New tires for 2022

My Pitbull front stand is getting delivered today so its time to start looking for the best sport-touring tires to replace my 8-year old OEM Dunlops.

It's hard to find 2022 up to date comparison tests online. My criteria for tires living in Southern California are different than many of you here.

Our weather and road conditions here are constant 95% year round. The other 5% I don't ride. We have rain 10 days a year....sometimes less. We have millions of cars on the roads at all times. Our freeways are diamond cut grooved for traction when it does rain.

That being said, 95% of the time the roads are being covered in oil residue from cars and trucks, so when it does rain there is simply No traction for those of us on two wheels. So I do not attempt to ride in either fog- wet or rain conditions......ever. It's just not worth the risk.

So for tire choices I do not consider wet weather traction to be a factor or even desirable for that matter, if it sacrifices dry traction at all. Also, any tire that in any way models a straight or broken groove around the center of the tires is not going to work on our diamond grooved freeways. They track the grooves horribly.

A tire like the Angle Gt2 is a case in point with its radial dual groove around the center. It's not going to work here at all.

So far I like the new Rosdsmart 4's, the Conti Road Attack 3 and the Metzler Roadtec 01, which has fantastic reviews but a very odd front tire design that I am not too sure will track well here.

 

I fitted Michelin Road 5’s very happy with them. I think the 6’s have now superseded them. They are supposed to be excellent in the wet but not to the detriment of dry performance that I am aware of.

 

Michelin Road 5 been pretty good to me but my riding conditions are quite different out here in Indiana.

 

I am looking at each manufacturers site for the latest releases. I haven't had to consider sport-touring tires before this bike.
The majority of my miles now will be straight line and some two-up, but I want the stopping distance performance I have always been used to with my super-sport bikes in the past.
Most of the manufactures so far seem to use a single compound for the front tire which I think is better than having a harder compound right in the middle where you would not want it for stopping.

 

So, after weeks of comparison and reading specs, I am going to go with the new Dunlop Roadsmart 4 tire set for my 8th gen. Tread pattern looks neutral and smartly attractive actually. No actual reviews yet but claims are more traction and higher mileage than previous models. I'll let y'all know how that goes. Looks like I will be the first to try them : )

 

Been very happy with my Bridgestone T32's.

 

Anybody know the actual 5-bolt pattern specs for the rear wheel on these bikes? I did a search without any results.
My guy at Cycle Gear says he does not have an adapter to fit the Honda bolt pattern to balance my rear wheel now.
So I will have to take the wheel to my Honda dealer after I pick them up tomorrow just to get the rear wheel balanced.
They are giving me a free mount (for both) and balance (for the front) for the inconvenience.

 

I had Cycle Gear change my tires for years because the were very close to where I live. They must have changed at least 5 tires. I was having a problem with a slow leak on my front wheel, I blamed it on cheap Chinese 90 degree valves. I used a plastic tub with water in it and submerged the rim and rotated the wheel. Small air bubbles were leaking all along the joint between the tire and the rim. I took the wheel over to a custom shop and had the remove the tire. This is what I found:
Cycle gear NEVER cleaned the old rubber off the rim, nor did they inform me about the build up. Old rubber was preventing new bead from making a good seal. I scaped and polished rim and had custom shop mount the new tire. Haven't been back to Cycle Gear since. Dealer is the only place to have rear balanced.

 

You can make your own adapter for very little money. I made one just like this one and it works well. I have over 1000 miles following my balancing including a partial track day without any issues.

https://vfrworld.com/threads/6th-ge...ar-wheel-balancing-adapter.47822/#post-471055

 

Just stuck a set of Michelin Road 6's on my bike after running Bridgestone T32's, I'm very impressed so far.

 

Once upon a time, I made a YouTube video of my solution here (click)

 

Further to the above, I am about to fit new tyres, these have just over 16,000km on them so I think I have had my moneys worth out of them ( in truth they should probably have been swapped about 1000km ago, they are well beyond there best) Will probably go with the same tyre unless I can get a good deal on the newer 6’s.

 

The Road 6s do seem to wear even better than the R5s. This is on the back of my MT-10, after 8000km!

 

Looks good. I’m getting the 6’s fitted tomorrow, there not cheap in Oz, $279 for the front and $399 for the rear. The government has to get there cut! And fitting is extra.

 

That price is pretty steep. Road 6 in 180/55 is NZ$323 and 120/70 is NZ$239 from my favourite retailer in Hamilton, including free freight. Not sure they will ship to the West Island however...

 

Hi Phil.
For info had a 180/55 Road 6 rear fitted March last year $389 balanced and fitted. My previous rear was PR2 at $259. Sure is a huge price hike! Perhaps as Terry suggests the added cost might be made up by better longevity.
Cheers.

 

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Hi Grum, unfortunately after shopping around a bit everyone seemed to be charging the same price. I could only find one place in Townsville who had both a front and rear in stock. They wanted $110 for fitting if the wheels were still on the bike. Free if they weren’t, so of course I removed them myself. Have the rear back on, but got sidetracked a bit cleaning the swingarm and polishing the muffler seen as I had it off. Front is on but not tightened yet (lunch break ) just have to make sure forks and break calipers are correctly aligned. If I can get 16000km again I’ll be very happy.

 

Not sure if I’m confused here but are these Tyres on the correct way? The two photos of the Tyre tread are taken from the rear of each Tyre ie the Tyre in each case rotates from bottom to top. Tyre direction indicators both point in the correct direction. However the tread pattern seems to run the opposite way? Rear wheel is obviously mounted correctly (only goes on one way) the front is also on correctly, the pulser ring is on the right hand side. However the tread pattern seems to run the opposite way? Have read the debates about which way the tread pattern should run, but I would have thought both Tyres would be the same? Have I just been very inattentive for the last 47 years

 

I looked at some photos of the bike with the old road 5’s fitted, and it’s the same , so have answered my own question. Job completed

 

Are Kenda KM1 available over there? I can get a set for $160. The rear 180/55 is around $85. I'm about to pull the rear on one VFR at 15,000 miles of use. This is about twice the mileage I got out of a Road 5.