We here at Motorcycle-USA are always striving to bring you more comprehensive and precise motorcycle and motorcycle-related comparisons. This is exactly why for our 2009 Tire Shootout we mixed things up – and in a big way!

One of the biggest parts of any comparison is the rider’s opinion. And while this is very important, when it comes to something as similar as motorcycle rubber, using just rider opinion makes it impossible to be exactly accurate. Also, one rider’s preferences may not be that of another’s – especially when it comes to tires. Some like them soft, some hard, some in the middle. Not to mention certain riders are “front end” guys, putting higher value in front tire grip than rear, while you’ve got your big-bore liter-class riders looking for every possible inch of rear drive-grip possible.

These black and round pieces of silicon are worth their weight in gold – especially with racers – and are the link between man, machine and success and man, machine and disaster. Or so everyone thinks.

For this reason the aim in our tire shootout is to turn the rider from a variable to as much of a constant as possible, downplaying opinion in favor of data acquisition, lap times, weight and high-heat durability to determine the winner. We will still add impressions of the tires, so you are able to get an idea of the feel and the feedback given, as data can’t show that. But for scoring and ranking, numbers will take center stage for this mega shootout!

To continually even the playing field, tire order was changed from day to day, with the rider unaware of this until the test was totally complete. The rider would also be interviewed on video before knowing any info about the tires, so as not to change options any. Furthermore, a new set of tires from each brand was used each day with the exception of the Avons, who would only send one set because of “financial reasons,” thus they were used both days.

Though we asked for two sets of tires, Avon opted to only send one for financial reasons. Right away I could tell it was easily the softest feeling carcass of the bunch with initial squish vastly apparent, especially from the rear. Outright grip up front wasn’t the best, though at least it was in the ballpark of the rest, but corner-exit drive grip from the rear was bad right from Lap 1 on Day 1, and next to scary by the end; especially on Day 2 once the tires were worn and used for a second time. Just touch the throttle at full lean and the rear was making a run at the front.

For base speed parameters we used Turn 2 and Turn 10 at Streets of Willow and Turn 4 and Turn 8 at Willow Springs. These are examples of two slow-speed corners around Streets as well as a medium-fast and the fastest corner at Big Willow, giving a baseline of how the tires act in a wide variety of situations under acceleration.

Looking at Turn 8 at Willow Springs shows an exit speed of 116.20 mph; this is at the very bottom of the group and some 4 mph slower than the 120 mph of the Pirelli DSC. At slow speeds around the Big Track the lack of grip wasn’t as apparent, especially in Turn 4, where it actually has the second-highest exit speed of 69.40 mph. Though despite the high exit-speed, looking closer at the lap-chart data shows the Avon is the slowest of the bunch to complete the turn, suffering from side-grip issues.

In fact, the Extremes were slowest in all but one corner of the track at Willow Springs, which adds up to by far the slowest lap time of the group: 1:30.13, some 2.5 seconds shy of the front-running times. And while that may not sound like much, considering the other four are within 0.7 seconds, it shows how far off the Avons are when only slightly used.

Also noteworthy, tire technician Chris McGuire commented after the test that “the Avon tires literally fell on the rim. It was so soft that I could have mounted it by hand. I’ve never seen a tire with such flex and soft carcass. To be honest it was almost scary.”

One area they did shine, and which fits with what McGuire said, is weight. Coming in the lowest of the group, the front is a mere 8-lb, 9.1-oz and the back a featherweight 13-lb, 1.1-oz, both several ounces less than the competition. Though as you can see this light weight did nothing to translate into fast lap times.

Day 1 at Streets of Willow, with new tires, the Avons fared slightly better, yet the overall outcome was the same. While some sectors it wasn’t at the back, including the slow Turn 2, the final product was the slowest time of the group at 1:22.69; but instead of being some three seconds off the pace, the Extreme was under a second back.

