Tire Suggestions needed.

As we all know we are pretty much limited in selection of our tires for our stock bikes. I have been considering both the Avon Roadrider and the Michelin Macadam tires. Would either of these be a good choice or would there be a better choice in tires then either one of these?

 

i have the avon's...whilst i haven't had the bike in warm weather yet (bought the bike in january) the cold weather traction is good and the cold temperature tolerance is excellent (-6c still good enough for emergency stops) i've traveled highway speeds at 140kph and it still has good confidence (+7c)

i haven't had a chance to try the other tire so i hope someone else will be able to offer you another opinion

 

limited selection?????? :crazy: michelin r2 have been praised on this forum repeatedly. pirrelli, diao's,road smart dunlops, are also great tires. look around in other threads plenty of tire info and selection.. good luck

 

Tyre Selection

Hi

A lot of riders here in New Zealand are getting really good results from Continental Road Attacks.We have very coarse gavel chip roads here that give tyres a very hard time but my last set got 12500 kms out of the rear tyre which is pretty good going.

 

I love the PR2s.

 

Limited tire selection for the 1st gen bikes due to their bias ply sizing...

 

I've got Pirelli Sport Demons on my '87 700. I don't really ride in wet conditions so I can't speak to that. In the dry they work as well or better than my previous tires. My last set was a Dunlop Gt-501 front with an Avon Super Venom rear. I did that combo because at the time I couldn't get the GT-501 rear in a 140/70/18.

I think the the most noticeable difference in handling for me was front tire size. When I got the bike 10 years ago it had a set of Dunlop K591's (I think that was the model #) with a 120/80/16 front and 140/70/18 rear. I went through a few sets of those then on the advice of a trusted local mechanic/ex-racer I went to the stock 110/90/16 front & 140/70/18 rear (that would be the GT501/Super Venom combo). The bike seems to turn in more smooth and consistently with the 110/90/16 front. I think the 120/80/16 initially turned in quicker but then as you got more lean angle it took more effort. I kept the 110/90/16 & 140/70/18 combo when I switched to the Pirelli's and it still feels good.

You'll notice I've not used the same model tire for the two different sized front tires so it is possible that the better handling is simply the tires themselves and not the size. To my way of thinking they are all bias-ply tires so how much better can one bias-ply tire be then the next. However the difference between the profiles of the two different sizes is visible when they are mounted on the rim. That's why I think it's more of a size thing than tire make and model.

Of course I could be wrong.