What "tars" you all runnin' on the street?

[CHAVEZ]

Just curious as to what everybody runs on the street and how you feel about them. Thinking of switching.....just for a change. Last year I switched from 207's to Metzler Renns. I can't emphasize how great of a change that was. Have loved my Renns since the day I put them on. Pure confidence edge to edge on the street.

So, you guys found anything better? What you got?

DAVE

[Shane]

I have tried 207's and Pilot sports for street/track day tires. MICHELLINS PILOT SPORTS SUCK! I hated those things. I loved my 207's. They were perfect. I liked them better than my michellin race tires. Bridgestones are going on this time so I will you know in a couple of weeks about 001's.

[thom_boles]

I just switched to Dunlop D220's from the Metzler Sportec M1. The sportec was a pretty nice tire. I don't ride the twisties too much so I was wearing a flat spot into them. They seemed to have lasted about 6000 miles of "normal riding"

[Bambam]

I used two sets of Michelin Pilot Sports, street and trackdays - utterly superb tyres, predictable, loads of traction - I loved them but they are too pricey for my taste. So I tried Dunlops, the 220s were pretty good, two set of D207s - I wanted to like them, but they just don't grip the road very well and felt 'floaty' - scared the poop out of me in the rain. I switched to Metzeler SportTec M1s a few weeks ago, 1500 miles and they are right up there performance wise with the Pilots but MUCH cheaper... The M1s are excellent in the wet also. I might get another 1000 miles out of them too, by the look of them.

Pilot Sport :thumbsup
M1s :thumbsup

[pguest]

I have Bridgestone BT020's on my TT.
I needed something with good wet & dry performance (only rode on them in damp to wet conditions once so far) and that would last a good amount of miles.
I think they are OK. I'm still transitioning from bias ply (BT45's on my GS500) to radials, and I may have issues with the suspension setup on the bike and I have not looked into that yet.

The Bridgestones that I have rode on when riding GS500's (BT45's and BT96/090's) have been great. Never any doubts with them.

[Dave Bannister]

I've been able to buy 207's for about $200 a set for the last few years and just got in the habit of using them.. I really don't have anything bad to say about them except all these style tires (sport tires) no matter what they are getting replaced every 3000 miles at best.. Usually I get enough feedback from the 207's if I am pushing them too hard to slow down a bit and never had them slide unexpected... If the tires are near used up I do make sure to be less greedy twisting the throttle and not abuse the brakes much...
I will agree that in the rain the 207's aren't very impressive

I am gonna try the sport-tec tires this time just because I haven't ever used them I maybe I can tell a difference..



I'll update in a few weeks...;)

[dcassada]

Originally posted by Dave Bannister
I've been able to buy 207's for about $200 a set for the last few years and just got in the habit of using them.. I really don't have anything bad to say about them except all these style tires (sport tires) no matter what they are getting replaced every 3000 miles at best.. Usually I get enough feedback from the 207's if I am pushing them too hard to slow down a bit and never had them slide unexpected... If the tires are near used up I do make sure to be less greedy twisting the throttle and not abuse the brakes much...
I will agree that in the rain the 207's aren't very impressive

I am gonna try the sport-tec tires this time just because I haven't ever used them I maybe I can tell a difference..



I'll update in a few weeks...;)
I've have used Michelins Tyres and there my favorite all around tyre the 59's 89's 90's 100x's and just got a set of Pilot Roads from Glenn at Sporttour all of these sport/touring tyres. There very good in the rain,plenty grip in the dry, and I get from 8-10,000 miles out of them. The 207's I liked alot but 5,000 is all I got out of them and I like to get a seasons use out of a set. Go to Glenns site sporttour.com or call, he has good prices on Metzlers,Dunlops, and Michelins, all around $ 200 a set.

[fj12dean]

the fj owners seem to have a preference to either the dunlop d220 or the avon av45/46. both reportedly (i've only used 205s and 220s) allow a good combination of sport and longevity.

[ZXracer]

My ZX-11 came factory with the Bridgestone Battlax's and I didn't care for them at all......switched to the Metzeler Sportec M-1's and they ROCK, great wet and dry traction......BUT, my bike weighs 604 lbs. soaking wet and I was only getting about 2,300 to 2,900 miles out of a rear, I have had two rears and the original front but they're too expensive to get a few months of use out of, I just switched to Michelin Pilot (roads) and so far I like them ALOT.......only dry riding so far and they have plenty of grip for my riding style, then again, I don't require knee sliders either!!!! :p

[Chris]

I use Bridgestone Battleaxe BT 010's on my bike, and I've never had a problem with them at all. They are really sticky, and don't take long to heat up. Wear pattern is good too, as long as you ride the twisties once in a while to wear down the sides.

[NaKeDZX]

I like the Pilot Sports a lot. But for the $$ I like the BT010s just fine.:D

[Godzuki]

i use whatever is being speced out for supersport that year and i buy the cast offs for street. right now i have 2 sets of pirellie corsa dragons greens. seem to be pretty good in most conditions. my favorite used to be the 207's they were so predictable and offered good grip in the dry. i also had a set of metzers the equall to the corsa's they were nice too. the only tires i hated were the stock tires that were on my f2/f3 when i got it i think they were battle axe bt 56's good for the road but they sucked on the track i tried them for the hell of it 1 day and then i put them up for sale. although they were good for learning rolling burnouts wernt quite as sticky as race stuff.

[Motorsports Photo]

Track-

Dunlop- Weird wear patterns. No more for me

Metz/Pirelli- Extremely short tire life

Metzlers were my tire of choice in the 90's.

