socalsupermoto Blog

Pro motorcycle racers don’t often ride on the street. This is for a few reasons. 1) Many are contractually restrained from doing so. This is rumored to be one of the reasons Valentino Rossi left the restrictive Honda organization. 2) They ride for a living so riding a motorcycle isn’t always what they want to do on their day off, and 3) as any club racer knows, after the track riding on the street seems incredibly dangerous. Yes going 180 on a track is much safer than commuting.

When they do ride on the street, they usually don’t ride sportbikes. If you like trackdays, and can only afford one bike, sportbikes make sense. However this is by far the minority of sportbike riders.

You can’t ride a panigale anywhere near it’s potential on the street remotely safely. Since you can’t take advantage of the bike’s performance, you are left only with it’s flaws, ie uncomfortable ergonomics, stiff suspension that flat doesn’t work on typical streets, horrendous turning radius, non existent passenger comfort, no storage, and damage repair that costs a fortune in the event of a tip over. This doesn’t mean you need something heavy with horrible performance, quite the opposite. Get yourself a street tripple, dr650, any ducati monster, a gs800, kawasaki versys, hypermotard 796, etc. In short something with enough power, comfort, HANDLEBARS, and stiff yet compliant suspension.

Or you can igonore everything that I say, and look at what professional motorcycle racers actually ride on the street. After leaving honda yamaha put together a street legal wr450 supermoto for Rossi, which is what he would cruise around london on. Not this bike but you get the idea.

Last week I came across Randy de Puniet’s (my favorite ‘win it or bin it’ rider). Here’s what he had set up as his street bike for tooling around sydney. a WR650, pretty much a perfect all arounder street bike.

If you’re a new rider and set on getting a sportbike, do yourself a favor and atleast try something like a street triple of ducati 696 first. You’ll be faster, more comfortable, and safer. Get the right street bike and you’ll actually be riding like a pro, not just looking like one.

We have 3 nearly identical drz400sm’s, all fitted with fresh tires, so we’re in a unique position to do a 3 way tire comparrison! All were fitted with 120/70 – 160/50 tires running 22f/24r tire pressue. I did 8 back to back laps on each of the bikes.
These tires are so close performance wise, that the fastest lap times will come down to the tires that you have the most confidence in. For that reason much of this review will be rating the tires on subjective “feel” of each.

Warmup
Evaluating warmup times is easy. All I do when I warm up my bikes for my students is run laps until I start getting squeling/chirping from the rears while on the brakes. As soon as I start hearing the rear hook up, that’s when I bring the bike in and start warming up the next one.

1) Pilot Powers 2ct – Warm up quick! within two laps these start hooking up. They are by far the tire that I have the most confidence in while cold. By far the fastest warm up tire, which has a huge advantage for street riding since lightweight supermoto bikes often have a hard time with warm up. Winner.

2) Dunlop: The dunlop took about 4 laps to get up to temp. Not bad, not great, not a particular worry.

3) Conti’s: Took about 4-5 laps to get some heat in them. However while the other bikes had a trackday on em, the conti’s only had a street ride. So the tires may have been still working on getting some flex into them. We’ll call it even with the q2’s on warmup.

On the brakes:

1) Pilot Powers 2ct: I liked the feel I got from the rear tire on the 2ct’s. While sliding (I’m not a big backitiner) the tire had good feel, and you could tell where it was and what it was doing. Transitioning from the brakes into the turn was also very good. The front did not feel as stable as the q2, but still very good. Winner

2) Q2: The rounded profile of the dunlop felt a bit more stable getting hard on the front brake. It still dipped in well. Perhaps the pressure at 24 was too high, or maybe it had something to do with the suspension, but I didn’t have the feel for the rear like I did with the 2ct’s. I’d let out the clutch fast, and didn’t feel like it was hooking up and giving as much engine braking. It fell like I had a clutch that was slipping and not providing the compression braking. I didn’t experience this on the same bike with other tires.

