YGC / YHC Tires

Gregg M Robinson · Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2002 8:48 am Post subject: YGC / YHC Tires

For mostly political reasons, our club (Portland Karting Asc) is switching from Dunlop SL4s to Bridgestone YGC/YHCs for our club sprint races this year. My sons and I were new racers last season and we were just starting to get a feeling for how to best use the SL4s and the end of the season .

I would like to get some tips on:

Tire Pressures?
Handling changes during their life? ( add caster ?)
How many races we can expect? ( This is club racing )
Any other tips?

We are running super box, senior 340 lbs and super box, masters 360 lbs.

THANKS!!!!

Larry Ferguson · Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2002 6:03 pm Post subject: YGC / YHC Tires

Gregg,

I think that you'll find that the YHC(wayyy harder than the YGC!) will be stickier than the SL4 (not by much

). They were used this year in Las Vegas for the S2 class (who knows why

) at the SKUSA Super Nats. They do heat cycle pretty nicely, and last a lot longer than I do

)
Try starting out a couple of pounds lower than on an SL4 and see where that gets you. On a 125 at 385 lbs, we were running at 11.5 rear, and 10.5 in the front. We found them to be a bit sensative to temp changes (air & track). All in all, a hard, slow tire, but if everyone else is on them, they definatly seem to stay consistant. Best of luck.

Regards,
Larry
Randolph Ferguson Motorsports

Rick Blood · Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2002 6:52 pm Post subject: YGC / YHC Tires

Larry, I agree with you except that they don't live long. Our experience showed that after the fifth heat cycle they were junk. They sure looked nice but they weren't even good as practice tires.

Gregg M Robinson · Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2002 10:09 pm Post subject: YGC / YHC Tires

Thanks so much for everyones feedback. I am really happy to here that they are a little on the hard side. Our track usually has a lot of grip, and it was at times hard to free the superbox kart up even on the SL4s. We found that shooting for about 14-15 lbs hot was the best for the SL4s. A little less for the YGC / YHCs sounds like the ticket.

We were just getting to the point where dialing in a little extra caster after the first few heat cycles to maintain front grip. Is this done by anyone for the YGCs?

Is what I heard correct....? The YGCs are no longer produced and they are only available from dealer stock? We plan on running a gold cup race at McMinnville OR (our home track) The end of May. This will be our first time wiht the bigger dogs. I imagine most of the "G" tires will be gone by then. I am thinking get the "H" tires and start learning them. Agree?? Thanks again all.

Bill D Talley · Joined: 08 Oct 2001 Posts: 314

Greg, as far as dialing in more caster. This season, try to free up the rear instead of adding more front. What I mean is go to softer axles, shorter hubs, wider track width etc. Also, if you are trying to maintain grip on entry, just go a little wider in the front. Caster adds so much drag, I try and take it all out. If you go soft in the rear and the kart goes loose, that is when removing caster can be the ticket.

But...sometimes with these hard tires, you need the stiffer rear and caster ot make the kart "bite" the track. As always, testing is key.

Good luck.

Bill Talley

Stephen Buckley · Joined: 18 Jul 2001 Posts: 861

Hi Greg,

I'm not sure if the decision to run Bridgestones was political or not. Many of us would've liked to run at your track, however to do so required us to purchase Dunlop tires, tires that no other local NW sprint club uses. I was told that this was because the dealer down your way was a Dunlop dealer, not a Bridgestone one. Sound familiar?

I'm not real sure that I'm going to run the Gold Cup series. I run up in Canada mostly because they, on the most part, run CIK rules , have large grids, and they have a choice of tires. You can run Bridgestone, Maxxis, Dunlop, or Vega. This prevents the proverbial dealer bottleneck.

Take care.

Gregg M Robinson · Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2002 2:05 pm Post subject: YGC / YHC Tires

Bill.... thanks for those tips.... Great.. right after I bought the Caster Pills... now I need new hubs! But I was thinking we needed to try those to. I learn more all the time!

Stephen... I sent you an email with more details around why we changed. Basic reason, we want to run the same tire as Pat's Acres in Canby, OR so that we can share racers. Pat's is changing tires this season, so we will to. Build the fields at both tracks. We will also be running what the Gold Cup circuit runs, so we might pick up some more racers from there.

As far as dealers in our area, the biggest supporters of sprint racing at McMinnville is CMC in Tigard, OR and Knight Racing in Gresham, OR. Both sell Dunlop and Bridgestone and are very active dealers. I am too new to understand where the origin of the Dunlop use came from.

Gregg

Joe Vancura · Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2002 7:32 pm Post subject: YGC / YHC Tires

I have run the YGCs + SL4s.YGCs have more grip for sure.I ran 10-12 for pressure and it seemed good.Kt100 can-club racing-is good for three race days,then they are junk.In shifter you can get one good day and one drivable day out of them.On day three you are on borrowed time.They get very inconsistant.Don't throw those caster pills away just yet,they will get used sooner or later.

Dick George · Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2002 11:13 am Post subject: YGC / YHC Tires

my son are I are new to karting this year. Our current set of YHC's has about 200 laps, and 15 or so heat cycles on them. He did complain today that they seemed slippery. Still have wear indicators left though. Is this near the end of the life cycle, or do I have a whiny kid?

Steve Moore · Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2002 6:51 pm Post subject: YGC / YHC Tires

Oh yeah, they're done.

Steve Moore · Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2002 6:52 pm Post subject: YGC / YHC Tires

Well done.

Steve Moore · Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2002 6:53 pm Post subject: YGC / YHC Tires

It's not the number of laps so much, it's the heat cycles.

Tim Lewis · Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2002 9:48 am Post subject: YGC / YHC Tires

Dick,

The tires are cooked, no question.

If you have another set of rims, put the new tires on them. Next time you go to the track make him start on the old tires. After a run or two switch over to the stickers (new ones). You'll get a big smile out of it and teach him the difference in the feeling of new and old tires. He'll also feel good about himself for picking up some laptime.