Michelin Power One

Throwing a bit of a wrench in the test were the Michelin Power One tires – in both a good and bad way. The set we had on Day 1 at Streets of Willow produced a strange vibration and hopping from the front end. Enough that anytime it was straight up and down, especially when leaned just slightly to the left, it would bounce like a rabbit in heat, enough to blur the gauge cluster and have the front brake reservoir flopping all over the place, the motorcycle a handful to hang onto. There’s no question something was off. It should be noted that this was the first time we’ve EVER had any problem with a Michelin tire of any kind and could have easily been a result of shipping damage, thus it’s hard to say if it was even Michelin's fault.

As a result, it made the conclusions drawn from the first day somewhat irrelevant. The saving grace was that once you leaned further into the corner the vibration vent away, thus it didn’t affect mid-corner speed or even the outright lap times that much. And as a result its best time of 1:22.38 was only 0.64 seconds off the pace. Though, in this tightly-knit field, that equated to fourth spot. This is why, for all fairness, we’re going to focus on the results from Day 2 at Willow Springs to compare the hard numbers, as the second set of tires performed flawlessly.

The first thing one notices about the Power One is how quickly the front end steers, the motorcycle turning before the thought in one's brain is even complete. Thankfully there’s little-to-no high-speed instability as a result. Outright rider feel and feedback from the front end is impressive, though it’s really the profile and shape that takes the longest to get used to. One quickly finds themselves picking the bike up mid-corner as the triangular profile is so drastic that turning at the same time as I had on the other tires would have ran me straight off the inside of the track. Carcass feel is also solid and in the same realm as the Dunlops, though a bit more forgiving, especially at lean where they will still soak up some of the smaller bumps, whereas the GP-As sent each and every imperfection straight though the bike and to the rider.

Having a look at the fastest corners first, specifically Turn 8 at Willow Springs, this unquestionably turned out to be the biggest struggle for the French rubber. With an exit speed of 116.70 mph, nearly 4 mph down on the top-ranking Pirellis, it was in the same realm as the used Avons. In the slow stuff, on the other hand, the Michelin’s exit speed was top of the pile – 73.19 mph exiting Turn 4. Interesting that it would top one and not the other, but this comes down to heat and resulting wheel-spin. As the Michelins got hot in the ultra-high-speed sections they would spin the tire more than some of the others, but in the slower Turn 4 they did very well.

This is also replicated when looking at the individual corner times, the Michelins quickest all the way from Turn 2 through Turn 6 – which makes up the slower corners on the track – but lost time from Turn 7 through the exit of Turn 1 – the fast corners of Willow. But the real eye-opener comes when you compare how much time they actually lost in the fast stuff and how close they ended up overall.

From Turn 9 through the start/finish they lost nearly 0.5 seconds to the top-ranking pair, but in terms of outright lap times they were merely 0.01 seconds from being the best – 1:27.64 compared to 1:27.63 posted by both the Bridgestones and Dunlops. Hence, if drive-grip in the faster sections of Willow had been up to par with the leaders, there’s no question the Michelins would be top of the heap – by a healthy margin.

As for the weight of the Michelins, they were right in the middle. Up front we saw 9-lb, 5.3-oz, which was toward the back, but not by much. While out back they tipped the scales at 13-lb, 3.9-oz, proving to be one of the lighter tires. But considering the gap from top to bottom is roughly 1-lb up front and 9-oz out back, no one is really gaining or losing much here.

Taking into consideration the data as well as my impressions of the tires, it all comes down to profile design and front tire verses rear tire grip. The Power Ones had utterly amazing front end feel and feedback, combined with loads of outright grip and a very triangular profile. This equated to a fast-steering and confidence-inspiring front tire that got through the infield almost a second quicker than the rest. But mix in a rear that would overheat and slide in the high-speed sections and the playing field was leveled as a result.

As for wear? The Michelins held up well to the abuse at both tracks, though better at Streets of Willow, where it posted its quickest time on the final lap and was able to lay down a competitive lap time despite a massive vibration up front. As for the Big Track, it made a solid three laps before showing rear end warnings, sliding a good deal in the fast stuff – Turn 8 and Turn 9. It was still quickest on lap four, though I recall a big tire-smoking Turn 8 slide in the process, while it continued to keep falling off on lap five.