Bridgestone slicks- The best wearing confidence inspring tires I ever had. Soft or hard.

Street-

Continental. Best mileage and good feel for street riding. Only ones that were dogs were the TK44 supertwins. All the rest seem to be very good.

-SP

[mracer29]

Originally posted by Motorsports Photo
Track-



Bridgestone slicks- The best wearing confidence inspring tires I ever had. Soft or hard.


-SP I agree on the bridgestone slicks!!!!!! But Dunlops were the team choice last year, not cause they were the best tire of corse!!

[ducatijeff]

I have found Michelin Pilot Sports my favorite tire for the street (we even raced a set on the 748 when we couldn't get rains in time!)
I race on Michelin slicks in various compounds and their Pilot Race D.O.T. tires in H2 and M2 compounds.
I had Michelin Commanders on my FXDL, which I loved. The tread pattern didn't follow rain grooves the way the stock Dunlop's did, they stuck well (for Harley cornering!), and had good life.
Sally has Pilot Sports on her Acura RSX and I use Michelin on my F-150.
If they made mower tires...
Jeff
PS. Crooked River Motorcycles is a Michelin Performance Center. My opinions were formed before we had financial ties!

[dualsport]

All of the different riding styles, bike weight, rider weight, road conditions and price, are factors when buying tires. Check with people that ride under the same conditions, if it be track, street, dual-sport, dirt... With the mail-order competition, it is easy to get a good deal on tires. Make sure you have a way of mounting them if you buy mail-order. Some shops will not mount other peoples tires.
If you have a particular tire in mind, call me with the best price you have found (including shipping cost) and I'll see if I can't beat it.

[cmaus]

Diofferent riders have different riding styles.. The tires too, have differnt characteristics and react differently to different bikes and rider input. What works for one rider may not for another. So if you make a not so good choice in tires you can either sell em or compensate buy altering your riding style to conform to the tires. Not easily done, but it will make you a better rider in the long run.
Any replys? Im open to constructive criticism.. Chris

[gsJack]

Originally posted by cmaus
Diofferent riders have different riding styles.. The tires too, have differnt characteristics and react differently to different bikes and rider input. What works for one rider may not for another. So if you make a not so good choice in tires you can either sell em or compensate buy altering your riding style to conform to the tires. Not easily done, but it will make you a better rider in the long run.
Any replys? Im open to constructive criticism.. Chris

Couldn't have said it any that better Chris, all rings true to me. From 1982 till 1999, I put a quarter million miles on small 400-750cc bikes and being a high milage rider, I always ended up putting Dunlop touring tires on the rear for max tire life.

Bought a new 97 GS500E in Mar 99 and ran the OEM Stones for about 8k miles and then put on BT45's for another 9500 miles. Then a rear ME88 touring tire that stuck as well as the 45's but lasted about 17k miles.

So why not try my old favorite K491 Dunlop touring tire next. Well little Suzi was having no part of that Dunlop. I had been a mature adult rider before that, but Suzi had led me astray. That Lop was breaking loose constantly from day one and like you suggest above Chris, I adjusted my riding to conform and ran that tire for about 18k miles till it was destroyed by a nail thru the edge of the tread and taken off still only half worn. That tire made a better rider out of me, I learned to catch a breaking loose rear end before it went anywhere and not miss a beat doing it.

Then a 2nd rear BT45 was half worn out by actual measure in less than 2k miles when I took it off to put on radials to start the 2002 season. I ran a MEZ4/Z2 combo for 10k miles and put on a GT501 front for 3k miles to finish the season. I started this year with a new set of Z4/Z2 Metz's but had to replace the rear and then the front before the season was over, interrupted a bit in July when a kid in a pick-up sent me and Suzi flying.

So in the past 2 years I've run these combo's FRT/REAR, Z4/Z2, GT501/Z2, Z4/Z2 again, Z4/AV36, BT010/AV36. I'm really starting to like that BT010/AV36 combo. :-)

At the same time, I bought a slightly used 02 GS500 in Sept with 4k on it that had a OEM front with a Kenda K657 rear. I've put 4k miles on that combo trying to see how fast that Kenda rear will corner while still putting miles on the 97 GS with the radials on it. That Kenda is a lot better than a K491 in the dry, but not so good in the wet. The newer 02 GS500 will get a set of AV45/46 ST tires for the 04 season.

Don't know if this GS500 tire talk belongs in the Sportbike section, but little Suzi really loves to play with bigger bikes.

[jsipes]

Sheesh, Jack! What's the clock of the '97 GS read??? Have you had any engine/ maintainance issues? My fiance's '94 has 23K on the clock and doesn't miss a beat. Great bikes.

[gsJack]

Originally posted by jsipes
Sheesh, Jack! What's the clock of the '97 GS read??? Have you had any engine/ maintainance issues? My fiance's '94 has 23K on the clock and doesn't miss a beat. Great bikes.

I've had no serious problems at all with the 97 GS. It has had forks seals once, a tach drive seal once, and a valve cover gasket a couple times. Plus all the tires, brakes, chains, sprockets, oil, filters, and spark plugs all bikes need. :-)

Didn't have to add oil between changes till after 50k miles. Uses more now, like 2-3 pints between changes. After they are well worn in, the GS's do push out a lot of oil at high rpms. Not bad considering it's air cooled and I ran it hard most of the 80,000 miles on it now.

The only big thing was about $300 worth of parts to put it back in service after it was totalled when I was hit by a pick-up truck last summer. It's about good as ever again now and I'm keeping it for my winter/backup bike.