Just for interest, what type of bikes do you have, what is your riding style and what are your favourite tyres for them? My riding style is an "enthusiastic" road rider, I like to get a wriggle on. I also like to explore on narrow mountain roads where the surface is often a bit sketchy, so I want my tyres to be a bit of everything road - wise. I ride all year round and in almost all weathers, therefore always favour sports touring tyres. I am a small - ish rider on light bikes. I have: Supersport (2004 Honda Fireblade). Dunlop Roadsmart IV SP. Prior to this I had Bridgestone BT-016 which I didn't get on with very well as they seemed to give a quite harsh ride and lacked some feel for me (however I am a bit tight so persisted until they were at the end of their life!!). They were fairly horrible as they began to square off. Naked (2021 Triumph Street Triple R). Dunlop Roadsmart IV SP. Prior to this I had Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV which felt pretty nice in the dry, but not as great in the wet and felt like I was dropping off the edge of a cliff when they started to square off. A....supermoto style tourer thing?? (Ducati Hyperstrada). Michelin Road 6. These seem to really suit the bike. Prior to this I had Metzeler M7RR which were fabulous in the dry and sketchy in the wet, plus the rear only lasted me about 4000 miles which is really poor for me. I like the Dunlops because they give great feel, allow for sporty riding (including time on track), feel great still even when they are starting to square off and are confidence inspiring in both the wet and the dry. Plus they have superb longevity. I have had a few sets on my Street Triple now and have just had them fitted on the Fireblade. I like the Michelins because they just seem to feel right on the Hypermotard, great in the wet and dry, the bike feels like it turns in much faster than on the Metzelers and again allow for sporty riding. The rear wheel is a lot more inclined to stay in line in the wet with the Michelins! The "worst" of the tyres that I have tried so far have to be the Bridgestones. They just weren't for me at all. This isn't a "what's the best tyre?" type post as we and our riding styles are all different, I am just curious as to what we use and why!
Interesting thread @Mrs Visor over the years my Yamaha two strokes always had a Dunlop TT100 up front and an Avon Roadrunner on the rear. These were always sure footed and lasted well. The front on the RD400E did take a while to wear out, as it never made much contact with the road.. My Thundercat was alwas shod with Bridgestone BT010 front and 020 rear and did me well in all weathers to the tune of around 6000 miles for a rear. Never put anything else on it. Fronts would last about 1000 miles more, with more wear to the edges, the rear would get a bald patch in the middle, (bit like myself), with ragged edges. I was a bit of a hooligan.Fast forward to the present day on the Speed Triple and it has Metzlers, which are unlikely to get wet. They wouldn't be my first choice, but they were on the bike when I bought it, so being a tight Scot, they will stay there until they have nothing left in them. My preference, I dunno. I do like the sound of Michelin bike boots, Pirelli, just no. Too expensive and longevity is crap. Dunlops, maybe, along with some of the newer Bridgestones. It's going to be good to see what everyone else weighs in with, as we're all different in what we like, how we ride. I might not be the same hooligan I used to be, but I don't hang about either...
I'm not very demanding of tyres, being a fairly easy going road only rider! My Hyosung GT650 (SV650 copy) had Continental ContiMotion tyres - decent tyres, but would 'tramline' a bit when worn. My Honda CB500X initially had Dunlop Trailmax 80/20 tyres when purchased, which wore in an odd pattern, and as I was a road only rider I changed to Pirelli Angel ST's which were great. I went through a few pairs of those over about 30,000 miles.... still not sure why I sold that bike. Took a daft turn I think!! I'm now riding a Honda CL500 and have just changed to Metzeler Tourance tyres which so far seem good on both dry and wet roads and maintain the 'scrambler' look..... as I said, I'm not very demanding on tyres and like the chunky look.
A good thread Mr V. 1. Triumph Scrambler 1200X, now with Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR's which replaced the Metzeler Karoo's it came with. TBH I didn't find the Karoo's a bad tyre but when they were due for change I went to the Pirelli's which I've had on two previuos bikes and can't fault them, wet or dry, plus they have a semi "scrambler' look which is a bonus. It gets ridden with anything from idle cruising to urgent enthusiasm, tempered by the fact that it's a large, heavy Classic style bike with middle drawer suspension and handling but it has a chuckabilty that belies it's pipe and slippers image. 2. Husaberg FE570 Enduro currently running Metzeler Enduro (can't remember specifically) tyres which are ace in the wet sticky stuff and loose gravel/rocks but feel twitchy on dry tarmac, moving to absolutely sh*te in the wet. Go for it off road and stay away from it on! 3. Kawasaki ZZR1400 curently running Michelin Pilot Road 2's which I've run at every change from the first one in 2013. They've been discontinued for some time but I managed to find a set at the last change about 4 yrs ago. It doesn't get used that much these days but when it does, it does! It's a large, very powerful bike that doesn't make much sense at sensible speeds and a bit of a pain for general running around TBH but a great bike for long distance rides. You might call it a "sport tourer" but closer to the sport end than you might imagine given it's size. Then there's that engine of course.
Everyone I seem to meet with a ZZR1400 raves about them and seem to keep them forever. I have only ever sat on one at a standstill and it was very comfortable so I imagine them as a blisteringly fast sofa!
