they are all wrong.

Nope, it's easy.  They are all wrong.  There, I said it.  HUGE GRIN 

If Hope was not riding a 250 Ninja, I probably wouldn't recommend anything else, but she's not.  She's riding a Honda CBR250R, which is spec'ed for radials.  I can't say I'd never put bias-ply tires on a bike that was designed for radials, but if there are radial tires available in the spec sizes, I'd try those first.

Which leads me to ask again: What tires did Honda put the bike at the factory?  What make and model of tires are on a brand new CBR250R?

The only radials in the "proper" size I see at Dennis Kirk are Bridgestone 003 and 090.  I'd be curious about the 090, since Bridgestone puts them on the same part of the race-touring spectrum as 003 (see diagram below), and the 090 is recommended for 250s and 400s.  They're popular with people who race FZR400s.  Maybe they have the same cold/wet characteristics as the 003.  I'd be tempted to try a set and find out.

Brent
Liker of Bridgestone tires

[Deplorable, thank you!]

Honda put IRC's on the CBR250R...on the website they are billed as a sport touring tire


your attachement must be old---it is missing 3 of their current lineup tires--I have never sold or even seen a bt090, so no actual "in use" feedback but .... But it being a full on "DOT race tire" I would expect some warm up issues, especially on a lightweight underpowered bike and that would surely be even more pronounced in the spring and fall...( Not that I am anti Bridgestone, some of their tires are top notch and better than the competitions offerings)---it does appear to have more tread than an 003, so likely rain issues would be minimal...Perhaps it would be better than the oe IRC tires-perhaps not. A quick search of a couple CBR250r forums netted no good information

[AREONE]

Here's what I see about tires. When I go on rides I see Dunlops on bikes where the rider is still on his first bike and tires and has not used anything else. Those that have been around for a while and have lots of road miles
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

First bike & first set of tires, was that aimed @ me ? if so i would like to clear the air . Been riding since i was 16 have owned a few different motorcycles. I am a newbie to the forums , not a newbie to riding.

[Deplorable, thank you!]

^ It was Vince dissing Dunlop---not you.

Vince is very anti-Dunlop......That doesn't mean there is anything wrong with them, just that he doesn't like them....but I also think he hasn't tried them in a very long time.

[Hope2Ride]

Which leads me to ask again: What tires did Honda put the bike at the factory?  What make and model of tires are on a brand new CBR250R?

Sorry I forgot and had to check, like Lloyd said, they are IRC's.

I will be riding rain or shine so  tire that's good on wet surfaces is a must.

If I go with a tire that is an 80, instead of my current 70, what does that mean exactly? Is it wider?

[Mike Duluth]

Just profile or stiffer side wall. What does any of this meen if you can't tell the difference anyway? It would be the same thing if you had all the trick stuff you could buy for your bike and your ridin as hard as you can, then Vince blows buy ya in the corner on his 86 VFR like your standin still that has skinny little high profile tires. Spend the money if you can use it, none of these things will make you a better rider. Time on the bike does that.

[Hope2Ride]

I do spend lots of time on my bike so I will be getting plenty of seat time in next season.

As for tires, it may not make a whole lot of difference but if one tire will hold up better and perform better, even in just rain, then it's worth it to me to spend a little extra money. I know how my current tires feel while riding and going around corners, etc for the 5600 miles I've put on them. Will I tell the difference next season with new tires? Maybe, maybe not? Tires are something I will be shopping for every year so why not learn what the different types are out there. I don't want to walk into the shop and just blindy pick any tire time after time. The only way to learn what's out there is to ask and start trying them out.

[Mike Duluth]

Vince talked me into getting the road pilot 3's and so far they are very good rain tires and seem to hold up well. Lloyd mentioned the lazer tech, I have always run them on my VFR and they work very well wet or dry.

[aschendel]

i've loved my PP2CT's and probably will try Pilot Road 3's at some point.

a.s.

[Deplorable, thank you!]

Tires are totally personal preference, everyone rides a little different and on different roads, different bikes.....

You have a couple choices to try, You likely are not going to wear them out like Me or Vince does where we could "try" 3 or 4 different tires in a season then settle in on what we really like and stick with that for the rest of the bikes life....

 I guess if were me, I would start with the Metzeler or Pirelli (but of course I am Metzeler biased)--likely the Pirelli since it actually is in the exact same size, so turn in etc will be relatively similar (barring huge profile differences)--but I think the bigger rear of the Pilot Power wouldn't be a big hinderence, but it will slow your acceleration some (as it no doubt will weigh more) yet it wouldn't be a bad choice either.

Pick one (I can get any of them, shameless plug)-none of them will be worse than the OE tires.....The Metzlers probably offer the best all around tire, and certainly the best rain/cold weather tire
The Michelin probably offers the best overall dry hot traction (if you could actually use it or not is unknown...it is pretty hard to over ride any decent tire, and all of these are pretty decent) but likely gives you the least wet traction (while still not terrible) the size thing and extra recipricating mass could be an issue, but perhaps not? One wouldn't really know until you actually try it.

140/70-----the 70 indicates that the sidewall is 70% of the width of the tire (140mm)
so 70% of 140mm is 98mm
140/80-----80% of 140mm is 112mm (about 1/2 inch)--so ride height, seat height etc will all go up by approx 1/2"

Now keep in mind not all tires are created equal----some 140's will be as small as say 134mm while others could be as large as 142mm
 also some will have steeper profiles while others are relatively flat or round
"V" shaped tires turn in real easy whereas the real "flat" profile tires are much harder to turn in

So are you more confused yet...lol

Pick the Pirelli's to start-see what you think. at 5600 miles in 3 months you will wear them out before the season is over then try something else----you can't make a good educated descision without actually trying them all out for yourself and finding what you feel the most comfortable with....Mind you as you get better and can understand better what your bike is telling you-you may change your mind on tire selection, there is a learning process.

A "b" class rider will do fine on any track on Dunlop Q2's, whereas an "a" class rider would over heat them in just several laps......(just an example)

Just remember you are primarily going after a "good" street tire that can handle some track use......


GUYS IT DOES NO GOOD TO MENTION TIRES SHE CANNOT GET FOR HER BIKE !!!