Tire replacement choice ??

[dieseldad60]

Now that folks are putting a few miles on the green (or gray) missiles, what are people choosing for tires after the stock set goes. Don't think mine is quite there but I am prolly hitting the road for 1000-1500 mile weekend soon. I don't wanna worry about my tires while I am out so thinking about getting some new ones.

I have the stock tires now (Bridgestone I think) and have about 3 mm of tread depth on the rear. A hair over 3k miles. Any suggestions and advice. Thinking about Michelin Road Pilots or maybe the Pirelli Angel GT's.

Thoughts??

[HouTexH2SX]

My OEM Bridgestone rear only lasted 4,000 miles before the wear bars came up toward the center (I have to ride about 50 miles on highways before I get to the curves in my area which means the centers wear a lot faster than the edges). I went with Pirelli Angel GT's because I've had good experience with them on other bikes getting more mileage but also good handling.

[Prof J]

I've heard good things about the newer formulation of Continental 3 series and the process they used to make the 3 series, and as well their effectiveness. The 3 series appears to be made differently (homogenous) across the entire surface, from the side edges to the inner 'patch', such that their grip sounds to be very effective, and uniform as the bike transitions form center patch to cornering and the outer edges of the tire.

Also, from what I understand, the tire is (my word) 'baked/cooked' at different temps across the sides, transitioning from the sides edges to center, so that where typical new tires from other companies come out rather slick after being made, and need some mileage to break in the rubber, to get the surface roughed up to have it's traction, the Continental 3's come out of the oven with the rubber already having a rougher surface, so less to perhaps almost no time needed to break in the tire to obtain the rough surface for traction. I have not heard anything about their mileage, however.

I think after the stock rubber, I'll try out the Continental 3's afterwards.

[OneBadDuc]

I am a fan of the Michelin Pilot Road 4 (standard and GT variants) and Michelin Road 5 tires. I have 6,600 miles on my present set of Pilot Road 4 GT tires with room to spare. The tires are strong in both wet and dry weather (including hard cornering). I have the Road 5 tires on my C14 and have been impressed with the new siping and tread pattern. I will be putting those tires on the SE once I burn out the Pilot Road 4 tires. I am hard on tires as every two years I travel across the U.S. and back (about 6,800 miles round trip) on two wheels; both versions of this tire have provided around 7,200 miles (+/-) before having to get replacements. The tacky compound on the outer edges of the tires provide confidence in the corners with the siping providing noticeable reductions in stopping distance in the wet. The sidewalls hold the bead well against the rim and I did not see air pressure reductions (of course until major elevation/temperature changes). The only time I have had the tires feel hard was in low temperatures (around 30F); there was just not enough heat in the ground and air to keep them warm. For speed, I have never had a concern they would bulge and blow at high acceleration or high constant speed.

[Reciprocal]

I don't think I'd be putting GT tires on. I'd rather not have a tire that I didn't like the handling of for the longer service life I'd have to put up with it. I do understand if you're a commuter, or interstate traveler. The Dunlop Roadsmart III is claimed to have the longest life and to keep its peak performance longer. And a great video of an FJR1300 hustling around curves in the wet. Some hypersport tires I've run were highly grippy at first but after a few heat cycles or some wear, they felt hard and lost their grip, even if still showing adequate remaining tread depth. Just about any of them should allow full lean angles when they are new. I just replaced the stock Bridgestone S21 which after 2700 miles had lost their grip and my trust. I replaced with the S22 which you could immediately tell were soft and sticky as soon as the bike came off the center stand, squeaky like new shoes with no break-in. How long will they last? Probably about the same. But if you factor in the competitive price, you can change them more often for no more cost per mile. There's a video of the S22 at Jerez, driven to the max. The riders were saying it had all the traction you needed for knee down track riding with 3 times the track life, all you give up is a second a lap as you can't accelerate as hard off the corners.

When you really think about it, it comes down to how thick and soft the compound. It's soft and grippy at full depth, but as it wears down, it gets thin and hard.

I believe the most critical success factor for a tire is the marketing. Pirelli, Michelin, Dunlop, Continental, Metzeler, Bridgestone all make competitive tires.

So far the S22 feels really grippy, and was priced right. Changing tires on H2 SX SE is a dream, center stand and single sided swing arm. Never had a sportbike so pleasing.

[Burmashave]

Why start a new thread?

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=580

[PhukDD]

My OEM Bridgestone rear only lasted 4,000 miles before the wear bars came up toward the center (I have to ride about 50 miles on highways before I get to the curves in my area which means the centers wear a lot faster than the edges). I went with Pirelli Angel GT's because I've had good experience with them on other bikes getting more mileage but also good handling.

I think we have more miles of straights before anything good here. I am going to try the Angel GT II. Could uses new ones here pretty quick

[keith zx]

I have had no issues with the stock tyres so far, I replaced my bmw 1600gt stock tyres with the pilot 4's , found they gave great grip on the bm, I changed the stock tyres on my sx 1000 for the 5's and also found them to be a great tyre , when the time comes , at present 1500 miles will probably go for the 5's on my h2 .

[dieseldad60]

Why start a new thread?

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=580

I searched but must have missed that one. Thanks.

[Burmashave]

Why start a new thread?

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=580

I searched but must have missed that one. Thanks.

Prolly because the title didn't really describe where the thread went. On the other hand, given that this is an MC forum, guaranteed, absolutely guaranteed, there is a tire thread somewhere, not far from the oil thread. ;-)