Tires - what are you running?

I expect I will be in need of my first set of new tires in a month or so. Just wondering what the best ones for my type of riding are? I do some long trips but general day to day is mostly country driving with a bit of city and I do hit the twisties when I can get to some good roads and like to push hard through them.

I am looking at the Michelin Pilot Power 3's. I'm see a lot of folks run the P4's - is that because they are more touring than sport?

I am sure everyone has an opinion on the best tire is, if you are using the Pilot Power 3's, how many km's do you get and how is the handling?

 

I just wrapped up a coast to coast run on a new set of PR4's, around 8K miles on a fully loaded VFR. Approaching the wear bars in the rear, I'd estimate another 1,000 miles or so left. The fronts easily last twice as long. Never had issue with PR4 grip, wet or dry roads.

 

I liked my Pilot Road 2's ... had several sets on the VFR now.

I needed a new set before my trip I leave for on Friday so I put a new set of Bridgestone Battlax T30 EVOs on the bike.

HOLY CRAP ... it's a different bike. It handles corners like a BOSS now - traction and turn in are far superior. Wet traction is excellent, and we'll see how the wear life goes. It basically feels like a sport tire despite being designed for touring. It doesn't get squishy under hard corners like the Michelin's tend to (all the siping causes this I think on the Michelins)

 

Pirelli Corsa Diablos, love em they have never failed me. Nuff said.

 

I too have the T30 Evo's. Transformational over the PR series.

 

I've been a BattleAx fan since my 05 VFR. Tons of miles on them and they are grippy in the twisties. I live in So Cal and we haven't seen rain since Popeye was a punk otherwise I'd get the Michelins.

[video=youtube;aRd0bmxNVRY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRd0bmxNVRY[/video]

 

I'm with Jeff on the T30 EVO tire. Great in dry and the wet. Makes the bike feel a lot lighter in steering/handling.
a very good feeling tire and it sticks no matter what surface.

 

T30 EVO does fantastic in the rain ... I commute almost every day on my bike, rain or shine. The T30's stick to the road fantastically in the heavy rain. They are significantly less expensive as well.

I think I bought my last set of Michelin's when I replaced them with the Battlax T30 EVO.

 

I got Pr 4's too and I will be worn out before the tires are gone. Not as grippy as sport bike tires, but I don't really need all that grip

 

[video=youtube;qgt3GVugB2A]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgt3GVugB2A[/video]

Don't know if it's the tires, his riding skills or a combo of both but DAAAAAUUUUMMMM:grief:

 

Just got my T30 EVo's mounted
Apreciate all the feedback. Defiantly changed the handling and feel.

 

Hi!

Does anybody know if we can mount 190's on this bike? I have a set of Bridgestone BattleAxe's I took off my track bike after about 1000 miles for something better (they were OEM on my S1000RR) and since I hate the OEM VFR tires I thought I would use them here if I could. Is there enough clearance on the chain to make it work? Thanks!

 

Technically you can, as the wheel is 5.5" wide. One of our members had a 190 on his '95 VFR750 and that has a 5.0" width wheel and that fit on his bike. How the profile will work with your bike would remain to be seen, but when the 190 was on his bike it did not ride too well, probably due to the narrower width wheel. Worked much better with a 180, although a 170 is the OEM size tire for his bike. Another friend of mine has a Dunlop D211 GPA and Dunlop says the 5.5 is the recommended rim size for this tire and he plans on using it on his 6 Gen, which also has a 5.5" width wheel. I hope this helps.

Dunlop Racing

 

That will be the combination of gear driven cams and linked brakes....

Honestly I'm sure I could lean much harder on my tyres in the wet, but who wants to find where the limit is? I've had enough little scares on wet roads where tar has melted through the aggregate to form a glossy slick surface. I don't feel good leaning hard on this stuff in the dry!

On my three bikes I am running:

VFR800 Metzeler Roadtec 01's, had them for about 1000km, extremely impressed with the stability and grip, and seem to be hard-wearing to boot.

VTR1000F Metzeler Z8's, have been through a few sets of these and prior to the 01's these were my favourites with fantastic grip and reasonable wear; usually 8-9000km does for a set, the only downside is the profile gets a bit triangular towards the end (which could be the way I ride).

ST1100 Metzeler Lasertec crossply front tyre. I'll be honest and say I have not enjoyed this tyre at all; heavy and numb feeling, likes to tramline, and has a bit of a tucking feel at full lean. It also has not worn at all well and after 4000km, it is being replaced. On the back I have a Bridgestone BT020R crossply, and this has given a completely opposite experience to the Metzeler, it's trustworthy and compliant, and seems to be wearing extremely well.

 

Yup! The T30EVO are are exactly what he said. I will add one thing, hard braking grip with the front is much better.

 

I completely agree. I was braking hard as I could and the T30s just kept working. Had the rear tire in the air some.

 

I'm on thge second set of PP3's and love them.
8000km from the rear, and its the first tyre I've ever had that hit the wear marks on the center and side at the same time.
So even when aproaching the end of their life (rear), they still have a round prifie.
The front now has 12000km on it, and it's starting to get a bit triangular and wandering around a bit on a straight line.
I don't commute, and I never use the motorway. Only weekend twisty roads, or long trips with gear.
Before that, I used Z8's, they were great, but no match for feel/lightness/grip of the PP3's.

 

I tested their braking ability pretty hard a few weeks back. Tire in the air hard. They work great! Turn just as hard. I just had a new rear put on on Sunday. 6123 miles on the tire, still has a safe amount of tread about 2/32" to 3/32". More worn in the middle nearly at the wear bars in the middle. Feels good having more tread in the middle. Flick, flick, flick!

 

I've run the PP3. It's a good tire. Handles good until the wear bars then it gets a little unpredictable. I prefer the s21. More neutral handling, dial a lean feel where the PP3 tips in pretty fast and doesn't feel as stable.

Mileage on the s21 is yet to be seen, I racked up 1200 miles pretty quick, but work has kept me off the bike for over a month so... if they last like the s20 Evo, I should get around 3000 miles out of them.

 

I've also been through a pair of the T30 EVO after Michelin PR4s and can only agree with the above - the Michelins are great until they're about half-worn and they then start to feel a lot less confidence-inspiring. Currently on Metzeler Roadtec01 which are equally good but cost more so may well go back to the Bridgestones when these are done.