VF500F tire recomendations?

Since Ive owned my 500 for about 3 years now, ive only used Battlax BT45's on front and rear. I can only get one summer out of the rear (maybe 2500miles). Sure they stick great in the turns (i no longer have chicken strips) but i want longer mileage. Im thinking of these tires: Bridgestone S11, Shinko 712, Kenda K657, or Dunlop D404. Anybody have experience with these other tires?

 

A good article on bias-ply tire options:

http://vfrworld.com/forums/1st-2nd-generation-1983-1989/33657-tire-questions.html#post300250

Hope this is of help.

 

I run the BT-45 tires on all 3 of my 1986 bikes. On the 500, I've got 5000 miles on the current set and they have a ton of life left. You should be getting many more miles than 2500.

 

wow!! that's impressive.

 

I had Pirelli Sport Demons on my '86 VF500 and loved them. (they are still doing great with the new owner)

I had Avon RoadRiders on my '86 VFR750 and loved them. (they are still doing great with the new owner)

Both bikes had BT-45's on them before and they wore horribly.

 

I have BT45's on the 500, and my Ninja 250. On the Ninja I get about 7000 to 7500 miles, but on the 500 it's less than 5000. I have a brand new one on the 500 now, and I can't ride it. I also have a brand new one on the 250, and I'm trying to wear it out!

 

I always had tire wear issues with the BT's too. About the best tire I've found for the stock wheels is the Dunlop GT501's. Great grip and long life - excellent tire.

 

That article is in the Ninja 500 wiki.

My wife's Ninja 500 came with Pilot Activ tires. I like them. Next I am going to try Avon Roadriders to see how they compare. It seems that it is going to take a lot longer to wear out these tires on the 500 then it does with my VFR or my CBR.

I get about 7k miles on the VFR rear (if I don't take it to the track).
I get about 3-5k on the CBR rear.

 

slowbird - how many miles did you get out of them? Maybe I'm just not pushing my bike hard enough?!

I've got a brand new set of BT-45s on both the 1000R and 750 right now. I just put the 1st 20 miles on the R this weekend, so I'll keep an eye on them. I plan to get the 750 out later this summer. I double checked my receipt as well as the mileage on the 500 and I do indeed have about 5K miles on that set.

 

I'm unsure about the mileage.

But when i say they wore horrible I don't meen they wore quickly (though they didn't last very long) I mean on both bikes the fronts were cupping badly. Rears wore oddly too.

 

I just swapped to Shinko from Bt45's. Basically old Yokohama (I think that's who it was). I can't say anything about wear but they do seem to grip better than the BT I also have a chicken strip now on the rear, not my fault the pegs get in the way. S11 are great tires for sport touring tires, I use to run them and loved the dual compound on the rear, only tire I could get more than 1200 miles on the rear of the old Magna when I was younger. The Bt45s on my 500 Ceptor were new when I bought it and I got less than 1500 miles on the rear, the from went about 1700 and was cupping terribly at the end of it's life. The Shinko tires feel softer on the road but I have not had any signs of the rubber being scuffed or rolled like the BT's would show after a hard ride.