3) Conti’s: Same exact thing as the q2’s. It didn’t feel like the rear was hooking up as much on the brakes, and didn’t have as much feel from the rear tire as the 2ct.

Flickability

1) Power 2ct’s: Due to their profile, these are exactly halfway between a very v dunlop slick and a roundish street tire like the q2. It flips relatively easy from side to side and then once there likes to stay there. It was also the easiest to change lines mid turn. Ruling is very flickable but not too much to not feel stable. Winner.

2) Dunlop: These were the least flickable of the batch. The flipside is that they felt rock solid and very stable mid corner. Steering is the most predictable with these. They didn’t feel like they were going to give you any surprises. I suspect this is due to more rubber overall and the more round profile. They definitly felt like a heavier tire. Winner if you prefer and nice stable tire.

3) The most flickable of the batch. The tire looks roundish when you look at them, but I suspect this is due to the circle pattern of the tread. On the bike they feel very light and flickable. The front end felt very light and not as planted as the others, but it was a piece of cake to throw into a turn. My guess is that these have less rubber on em than the q2’s, This would fit with their reputation as a good tire that tends to wear a bit quicker than others. Winner if you simply want the lightest feeling tire of the group. I still prefer the 2ct.

Student Alex giving em a go

Grip:

I’m still nursing a rotator cuff injury, so grip was evaluated at a very spirited track pace, not race pace. I did ride hard enough to push the tires, and enough to evaluate overall feel and trust in the tires.

1) Power 2ct’s: Great grip. As mentioned at the start of this review, how fast you’ll be will depend upon your trust in the tire. The 2ct’s always felt nice and planted. Only downside is that after ridden very very hard on a hot day, they’re know to get “greasy”. I didn’t run enough laps to experience this, and can only experienced this after 20 or so laps on a very hot day. On the street this would be a non issue, and could probably be solved on the track by running a few extra psi. Grip was very good, and when it did step out on the gas it did so in a very predictable way. The tire was very confidence inspiring. Winner.

2) Q2’s: Also very very good grip. Only reason it’s not a winner is because it didn’t seem to have as much feel as the 2ct’s. On the high speed sweeper it did feel very planted. No problems here, great grip.

3) Conti’s. Also had good grip, but didn’t feel as planted. On the highspeed sweeper I could feel a little push/chatter from the front which made me back off it a little bit. While running wide I didn’t have the confidence in the grip to push it down to correct the line. Still overall, sticky tire I just preferred the grip of the others.

tires also wheelie tested while wearing evel costume.

Feel:

The 2ct’s were the best compromise of feeling both flickable and planted. The conti’s had good grip and felt very light but didn’t feel as planted. The q2’s felt nice and planted but were harder to feel what the tire was doing vs the power 2ct’s. Overall winner: Michelin pilot powers 2ct, The only tire I like as much are the supercorsa’s which is a great tire but are twice the price.

Update/edit: I don’t know if the q2’s just needed more break-in, more heat, etc, but they’ve quickly become the favorite of myself and my students. They have absolutely performed amazing. Peg dragging angles with no surprises, relatively fast heat up, great stick, and equally important, feel very planted. In the meanwhile, the conti’s continue to disapoint. More crashes and slips than the other tires, and just not confidence inspiring at all. I have no idea why these tires have a relatively good reputation on various forums. As for my next set, if they last/wear well it’ll be q2’s all around.

Situation 1) Car pulls out in front of motorcyclist. Bike applies too much rear brake, slides/explodes under car. Nice passerby’s pull him from said wreckage.

If it sounds familiar, here’s why:

Situation 2) Guy with r1/gsxr/busa etc in twisties applies too much throttle on corner exit, spins up rear, and highsides.

