1987 VFR 700 Tires

Happy day after Thanksgiving. I have not been on the site for some time. Have been riding the VFR a fair amount. It is time for new tires. It is Black Friday and looking for a good deal on new rubber. What is the best set of tires out there now.
I live in a flat area no hills or curvy roads close. Have a good front wheel ready for power coating. Trying to keep the bike as original and as original looking as possible. You all have been great helping me bring my bike back from the dead , thank you.
Will check back in later. Time to get back to work

Thanks , Bubba

 

I use Metzeler Lasertecs on my 83, one of the only few good 16" fronts available.

 

Avon RoadRider
AM26 140/70V18
AM26 120/80V16

Bridgestone BT45
120/80-16 M/C 60V TL
140/70-18 M/C 67V TL
140/80-18 M/C 70V TL

Pirelli Sport Demon
120/80 V 16 M/C (60V) TL
110/90 - 16 M/C 59V TL
140/70 - 18 M/C 67V TL

Metzeler Lasertec
120/80-16 V
130/80-18 V
4.00-18 V

 

Shinko 712 120/80/160 around $50
Shinko SR741 140/70/18 $75
Mixed reviews on these I do have the front listed above with about 3,000 miles on it and you can just now detect a bit of wear on each side of center at the point where the tire touches most in the curves. Have yet to override or slip the front tire , do hear a bit of noise from it under super heavy braking like it is on the edge of breaking loose.

Kenda
K671ST 140/70/18 $75-80
K671ST 130/70/18
K676 120/80/16 $40-50

I have the rear 140/70/18 Kenda put on at the same time as the front. On my 84' vf700 this tire will spin before the front lifts even a mm off the ground on all but clean hot freeway pavement. Even with 17/44 gearing (16/44 stock) it's easy to get the rear loose in the first couple gears. After 3K of mixed riding I am a mm maybe 2 from the wear indicators in the center with only a little wear between the center and the chicken strips about 1/4-1/2" from the edge. Feel like it should have lasted longer , especially being a touring tire. I am sure the learning curve coming from dirtbikes and my 3" wide rim doesn't help. but I am not really that hard on the throttle , don't use engine braking except to let off when cruising in traffic, and only use my back brake in combination with the front. I will admit to not using more than maybe a 30° lean angle at speed, less during the first 1000 miles or so.

Continental has tires to fit as well as Dunlop, vee rubber , IRC more choices than I realized , can't say there all good choices tho'. Seems the good choices were covered above.

Can't really compare my current tires to anything else , I guess I will get a higher dollar dual compound Sport/Touring tire for the rear when the time comes. For these bikes a dual compound should give the best of both worlds (high wear, really good corner traction) with a very small sacrifice of straight line traction versus a pure sport tire.
Then at least I can compare them mile for mile dollar for dollar.

 

Thanks for all the information. Looked at the recommendations and decided with the Perelli Sport Deamons. Found the stock sizes and a decent price. Does anyone have them on their bike?
Hope to get the spare wheel powder coated soon. Will let everyone know how they ride.

Thanks Bubba

 

I'm running Pilot Active on my thousand .. First time and impressed so far. Have good wear and grip which could be noticed straight up and has a high rated sidewall.

 

Found this older thread and thought I'd bump it and ask for any new recommendations for tires.

Would like to stick with stock size, if I can find them:

• Front Tire Size: 110/90-16
• Rear Tire Size: 130/80-18

Just standard street use for an '87 RC26.

Thanks!

 

I used the BT045 for many years on mine and was very happy with them, the BT046 has replaced the BT045 (with claimed improvements in wet grip and tyre wear) and comes in the correct sizes (and speed ratings) for both the early RC24/26 and later RC24's.

I'd be using them if I hadn't swapped to CBR600 wheels and changed to a 120/70ZR17 front & 160/60ZR17 rear!

 

Same recommendation as Fastdruid--I'd buy the BT46's. That's what I put on the RC26 I'm working on. Disclaimer being... I haven't actually ridden that bike yet. Stock sizes.

The BT45's are pretty awesome on my 500. Good confidence in them in the wet, and they held up perfectly fine on a 90°F track day as well. I can't speak to the mileage longevity since I don't ride enough street miles to wear them out. I probably have about 2,000 miles and the track day on my 45's, and they look like they're barely through any of the tread.

 

Ultimately in the original fitments they're *all* going to be worse than newer similar weight/power bikes with wider tyres (a wider tyre doesn't give you more grip as per se, it spreads the wear out over a wider area) but the BT046 is claimed better tyre life than the BT045.

 

I just bought new tires for my 2nd gen. I went with the Bridgestones because you can get a mail-in rebate until end of October (http://v4dreams.com/shop-blog/bridgestone-tire-rebates). I also bought a set of the generic Contis for my 5th gen, they were a better deal than the Bridgestone with rebate, so it might be worth your time to shop around.
My first choice would have been Avon or Metzeler, these tire brands supposedly still make sizes for a vfr700. Unfortunately they appear sold out at the major online retailers in the USA, which leads me to believe there are not many buyers of 16" front tires. There are also Pirelli sport demons, but I would have had to order the front & rear from separate stores. There used to be a Kenda tire however the front 110/90-16 V-rated is no longer listed on their website.
I don't claim my searches were exhaustive, likely there are choices I missed. If you are looking at budget friendly choices, I would avoid H-rated tires.

 

I'm not sure about the USA but in some places fitting H rated tyres on a bike that should have V rated tyres could open you up to legal problems (particularly if you get into an accident).

 

Thanks for all the input!

Just placed an order with Rocky Mt. for front and rear BT46's!

I also just picked up a couple used rims off eBay that are in MUCH better condition than those on the bike so will use those with the new tires.

Nice to have rims that someone didn't re-paint!

 

Tires arrived today!

Cleaned up the rims a bit and will do some more before mounting the tires.