sticky tires for CBR 150R?

Klaus · Feb 16, 2007

Hmmm, I agree with most of what you wrote, dc, but I definitely don't like the stock IRC's, not even in normal traffic. Wouldn't even think of racing with them. I'm almost fifty, have never been a racer, and rode my 900R only with diapers on. I never revved that bike over 9000rpm, and even then I almost shat myself. But if a rear tire skids when the brakes are applied a bit too hard because somebody cut in front of me in city traffic going 40mph - - - no, those tires aren't going to be replaced with another cheap set of IRC's...
I'm not thinking of changing shocks or messing with air filters or jetting; I just want some reliable tires, and I don't mind spending twice the money if I can get some.
The tires have now 15k km, and by the looks I could get another 5K out of them. That may be fine for a BKK motorcycle taxi owner, but it tells me the tires are just too hard, and that's where they loose grip. Simple as that.
Now comes the hard part: where to get some decent tires...?

dcalaska · Feb 16, 2007

Klaus, I am 52, never raced,just took the racing school to improve my skills and get track time on the CBR 150. I reccomend it to any rider who wants to improve their riding skills. I was the oldest at the school, but not the slowest, even old farts like me can still ride fast.It was the most fun you can have with your clothes on. And a bargin at 300 b for two days track time, meals and two T shirts included.
I will look around the after market shops for tires and report back.I seem to remember one shop in Hat yai that sold lots of tires and goodies, caint recall the name ,but it was on the main street south side of town, I think. I bought a Index helmet there after a bad time in Melacka, Maylasia. Some shithead cut the chin strap on my good full face helmet while it was locked to the bike.
Anyway good luck finding softer tires.
ride safe; DC

jonadda · Feb 17, 2007

You cant get Vee rubber sizes for a CBR 150

dcalaska · Feb 18, 2007

mcgriffith, you are right about the " International racing school" . 40,000 B seems like a lot to me. The " Honda racing school" sponsored by Honda Thailand AP cost only 300 B for two days, but one must bring your own bike and full riding gear. The " Honda Racing School " CBR 150 s used by instructors and VIPs were fitted with IRC racing tires. Some students had bikes with Vee rubber also.
I will try and find the link for " Honda Racing School" but the web site may be in Thai only.
One riding tip; city driving and non-aggressive riding, over time, will tend to glaze over ANY tire to make the surface very smooth and feel " slippery". One cure for this is to "scrub" the tires often by riding harder.

Klaus · Feb 18, 2007

Thanks for sending the contact info, mcgriffith, I'll call the guy on Monday. - Had a thought: the tires are three years old, maybe they're simply old and dried out? They show some small cracks inside the profile, not on the walls. Last year I didn't have those skidding problems. Also when I skid, there's absolutely no sound - a soft tire would squeal. Or a "fresh" one. - I'll go with whatver tire I get my hands on, Dunlop or Bridgestone, as long as I can get a hold of them.
If I can't get some decent info this week I'll take the thai made Dunlops the guy offered me earlier. Interesting is that the IRC Gold Wings (not the stockers) are a bit more expensive than the Dunlops... does that make them better...?

BignTall · Feb 19, 2007

quote:

Big & Tall has used the Bridgesones I believe on his NSR 150 SP.

Mcgriffith - Correction, my NSR has the Japanese Dunlops. Even the lightwieght NSR could get them to feather at the Kart track. Not "gumballs peeling off hot" like on a big bore through 8 and 9 at Willow Springs[

] but feather and wrinkle nevertheless.

mikerust · Feb 20, 2007

quote:

Originally posted by dcalaska

just took the racing school to improve my skills

I whole heartedly agree. I sometimes go to Bira with Thaisuperbike guys. The level of cofidence and trust in the bike improves enormously after some track time. The track surface is farly constant unlike the road and there is no one coming the other way so one can "safely" run wide on corners.

As i said before I had Battlax on my hobby bike in Indo:

The stock (sic) tyres were crap and the front end would slide all over the place. I put on the best tyres I could find not only for me but because the wife would ride it [:I]while I was at work.

