I need to change the tyres on my F4 S 1+1 and I would appreciate some help concerning the following questions:

The OE on my bike was a pair of Michelin Pilot Sport 120/70x17 front and 190/50x17 rear. These tyres are good for the road but I need better perfomance for the track seasons so I thought that maybe the new Pirelli Evo Supercorsa would be the best choice for me.

The problem is that they are available in 120/60x17 or 120/70x17 front and 180/55x17 rear instead of 120/65x17 front and 190/50x17 rear.

Has somebody tried this different profile / size change ? Does it affects stability or does it changes the response of the bike? Has somebody tried the Michelins Pilot Race (my second choice) in 120/70x17 or 120/60x17 front and 180/55x17 rear? In case that there is no 65 profile available for the front is better to fit 60 or 70 ?

Most important of all: Is there any racing tyre available in 120/65x17 and 190/50x17 ????????? I don't care to buy it in any part of the world !!!!!!!!!!

Greetings from Barcelona and enjoy your F4 !!!!

Leo

-- Leo Font (f4s@ohime.com), May 26, 2001

Answers

I think that you have to go to 120/60-17 front and 180/55-17 for the rear. The Pirellis are the best if available and Metzler rennsport are the same product. You can also going for the Dunlop RR but for me, these are very stiff and loose their grip like Dunlops slick KRs wehn near the limit, but before that happens you can put your elbow on the track !!! they are really good tyres...

-- Laurent GABERELL (laurent.gaberell@urbanet.ch), May 27, 2001.

I would try 120/70 front 180/70 rear. Check the rear rim size if it is 5.5 then you should use 180 for sure. If it is 5.75 or 6.0 you can go with 190. Michelin Pilot Race has 190.( my friend just fitted one on his RC51) Since the MV's turn-in is already very quick, I would try the 70 profile in the front to enhance grip. I don't think 65 or 70 will be a big difference anyway. The only concern is the clearance of the front fender.

-- takie chan (tchan748@yahoo.com), May 28, 2001.

Mine came with Pirelli Evo corsa tyres from new. They are 120/65 and 190/50

-- adam (adamspostbox@hotmail.com), May 28, 2001.

This year I switched to a 120/60 on the front (the 70 may have fender clearance problems), and a 180/50 in the rear. My bike came stock with a 120/65 and 190/50 configuration.

I have recently done 3 track days and have found this configuration to be fantastic. The bike is even easier to turn. I am currently running Michelin Pilot Race - Mediums.

-- Mark (mwestlake@powerway.com), June 01, 2001.

On a recent trip to France I used the Michelin Pilots that the bike was delivered with I found them unsatisfactory as the bike stepped out twice on rough surfaces and gave no warning of this. To be fair this may have been because of the rear shock being set at its hardest but I was reminded of what happened with my previous bike the Ducati996 sps. I always had Pirelli Dragon Corsas which were excellent then one day I changed the rear for a 180 for a trach day and found the turning speed increased imeasurably. TYhis would be my recomendation as the two bikes feel very similar to ride.

Cheers

Richard

-- richard bradbury (info@rbradbury.com), June 19, 2001.

As I recall, the rear wheel size is 5.5", right? If so, the 180 tire will give you better & faster cornering. The bigger tires are for "marketing", and don't corner as well.

-- Noel Burt (noelburt@fastmail.ca), July 11, 2001.