My back tire has about had it, so i figured i would throw this out there and see what the responses are..... Does anyone have any rear tire that has impressed them? or any tires that are an absolute waste of money? or just a good old reliable tire that has worked well. Has anyone played with different tire sizes? just looking to see the possibilities.. Throw it out there lets see what u guys are running for rubber.
Pirelli Diablo Corsa III's for smokin grip and track day use. Metzler Z6, great sport touring tire. BZ
i recently bought new tires. when asking opinions at the shop, (i was looking for long lasting) the counter guy suggested Michelin Pilot road for their lasting durability. He claimed to be getting 12K+ miles on a set. upon further research, he's actually getting less than others are stating. So i bought a set and loved them on first turn. they fell into corners with ease but they take a long time to warm up. then, when that guy from Michigan came along parting out his entire '05 i bought from him both tires/wheels. he had recently put on a pair of Michelin Pilot Power. i figured i already loved the road, why not give the power a try? now these things are just magnets to the street. they fall a little too easily into corners but they feel like they're just not happy unless you're wearing out the edge. not a chicken strip on these whatsoever and they warm up instantly. only drawback is they appear to be wearing down rather quickly. thankfully i've got the pilot roads as a backup. hope this helps
Lots of tire threads, but this brings up some interesting questions / things for you to think about. How old is your front tire? If it's the 5+ year old stocker, it's time to replace them both. You may have plenty of tread left and they may look ok, but the compound goes bad over time. Assuming your front tire is good: What is it? I'm stickler for tire type mis-match. I hope the super-techies on here will correct me on this if I'm talking out my butt. I wouldn't actually ride a bike hard with a stock/commuter tire up front and throw a super-grippy track tire on the rear. Same goes in reverse. Don't go canyon carving with a track tire in the front and a Pilot Road in the rear -- unless you like spinning tires out of corners. So on to tire recommendations: -Avoid Pilot Roads like the plague. They don't like to warm up. I know a few different people who have had traction related incidents with Pilot Roads when they really shouldn't have. They are, however, great rain tire and do last quite a while. It's important to note, Pilot Road 2's ARE recommended. The dual compound helps with the original Road's shortcomings. -Dual compound tires, get some. Pilot Road 2 if you're a commuter guy. Pilot Power 2 if you're a canyon monkey. I'm a huge fan of my Avon Storm ST's. Another fine dual compound tires. I have a set approaching 10k miles and the rear needs replacing finally. Tons of highway miles, high speed sweepers and rain/thunderstorms like you wouldn't believe. It's a great highway tire for people that like to have fun in the turns. Bottom line. Think beyond what the best rear tire is. You'll go through two or 3 rears per front. Find a good "set" for your riding style, and commit to it for a few rears.
I run Road Pilots with both tires over pressure 4psi, to prevent cupping and just replaced the rear after 12,000 problem-free miles. The front's at 12k too and I was gonna replace it too but the local honda shop said it's got about 4-6 thousand left in it...
holy sheet 12 thousand on a back tire?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Yep, and the tire wasn't quite at wear limit either. I replaced it because of an upcoming trip (2500 miles) and I didn't wanna replace it on the fly. It should be pointed out that's all road miles over 2.5 years, no track, stunting or 0-150 between traffic lights, just average riding (with an occasional full throttle kick)
