Tire recommendations for 6th gen?

The front tire on an '02 VFR I picked up is showing some cracking in the chicken strips. Even though there's a decent tread left on it, methinks it's old and needs replacing. The rear seems to be in good shape, so I'm just planning on doing the front right now.

Couple questions:

- Any particular brand of tire recommended for this bike?

- Would there be any problem replacing just the front with a different brand than is on the rear?

Thanks for any advice!

 

Hey Uber. This is a commonly asked question. You can use the search function and find tons of threads and discussions on it.

Tire choice will ultimately be up to you based on what you want to get out of it, but its always "strongly suggested" you replace both tires at the same time.

Good luck.

 

Yep you'll get a 100 different answers as to what works will with the VFR. The short answer is it's really personal preference. Until you personally try a number of different tire brands / models and combos, you won't know what works for your riding style.

Use the search function, look at the recommendations/reviews and then pick one and try it out.

 

You'll get a zillion answers on this but here's the only one that counts: Michelin Road 2 (or the Road 3). op2:

 

If your front is cracking check the production dates on the rear before you place the order for just the front. It could be just as old but not showing cracks yet. I'm ordering new ones today to replace my BT021's, probably gonna go for the PR3's.

 

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And... check the dates on the tires. I spoke with two guys that race professionally. They spoke of heat cycles on the race tires and the dates on the sport bike tires. Both riders thought that a sport bike tire should not be any older than two years. They based this on age of rubber. Older rubber gets hard. It was mentioned that they wear out their sport tires near the two year mark anyway.

But for me, its different. I bought M3's this time. Got them from cyclegear on sale but they had to order them. I will never purchase a tire again, unless they can guarantee the tires are close to one year old (or less). I don't have the dates on mine handy but they were a year and a month or two old. I like them a lot. I know my bt16's lasted 3 years. But this is a good habit to get into.

A good exercise, walk into cyclegear or motorcycle tire seller of your choice and look at the dates of the tires on the rack.

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A ton of tires to choose from. Whatever you choose, it's very important to match the front and rear. Different profiles (shoulder angles) don't agree on much and are usually very detrimental to handling. If your front is old enough to be cracking, then your rear is probably shot anyway; even if it isn't showing it like the front.

M3's are my choice as well. They work extraordinarly well if fast and curvy is your thing.

 

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How long do your M3's last? I don't have a huge amount of miles on them and they seem to be holding up well. The bt16's got near 9K before the huge flat spot (thats two track days included).

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WOW!! 9000 out of some '16's that has to be a record! Mine were shot at 3000 miles.

 

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What??? Thats not normal?

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I get roughly 3500 on a rear and 4000-4500 up front. That's with no track days, but all mileage is under aggressive canyoning with no commuting.

 

Hell no, I won't even see that much on my '21s.
You must be the worlds smoothest rider!

 

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Hmmm. I think I'll get ready for some underwhelming mileage on the M3's.

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Re tyres for the VFR after dalliances with Pilot Powers and more recently Dunlop Q2s have found the Michelin R2s were the best compromise between Good (if a little slow on initial turn in) through the twisties but brilliant in the Wet and for long mileage. Have just gone to Road 3s after reading in UK BIKE Mags they win the ST tire test with 5 stars which included the Road 2, too early to tell for myself.

 

The problem I have with either set of Michelins (Road or Power) beyond slower turn-in, is less lean angle. I think the compound on the PR is fine for the road, if they would just give it a supersport profile, like the M3. I would love to get 6k-7k on a tire that will actually allow me to get the bike all the way down.

 

I don't know Marrib, if you got 9k on 016's, you'll probably do much better with the M3's than do I.

 

Have to agree the R2s are no track tyre but lean as far anyone needs to on a public road. Have seen one of the faster Ozvfrs wear through his VFRs headers on R2s, still was a good excuse for him to get motads.

 

Tires have nothing to do with lean angle, Balls do. The previous owner of my bike had the freakin' footpeg feelers worn in half with the stock Dunlop 208 (?) that everyone thinks are shite and have no grip. They are shite, they do have no grip but his balls were large so it didn't seem to bother him.
If you are the kind of bloke that routinely scrapes your VFR feelers then you are probably on the wrong bike. That's why he sold it.
I have my Road 2's worn to the edge of the tread, my previous Metzeler Racetecs still had some room. Same lean angle just a different profile of tire.
I agree with havcar 7000m on a supersport tire would be great ( I'd settle for 5k), the trouble is I can only get 3-4000 out of mine and two sets of tires per year is a killer.

 

That's my point, the profile has very much to do with safely putting the bike down to the pegs. Especially if the rider likes to get on the gas coming out of the corner. When I tried the Michelin's I was out of full contact patch (beyond chicken strips) before I hit the feelers, not to say you can't go further than that, you're just not on a full patch any more. When I switched to the M3's the peg feelers came off after the first ride, and the front will maintain some stripping less a knee on the asphalt = more lean the PP's.