| Author | Message | ||
     Duphuckincati |
Just put on a pair of RoadSmarts and did the math for my prior tires if anyone cares- all grippy unpatrolled back road miles.. oem Pirelli front just under 2000 miles, rear -1700 Mich Pilot Road 2 front -3800 (ample tread in middle, sides beat) rear -3000 Mich Pilot Power 2CT rear -1100 So the Road worked perfectly fine and lasted almost 3x as long as the Power. I'll report back on the RoadSmarts. YMMV | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Where in California do you ride? | ||
| Chessm |
you live near skaggs or something, damn! | ||
| Duphuckincati |
Fresnobuell, I'm in north San Luis Obispo county and take in some of Monterey and Kern countys. Sometimes east Santa Barbara/Ventura countys too. Don't tell the cops!! | ||
| Boogiman1981 |
jeeze man you must be really letting that thing have it. | ||
| Rpm4x4 |
How did the PR2s handle in comparison to the 2CTs? | ||
| Tpoppa |
I currently have 5,200 miles on a PR2 rear with probably another 1,500 left. I've never gotten more than 5k from a rear before so that's pretty good. I think the slipper clutch may have something to do with it. In theory it should extend tire life. | ||
| Jdugger |
> slipper clutch may have something to do with it. > In theory it should extend tire life. Oh? I'm curious to hear this theory. | ||
| Tpoppa |
A slipper clutch prevents rear wheel lockup, which can wear the tire. This was an issue with both my XBs. I can ride my 1125 a bit differently than my XBs, and tend use engine braking more on the 1125. | ||
| Blake |
Makes sense to me. | ||
| Jdugger |
I think logically it makes a TON of sense, but the reality is somewhat different. If your reality is the Buell's slipper is making your engine drag next-to-nothing, thus saving wear on the rear tire, I want whatever slipper you have, then!!! I have one bike in stock config, and one with a high-end Suter slipper clutch. The Suter is configured with the lightest back pressure spring they offer. It will slip if you give it a mildly significant event -- say a down shift and dump the clutch above 7k RPM -- and it sure is nice, but day to day riding wouldn't be any different at all unless you really hammer the downshifts. To me, the big advantage of it is to be able to pop a down shift carelessly into a corner, and then feed throttle until it catches up. No blips, no feathering -- smoothness without skills! The stock bike, of course, really doesn't have a slipper at all. Engine braking and rear wheel drag off throttle is as strong on this bike -- especially with a stock ECM -- as any bike I've owned. The only time I've made a stock 1125r clutch will slip is when the bike is down shifted at high RPM completely off-throttle. If you "blip" or feather at all, the stock slipper will never provide you much functionality as it depends on a high vacuum from the throttle bodies to disengage the clutch. And, unless you a heavy rider, that rear wheel WILL hop, in particular if leaned over. NEITHER of my bikes are anything like what a bicycle would do where it more or less freewheels when you aren't giving power to the drive line. I think some get the impression a slipper clutch makes this sort of behavior happen. My experience has been, on both I4s and our Buells, slippers only help sort out "significant" events, and don't help much at all with the day-to-day engine braking that puts wear on the rear tire. If your experience is different, I really want to get a ride on your bike to feel it out, and then figure out how you are set up. | ||
| Duphuckincati |
RPM, I can't say I felt any real difference between the two, but really my only frame of reference is I never had any sense of loss of traction with either. So in my unsophisticated criteria, either a tire sticks or it don't. I will say I think in this first 100 miles on the new RoadSmart, they may feel like they give a harsher ride than the Michelins. | ||
| Rpm4x4 |
Thanks Dup, thats what I was hoping to hear. I only have 150 miles on my PR3s, and while it hasnt been warm enough around here to really hang a corner, my first impressions are that I cant tell the difference. | ||
| Tpoppa |
I have the Erik Buell Racing ECM with reduced engine braking. When scrubbing speed before some corners, I can downshift and dump the clutch (with no or little throttle). Rarely, will I get any rear wheel lockup. That was pretty much the case with the stock ECM too. Now, I couldn't do that on my XBs. So I rode them a bit differently. Even with more HP, I am seeing 30% longer tire life on the 1125. | ||
| Chessm |
the slipper action clutch on the 1125s make a difference to me. its one of those things that i never really notice until i stop riding my CR and jump onto one of my other bikes. if i ride my CR for a week or longer, then hop on to one of the XBs, or the Z1000, or the my KTM supermoto, early on in the ride i get rewarded with way more engine braking than im used to. basically with the CR, i can be more careless with my downshifts | ||
| Jdugger |
I personally feel it's the IAC making the difference on the engine braking, not the "slipper" clutch. That opinion comes from a fair bit of experimenting I did with both ECMs, and some abrupt down shifting on the track to feel out the differences between stock, the Suter, and stock and race ECMs. Even the stock ECM has some off-throttle fuel dumped into the system courtesy of the IAC. You notice it when at a stop in 1st gear and you ease out on the clutch... the revs bump a little... Pull the leads to the clutch switch, the sit in a parking lot with the clutch pulled in and shift between in-gear and neutral. You will see what I'm talking about... I don't doubt for a second you are getting better rear tire life, I just have a suspicion it's not the slipper clutch making the differences you notice... That thing takes some seriously ham-fisted effort to get it to "slip". |