I know nothing of the rider or accident in situation 1 but I’m going to jump to some conclusions anyway. First the rider wasn’t wearing a helmet, most likely had very little experience, and may or may not have taken a safety course. Second I’m going to assume he panicked, applied too much rear brake, and slid under the car. Most riders were drivers before riders. The end result is we have years of training of applying the right foot in order to stop, and no muscle memory training of applying the right hand to do so. As a result one of the most common solo accidents is applying to much rear, skidding, and then sliding.

The video in situation 2 is amazing. During the slo-mo you can actually see the rider cut the throttle when the rear started to slip out. I’ve done the exact same thing, with the exact same results. It’s only natural to cut the gas, and it’s what every rider on the planet will do unless they’ve developed proper muscle memory, their brain working on autopilot to give the proper input.

This is where the other safety course comes in. Beginner motorcycle training is essential and will get any rider going in the right direction. What it won’t do is teach muscle memory. This is why track riding should not be thought of as “racing” or purely recreational but essential motorcycle training. Only through repitition and being able to feel the loss of traction will you be able to develop muscle memory to safely control your motorcycle. You’ll learn exactly how much traction you have, how it feels, and how much throttle you can give. You’ll learn what it takes to stop your bike as absolutely fast as possible.

I mentioned that I had cut the throttle and highsided. Six years later I lost the rear, hit the steering lock, dragged the peg, stayed steady on the throttle, and smoothly (although terrified) rode the slide out, my heart beating 6x faster but without a scratch on me. Last week a car pulled out in front of me, and I had to get on the brakes HARD to not hit them. I got on the front brake, with the rear wheel barely floating about the asphalt and stopped with a few yards to spare. These skills are not examples of expertise, they are the results of developing muscle memory from repetition. What the other safety course does is hard wire your brain to immediately and unconscioulsy make the right decision to properly control the bike.

So sign up for a trackday, with us or with somebody else. You’ll become a better rider, you’ll have an absolute blast, and you’ll come away with a whole bunch of new friends.

Here’s my quick summary:

1) KTM 690. Comfy, big, great motor. Felt like way too much bike for the track, but would be my pick for a street bike. Typical swanky euro fit and finish, great bike just too big for the track. It had pilot pures on it from what I remember which wasn’t helping anything!

2) Husaberg 570. By far the best handling supermoto (other than a yz125sm) that I’ve ever ridden. This bike was the most fun to take a turn on, and was in the most need of set up. First off, that 570 felt slower to me than a crf450. Proper gearing and uncorking would go a long way. Also the rear was chattering like crazy, probably from too much rebound. regardless the bike felt really small, and was one of my favorites from the day. Still wouldn’t buy one though.

3) DRZ400sm. my bike, stock, which is a shame because you can really feel the un-corking of these when you get em on the track. Ie I often wheelie uncorked drz’s coming out of the turns but never on mine. The bike has over all good power, but not race power. Very comfortable, very forgiving, and easy to go semi fast on. Absolutely bullet/crash proof which some simple protection mods. These are by far the best bikes for the purposes of the school. Smooth, reliable, easy.

4) WR250x. if they made a wr450x we’d have a winner, but they don’t. This bike handles better than the drz, is randomly tall, but feels very light and nimble. I like the skinny feel of it. After getting used to monsters like the ktm and ape550, it felt like a 5 min wait going from corner to corner on this bike. Sprung soft but easy to back it in. (Favorite part of the vid was diego sliding it in chest footage)

5) Aprillia 550sxv. I rode this bike before and didn’t really dig it. That’s because it has to be ridden hard or it doesn’t feel right. Once I got less scared of crashing the swanky bike, and pushed it more, the better it felt. Engine gets rated as OMG. Shifting into fith gear your flying, handlebars light and shaking, scenery blurring, next corner coming up fast. Handled well, braked well. Just did everything well, and sounds even better doing it. I’d never own one for the street, but it seemed to be everyones favorite racer

6) Husky 450. These are my favorite out of the box street legal supermoto bikes. Hard to put into words, they just feel right. It’s easy to get way up on the front of them, and they’re comfy to ride hard. I can’t remember if it had a slipper, I just remember good power, easy to ride, reallly wide bars which felt good, This is the bike that I’d feel the most comfortable on racing.