JohhnyE · Feb 20, 2007

DC - if you can post the info on the Honda Racing School that would be great.

dcalaska · Feb 20, 2007

About Honda Racing school at Thailand Circuit. the Honda Thailand web site is in Thai only, so I will post an email for the contact person(s)They can help you . Bring your own bike, full riding gear, a copy of your passport and fee . Last time it was 300 B
[email [email protected]][email protected][/email]
[email [email protected]][email protected][/email]

Klaus · Feb 21, 2007

Finally made a couple of phone calls; should have done it earlier, but I prefer to get quality info from farangs over the net where I can research it. Thai people have a seventh sense of telling you exactly what you need to hear, regardless of reality. After they got their money it's suddenly all different, know what I mean?
So I got good info from good Thais who spoke good english, but not everybody seems to agree and the info varied widely; so I have to pick out the parts that make the most sense to me.
Called Tom of G3 fame, very friendly seemed competent. Told him I look for good tires for the CBR. He recommended V-rubber, which we know by now is a race tire; he said I could run it on the street, but they wouldn't be available in CBR size. I figure they're race tires and are lower and wider, maybe a 100/80 in the font or so. He had some cheap thai-made tires but no impoorts.
Then I called Tirapong of Pure Motors in BKK which I located through this website. Somebody recommended him. Good guy; he tells me that the Dunlop TT 900 is only available made in Thailand. (?) The only import Dunlop available would be the K 275, a touring tire, made in Japan. But, it's not available in exactly the right size. Rear yes, but the front is a 90/80/17, instead of a 80/90/17, so a little wider and lower tire. He said that's no problem, I think so, too. We talked about the Battleax BT 39SS, which is available, made in Japan, and the right size, but I balked at the prize of 4.900 baht (plus shipping and mounting) for the pair. And it's a sport tire, maybe will last only a few thousand miles. I'm more of a touring rider than a racer anyway, and the K 275s, which look like it has a better profile suited for rainy days, sets me back 2.850, incl. shipping 3.000 baht. That seems to the best deal for import tires, and they should last for a while.

Klaus · Mar 1, 2007

Last Thursday I called Mr Tirapong of Pure Motors and ordered the Dunlop K275 tires, even though the front is not the exact tire size. He told me to send the money for the tires and the shipping costs. In an earlier call the tires were 2850, the shipping costs "150, maybe 200" baht, total of 3000 / 3050 baht. Now the tires were 2900 and the shipping costs came to 250 baht; no big deal, I thought. I had them sent to the local Honda dealer, who quoted another 200 baht for mounting. I was assured that the tires would be shipped next day, and assumed they'd be here Saturday the latest. They weren't, they arrived on Monday. I checked them and realized Mr Tirapong sent me a K275F for the rear - it' says on the sidewall "for front use only". When I called, he seemd to be aware of that fact, and assured me a front tire in the rear would be perfectly fine. I disagreed and asked him if he had a K275 for the rear. He knew right away that he didn't have one. I told him that I would come to BKK and sort the situation out.
My school sent several of us teachers in a minivan to BKK to get a teacher's license yesterday; I managed to slip away for an hour in the afternoon, took a MC taxi from Siam Square to Pure Motor on Maitrichit Road (100 baht) and asked the driver to wait. Mr Tirapong was very busy on the phone, got one call after the other, it was almost impossible to tak to him. After a while I asked him to take care of my situation since I didn't want to miss the minivan and have to take a bus home. He then told an employee to bring a tire - it was a TT 900 for the rear, but there's none for the front in the rigth size. I already knew that. It was obvious, he didn't want to deal with the situation, and he didn't care what kind of tire I put where. Finally I asked him to give me my money back because he couldn't supply me with any set of import tires I was happy with. He said okay, and when he counted the money I asked him to return 3000 baht instead of 2900 baht, just to show some goodwill or that he's sorry. He declined; then I told him that I ordered a K275, that he sent a K275F, and that HE made a mistake, not I. I also told him that I paid 270 baht for shipping (when the tires arrived at the Honda shop here, the shipping company demanded another 20 baht, with receipt), that I have to pay the taxi driver 200 baht, because of his mistake; I asked him to simply pitch in 100 baht. He didn't care and walked off.