Tire profiles and lean angles

Hello all,

I'm wondering the difference between sport touring tires and sport tires.  I'm supposing the sport touring tires will have less grip (but last longer).  So, the less grip will not be able to support as much lean angle as the better sport tires?  Will the tire slide out before the tire goes off the edge?  Do sport bikes have enough clearance to go off the edge of tires?

Also, do the different type tires have the same profiles?  And the racers that get down on those extreme angles, do their tires have the same profiles or do they just grip better?  

Read up on the black arts of motorcycle tires here: http://sportrider.com/tech/tires/

As you have surmised, sport-touring tires are often a harder, longer wearing compound with less grip. Sport tires are typically a softer, faster wearing compound that offers more grip. No free lunch with most things in life. You either build a tire with more mileage or a tire with more grip, can't really do both.

I'd wager the profiles of a sport-touring tire tend to be rounder vs. the more triangular profiles of sport tires. DOT treaded and race slicks seem to have even more triangular profiles. I would think profile affects contact patch at lean as well as handling characteristics like turn-in.

Then there is the carcass construction and material, vital aspects of tires that are much less publicized and understood.

I can't remember but I think a British magazine did a test a few years ago where they ran their bike on a automotive skid pad... round and round until they lowsided it. Suffice it to say, they got some insane lean angles before that occurred. I think their conclusion was that a rider would do something to cause the tires to exceed their available traction or a typical stock sportbike would run out of  clearance before you ran off the edge of a modern sport motorcycle tire.

Lean angle does not directly equate to speed. One of the main ideas behind hanging off is to minimize the amount of lean required for a given speed in a given radius corner. The less lean angle, the better because this should impose less lateral load on the tire which would mean more grip in reserve for things like accelerating or braking. Not to mention, a motorcycle chassis does not have much of a useable suspension at extreme lean angles.

Just my 2/100ths of a dollar.  

Close Tevo, but profile depends on the tire not necessarily the type of tire.

My Diablo Strada's, yes the touring tire and yes I have them on my R6 and yes they have PLENTY of grip for the strip.

These tires have a much steeper profile than my old 208's, which I like cause turn-in is much faster.

I put the 70 on the front and raised the forks 10mm and now the bike starts turning before you tell it to, its like it knows where it is.

If you aren't riding track get some good sport touring tires, your wallet will thank you.  

I aim for a trackdays  month from June thru September with a school thrown in for good measure... so you could say I am not in the the sport-touring tire market segment.

The strip as in dragstrip? Probably better to run low pressures for the widest  on-center contact patch for best performance in this environment since turning isn't part of the equation.

New tires will almost always feel like they turn-in faster than a worn set of tires. Lower the front by raising the the forks in the triple by 10mm and most any  tire will feel like it turns-in faster than what was previously run.

Try a set of DOTs like a Supercorsa and Pilot Race and let me know how turn-in feels.