1) Aerostich Roadcrafter/roadcrafter jacket. Try commuting in a aerostich for a couple months, then try wearing any other jacket. It doesn’t do anything the best. It’s not totally waterproof, venting isn’t really there, they’re not cheap, it doesn’t protect as well as leather. But they LAST FOREVER, they’re comfortable, do a fantastic job in get off’s (personally tested), amazingly practical pockets, and have clean non trendy/timeless styling,

2) Pro Honda Spray Cleaner and polish (or bike spirits) 1) Spray on bike. 2) whipe off. Looks pretty, and man does that smell good. Mandatory “cleaning” before some unsuspecting sap off of craigslist shows up to buy your “never raced” bike.

3) Arai Helmets. “What is your head worth?” Again, wear an Arai helmet for a few hours, then try doing the same with a scorpion. Suddenly all other helmets fell awkward, heavy, and itchy. Do they protect better than cheap helmets? No, but that doesn’t keep suckers like me from shelling out half a grand + for a lid.

4) S100 Bike cleaner. Funny that two bike cleaning products made it on the list since I never wash my bikes. But then that’s the point, I HATE washing bikes and only do so when they start looking embarassing. S100 is astonishing, you spray it on, hose it off, and sudenly you’re bike is unbelievably clean. You absolutely must buy this stuff.

5) Billet rubber killers. Every bike review on the planet talks about the vibes that were detected in the seat/handlebars/footpegs. This is supposed to be a bad thing. So to keep the vibes in check manufacturers put these retarded rubber bushings around the handlebar mounts that give you a nice vague feedback of what the bike is actually doing. :”Rubber killers” are little billet (pretty much all things billet are awesome yeah?) “bushings” that go around your handlebar mounts so you can remove the rubber. Your bike will immediately feel more responsive, lighter, and planted.

6) Mounted luggage of any kind. Back when I was young and stupid (instead of old and stupid) I’d go grocery shopping and put 4-5 bags of groceries in a giant bolo messenger bag. Somehow get the thing over my head/helmet, almost fall over swinging a leg over the bike, and ride home. It’s amazing how much better riding is, and how much more practical your motorcycle becomes when you have some hard/soft luggage, tank bag, panniers, etc. My Emgo top box looks stupid, but it costs $80 with mounting plate and carries my helmet, lock, paperwork, extra gloves, coffee, 12 pack of guiness, etc…

7) Sidi boots. Crossfires feel absolutely amazing right out of the box, have a hinge system which means the boot flexes without need for breakin, and they absolutely protect the hell out of everything under your knee. There’s a reason they seem to win all the best boot shootouts. For the street I plan on picking up another pair of incredibly well rated sidi’s, the aerostich sold “Combat boot lights”.

Neck Fleece. These cost $10, make your jacket twice as warm, and can be stuffed into any pocket. And you don’t lookin like you’re gonna rob a bank when you take off your helmet like in your baclava. I’ve had the same one 15 years and can’t ride september – March without it.

9) 8/10/12 t handle wrench. Don’t buy the one with the removable sockets, you’ll just loose em. This thing you’ll use EVERYTIME you work on your bike, and amazingly can take 93% of a complete bike apart. Just buy it now. Side note, why doesn’t anyone make a 8/10/12/14 X-wrench?

10) Moty Design Lithium batteries. Yeah they’re a sponsor. These batteries rule. No need to put em on a charger over the winter, and how else can you loose 7lbs from your bike, just by spending an extra couple of bucks? Everyone knows our bikes get ridden hard, ours have held up like a champ.

Honorable mention: me) Socal Supermoto American Apparel Tshirt. Comfy, stylish and clinically proven to give you 3-4 hp. Will land you more women than the pheremone therapy lady advertised in the back of Cycle World.