Track Day Tire Pressures...

Last Thursday I did a track day on my Speed Triple R (2016) at Eastern Creek Raceway (Sydney, Aust).
The air temperature was 11 – 22 degrees C, the sky was cloudless and so the track would warm quickly.

I borrowed some tire warmers from an old racing buddy, I already had the stands – see pictures.

My bike has Diablo Supercorsa SP tires front and rear.

I spoke to the resident tire guy about suitable tire pressures for these tires / bike / conditions etc and he directed me to his wall chart – see picture.
NOTE the tire pressures for slicks are not that different!

I let the tires down to reach 31F and 24R.
I went out for my first session, very gentle as it has been 12 years since my knee touched a race track.
When I came back in I noticed that the rear tire was balling up quite a lot. I checked the tire pressure and noticed that it had risen to 33PSI! I let 5PSI out and checked the front. It had risen to 33PSI and I decided as it was wearing well that I would let only 2PSI out. I knew that during the next session I would ride faster and the conditions had warm up.

I took the added precaution to check my tire gauge against the tire guys gauge – they were identical.

I went out for my second session. On my return, I notice that the balling on the rear wasn’t anywhere near as bad, although it was still there. I checked the pressure again and discover that the rear had risen to 30PSI, once again I let some air out and brought it down to 28PSI. The front tire had gone up slightly too, but as it was still at the bottom of the hot range I left it alone.

I went out on the third session, once again the conditions had warmed. When I came in again I check the pressures and the rear was 29PSI and the front was 31PSI. The front was wearing very well and needed no adjustment. I could have taken some more out of the rear as it was still balling a little but decided just to leave it and enjoy the day. Have a look at the rear tire at the end of the day – see picture.

I probably could/should have taken more air out. Nevertheless, the grip was outstanding. To put this into perspective, I’m 57yo with osteoporosis. For me to feel comfortable enough on a road bike on road tires to drag my knee around a race track is a testament to the quality of the equipment.

For those who are interested:

• I am 6’2” tall and weigh 80kg.
• The suspension was set to track as per the manual.
• The mapping was set the ‘Sport’.​

I would have liked to have let the tires cool at the track and to take the pressures then, but I was keen to head home. However, I would surmise that the rear would have been around 19-20PSI cold and the front would have been somewhere around 28PSI cold.

Anyway, I hope this information is useful to all those who are thinking of taking their Speed Triples to the track this summers.

Graham