Factoring in this and looking at how insanely close the final lap times were, once again we were amazed at how the design and construction of a tire can really effect different parts of the track, yet the end result be nearly the same as a totally different tire. Just goes to show, there’s more than one way to go around the track fast.

Pirelli Diablo SC3

Easy to feel despite being blindfolded, Pirelli and its soft-carcass design weren’t hard to pick out of the group. Not crazy soft and almost scary like the Avons, but no doubt a mushier feel than the rest of the group. This a bad thing? Not at all, especially at Streets of Willow. Just different and something that takes a couple laps to get used to.

As mentioned, take a look at the slower Streets and there’s no question Pirelli is on top of the pile. No ties here, the SC3s laid down a 1:21.72, giving it a 0.11 gap over the Dunlops. And while this may not seem like much, consider the fact that at Willow Spring the top three tires are all within one thousands of a second, and suddenly a tenth feels like an eternity. So where does it make up the most time at Streets? No where really. It’s more a combination of small bits here and there, than one major area where it really shines.

The Italian shoes are fastest though Turn 3, Turn 7, Turn 9/10 and the drive onto the front straight, though only marginally in each. But the key is that everywhere else they are right in the mix, not losing much more than a tenth in any given corner, allowing it to capitalize on the areas where it does excel slightly. Once again, another example of how tightly knit the top four in this group are.

As for corner-exit speeds at Streets of Willow, surprisingly it’s at the bottom of the pile coming out of the ultra-slow Turn 2 at 43.64 mph, nearly 5 mph down on the top ranking Avon’s (which is an anomaly in itself). As for the other slow spot in Turn 10, the Diablos ranked second at 45.55 mph, a mere 2 mph down on the Bridgestones. While this might not add up, it may simply come down to the use of different lines on different tires.

One advantage to the so-called ‘mush’ of the Pirellis is their ability shine on really bumpy tracks, which Streets no doubt fits into. The soft carcass soaks up a lot of the bumps quite well, even making up for some minor areas where suspension might be off. One could pick up on this right away and made the ride around the tight track much easier on the body as well as quicker.

Heading over to Big Willow the Pirellis really shined exit speed-wise, taking top honors coming out of Turn 8 at a lightning-fast 120.20 mph, some 2 mph up on the rest of the field. But just because it was quick exiting eight didn’t automatically make it top dog at the fast and flowing track, as the Pirellis logged the fourth-fastest time of 1:28.34. Though it must be noted it’s only 0.71 seconds of the top time – problem is, in this group, seven tenths of a second means almost last.

Taking a look at individual section times it’s easy to see the closeness, as there’s no one area that it loses major time, just fractions here and there, even sitting toward the top in a few places. More or less it’s mid-pack throughout the lap with the end result being less than a second off the pace, but still fourth position. But my personal impressions ranked it higher up the scale than the data did.

Speaking of scales, the Pirellis were second-lightest up front at 9-lb, 3.1-oz, yet the heaviest out back at 13-lb, 9.0-oz. Don’t let the tag of “heaviest” fool you though, as the lightest tire, the Avon, weights 13-lb, 1.1-oz; only a minimal 7.9-oz difference.

Bridgestone Battlax BT003

Unequivocally the surprise of the test was Bridgestone’s Battlax BT003 buns. Overall feel and feedback replicated the Pirelli quite closely, though a bit more stiff of a carcass, especially up front. In fact, I would say it’s nearly an exact cross between the Dunlops and the Pirellis. This equates to a front tire that is more planted and less “mushy” under hard braking while still soaking up some of the small pavement bumps that you feel though a harder carcass tires.

Day 1 at Streets and the BTs were third quickest at 1:21.84, a mere 0.12 seconds off the top. Proving the tires worked well both at lean and under acceleration, the two places on the track it was best were the ultra-slow Turn 4 and the back straight; Turn 4 highlighting its flickability and composure at lean with the back straight showing that it gets a great drive out of the turn leading onto the straight. It’s for this reason that the Bridgestones are also right near the top in every other corner, only losing tiny chunks of time here and there.

