I see high powered bikes on racing slicks fairly often. Why are they so popular in the streets ?

I thought they required certain temperature to operate properly which riding on the street cant do so

They look cool.

Slicks are no good for the street and in most cases just for showing off at the coffee shop. They do need higher temperatures to be effective, wear off much faster than normal tires and are useless in wet conditions, bordering to being outright dangerous for everyday use.

Can I use race tyres on public roads?

NO! Definitely not! Not only is it illegal to use race-only tyres on public roads, but race-only tyres are also constructed in such a way that they are very unstable under normal street riding conditions. For more information on riding at High Speed and Racing Tyres, see our ADVICE section.

www.bridgestone.co.uk

I think that long as the roads are dry and you get them up to temperature then they will work great.

If that's the sort of riding you are doing.

Not the sort of riding I tend to do. Plus super sticky race tyres grip really well in the right conditions but do not last long.

Great if you can afford it and only intend to ride in the dry or at least make sure the tyres are nice and hot before it rains!

Motorcycle Racing Slicks: Don’t Wear These Tires at Home

Or are they normal tires like Omega describes but worn out /past their 'sell by' date?

Maintenance isn't a strong point with some, here in Thailand, is it?

most of them were pirelli superbike series (i think sc2)

they have the yellow "pirelli superbike" logo on the side

one of those bikes was a ninja h2... just made me wondering regarding the operating temperature cuz bangkok is mostly go and stop

i personally use supercorsa SP's and they seem to work pretty well but i always am on the quest for better stuff. hence why i started this thread to gain some more info on the road slicks cult

Pose value only, no way you can keep them at temperature.

Aren't race tyres only good for around 6 heat cycles? Be very difficult to get up to temp on the street and would lose temperature any time you stopped.

Guess they would void your insurance also but TiT