This was backed up with our slow-corner exit-speed comparison as the BT003s were second-fastest exiting Turn 2 at 46.31 mph (2 mph off the top spot), while ranking No. 1 in Turn 10, recording a 47.12 mph velocity, which was some 2 mph up on the second-place Pirellis. No doubt this put the surprise Bridgestones in the running right from the beginning.

Further adding to the where-did-these-come-from factor were the weights, as the Bridgestones shed off their former “Bridgerock” slang namesake and are the second-lightest both up front at 9-lb, 1.4-oz as well as out back at 13-lb, 2.8-oz.

And the eye-opening continued as they fared even better on Day 2 at Willow Springs, laying down a shatteringly quick time of 1:27.63 to tie the Dunlops right down to the thousands of a second for top honors. Who knew these guys made such a good club-level racing tire? Think there is any MotoGP trickledown technology in them?

Individual corner segment times show the Bridgestones top in both Turn 1 and the Turn 8/9 combo that leads onto the front straight. While they may have lost a few tenths in some parts of the infield, there was no one place where they really struggled and the end result was a tie for the quickest time of the test at Willow Springs.

Looking at Willow Springs exit speeds in Turn 4 and Turn 8 shows the Bridgestones right in the center of the group, ranking third in each. Looking more specifically at the 117.30 mph it clocked in Turn 8, despite being 3 mph down on the Pirellis they were still fastest through the sector from entry to exit, going to show that exit-speed isn’t everything. No doubt the Bridgestones make up some serious time on corner entry in Turn 8 to be mid-pack at the exit yet still fastest though the corner.

Dunlop Sportmax GP-A

Where we would normally think Dunlop enters a shootout like this as a top pick, in this case we were a bit skeptical about the GP-A going in. Let me give you some background why…

We did the Daytona SportBike shootout earlier this year and had some of the first Dunlop Sportmax GP-As made, which are the spec tire for that class. No doubt they under-performed, wearing out excessively fast, especially out back, at the hands of some relatively low-powered stock 600s. This took us by surprise as the previous D211GP N-Tec was an amazing tire, one of our favorites. But since our DSB test the boys at Dunlop have made some big strides in their GP-A and it showed in this test.

Initial impressions revealed an extremely planted and rigid tire around Streets of Willow, providing loads of grip and massive feedback, particularly up front. Bump absorption is probably the worst of the group, but this isn’t touring here and if you can’t handle some jolting through the bars, well, you’re in the wrong sport. On the other hand, this ability to translate each and every bump and crack in the pavement to the rider allows one to know exactly where they are in regards to the limit, giving the rider confidence in spades… as long as they are ready for it.

For Day 1 this translated into the second-quickest time of 1:21.83, a mere tenth of second of the Pirellis. This is the result of being quickest through individual sectors times in Turns 1, 2, 6, 8 and 11, while it was near the top in the rest. Flat out, it was consistently fast throughout the entire track. The only thing keeping it from top of the pile is a loss of 0.35 seconds in Turn 3 compared to the Pirellis. And while it makes it back up a few areas, it’s just not quite enough.

A glance at exit-speed reveals strangely low marks. With a mere 44.70 mph coming out of Turn 2, the GP-A is second-to-last, some 4 mph down on the leader, while in Turn 10 it was dead last at 42.92 mph, almost 5 mph off the pace. Interestingly, though, is that in both corners the segment times are at or near the front, highlighting that the confidence in the front tire easily made up for not getting the best drive out. It is quite quick down the back straight, right near the top, showing that exit-drive isn’t bad everywhere, only in the really slow corners.

While they may have been second on Day 1, it was top of the heap on Day 2 at Willow Springs. It may have been a tie with the Bridgestones, but shared or not, it’s still No. 1. Looking closer at individual segments reveals the GP-As quickest through Turns 6 and 7, while right in the mix in the fast Turns 8 and 9, giving up less than a tenth in each. But the real key is that, like the Bridgestones, in all of the areas they aren’t first that they were still right in the mix, not losing too much time.

A look at exit speeds backs up exactly what we saw at Streets, with the Dunlops second quickest in the ultra-high-speed Turn 8 at 118.80 mph, roughly 1.5 mph off the Pirellis. As for the slower Turn 4, it was at the back of the field, sitting second-to-last with a best speed of 67.12 mph. This is within a 3 mph range of all the other tires with the exception of the blisteringly-fast Michelins, which really shined though Turn 4 and exited at a whopping 73.19 mph.

There’s one other area that the Dunlops weren’t top dog and this was weight. The front comes in as the heaviest at 9-lb, 8.6-oz while the back is nearly the heaviest at 13-lb, 7.1-oz, with only the Pirelli rear weighing more. Yet, to reiterate, the gaps here are a matter of ounces and though they may have a small effect on performance, it’s not much.

As for how they wore, despite 100-plus degree heat we had no fade from the beginning of the run to the end with the front tire, though the rear did start to get greasy around lap five. Even so, it laid down its quickest time on the second-to-last lap at Willow Springs and the very last lap at Streets of Willow, showing it was minimal fade and the tires were extremely consistent over our testing parameters.

Factoring in the numbers and the Dunlops ability to produce consistently quick lap times, for our test they topped the Bridgestones ever so slightly in the overall data game. As for impressions, well, these echoed the numbers as the Dunlops and the Pirellis proved to be my seat-of-the-pants favorites. They still may not have the best low-speed drive-grip, but no two ways around it, Dunlop has made massive gains with the Sportmax GP-A and are back were they started – battling at the front.

The Real Verdict 

Numbers don’t lie and if you were to look through a microscope one could conclude the Dunlop Sportmax GP-A as top of the pile. But I’m not going to give them a crown, some fancy title, or roll out the red carpet. Why? Because the real revelation wasn’t who won outright, but just the sheer competiveness and utter closeness of the four major race tire manufacturers.

We’ve heard it a million times at the racetrack: “I would be winning if I was on Dunlops,” says the Michelin guy, while a Pirelli rider swears he’s at a disadvantage to everyone on Michelins…and the Bridgestone guys, well, they tend to think all three of the others got one up on them. It’s the vicious circle of blame. And you're all wrong!

I hate to break it to you guys, but as you can see here plain as day, it’s the rider and machine, not the tires, that makes the difference. Look at the numbers: Top four within six tenths at Streets of Willow and seven tenths at Willow Springs - plus the top three with within a mind-boggling one hundredth of second at Big Willow! Not to mention the order changed from track to track, showcasing the highlights of some compared to those of others, with no one tire dominating in section times at either track. It’s for this reason that instead of giving you a scoresheet and ranking them first to fifth, we’re giving the top four a flat-out tie, with the Avons at the back in an obvious fifth.

Now, due to time constraints, wear-factor is one area that wasn’t able to be fully addressed with this test, the exception being the Avons, which had to be double-stinted due to them only sending one set. And the results were apparent, as on Day 2 its times fell off drastically, losing several seconds. As for the rest, from previous experience the I can tell you the Pirellis tend to go off the quickest in high heat due to its soft carcass. Signs of this were even seen in the five laps during our test. Bridgestone falls in right behind the Italian buns due to much the same reason, while the Michelins and Dunlops top the pile. Of those two, the French rear drops off slightly quicker than the American rubber. I’ve raced both for 20-plus laps in both AMA and club competition and can give you extensive firsthand knowledge. That said, in no way is it a drastic difference; small at best. Any tire is going to wear to some extent at this pace and part of being a good racer is managing that. Thus, as a whole - Avons excluded - in a typical 8-10 lap club race all will hold up with little-to-no problem.

Boys and girls, it’s time to bite the bullet and take it like a man. Tire technology has progressed to an amazing level and if you’re on any of the four major players you’ve got nothing to bark about – other than how good they are, that is. So the choice is yours and hopefully this shootout has provided you the needed information to make the correct decision for your personal needs – though you really can’t go wrong with any of the top players...