A very good description. Despite it's low use (under 300m so far this year) I can't bring myself to sell it, having it from new in 2012, currently with around 39k on the clock, plus it's now a discontinued model here in the UK.
I think the one thing we all know is that a bad choice of tyre can ruin a good bike. I remember looking for a new front Bridgestone for the Fireblade I had in 1995 but due to the Kobe Earthquake that struck in January that year affecting production the only tyre I could get in 16" front was an Avon, something or other' which was terrible, had a completely different profile and obviuosly not a good match with the Bridgestone rear. It felt so bad I hardly rode the bike in the 3 months or so it took to find a new OEM Bridgestone.
I junked a nearly new set of metzeler tourance that came with my new to me tiger 900 gt pro. Hated them. Michelin Road 6's transformed the handling. I've only got to think about a bend and the tigers on its ear. Lovely.
I'm sure the Michelins are much better tyres, and I would normally ride on road tyres like those, Angel ST's or GT's, I just wanted to keep that Scrambler look on this bike!!
I had a couple of “moments” in the wet with the Tourance tyres on my first Street Scrambler which put me off them and onto the Pirellis. In fairness to the Metzelers they are much more dual sport than the Michelin Road 6’s
Yes, I appreciate what you are saying ajc about dual purpose tyres. My 900 is most definitely only a road bike in my hands. If I found myself on any other surface it means I've got lost. I found that the metzelers tramlined on poor surfaces and were horrible in the wet on the tiger.
I feel pretty sure that nobody on this forum could find the limit of any modern tyre on the roads and very few find the limit of any modern tyre off road. Some will claim certain tyres are better than others but really none of us are that good a rider. Professional riders can use many tyres to the limit but us mere mortals? Nah, nowhere near.
I’ve found the limit of tyres both on and off road resulting in a get off. I lost the front in a tight right hand corner on a Fireblade in 1994, a high side on a R1 in 2004, both of which didn’t end well. Finding the limit and staying just the right side of it is a completely different call and beyond my skill set obviously! As most will testify, a slight wriggle or squirm in the wet feels much worse. I’ve heard bar room talk of riders saving front end slides on the road through various means but, personally I don’t believe a word of it. JMO
I absolutely agree that I am not that good a rider, however do believe that I can tell the difference between the feel of different tyres and how they affect the bike. It's very different to me than finding the limit on the road (or thinking I can!), but how the bike behaves and feels to me with different tyres fitted. I know whether I have grip or not and how the bike feels to turn etc to me - I am sure to a skilled rider they would have completely different views, but I am just concerned with how things feel for my needs and have my favourites because of this.
I would guess a professional rider would have got round the corner on your bike on your tyres though. As I alluded to earlier and to paraphrase Rooster from Maverick, “it’s not the tyres, it’s the rider” I’m nowhere near good enough to get the full use of any tyre on any bike and strongly suspect nobody on here is either. As you say a slight wiggle feels like a massive slide. I had the front slide a few years ago, it felt like it moved about a metre. It actually moved a few centimetres. It most certainly was lack of rider skill. A decent professional rider would have gone round the roundabout much faster without it sliding. Again, it’s not the tyres, it’s the rider. When tyres are developed they are used in all conditions by very, very skilled riders before being sold to the general public. These riders can really find the limits of the tyres as opposed to finding the limits of the rider. Every bike is capable of far more than any of us on here will ever be able to do with it. Tyres are the same so I tend to buy what ever decent make the tyre shop can get or has in stock. They’re all better than me.
I have a slight prejudice against Dunlop tyres, I never gelled with a Suzuki SV650S I bought - it could have been the low clipon style handlebars, but it was on Dunlop tyres, and they definitely got some of the blame. The bike never felt planted to me and yet it is such a well respected bike, ergo it must have been the tyres!
I'm in agreement here as these companies spend millions on product testing and development and motorcycle manufacturers aren't going to make a bike as good as they can with all the latest gimmickry and assistance to just stick some shite set of boots on it . I think that a lot of it is the average rider sometimes forgets the bike they are riding and expects too much of it you can't expect to ride an adventure bike or scrambler and expect it to handle like a sports bike regardless of tyre make we all have different riding styles as we aren't robots all weigh differently different heights all this adds to the bikes set up feeling right for one rider and wrong for another this is why I will tend to stick with the oe tyres and have the suspension set up for me and in 45 years of riding have had no problems So before @Pegscraper disagrees with me on this topic as well it's JUST my opinion Other opinions are available
I agree and would say that’s probably the case for every rider on the road. Feel = confidence and when you’ve lost that in a bike/tyre combination it’s very hard to get that back, at least for me it is. Maybe a “professional” rider has more ability to adapt to differences between tyres and ride round perceived tyre limitations (no pun intended). That is certainly the case in top flight racing with the stars of MotoGP but that’s about as far from road riding as you can get. So in the case of my front end slide that had me off, would a professional rider have somehow detected the slide just before it happened, controlled it and brought it back the instant the front tyre lost grip or maybe just not gone into the corner as fast in the first place? I suspect the latter. The R1 high side was just poor, ham fisted throttle control on my part so I’ll concede that one.
In terms of my preferences, I am not necessarily saying that the tyres that I have had on bikes as OEM or fitted when I have purchased used have been "shite" but just not as suited for my needs as those that I choose to put on. For example, the Street Triple RS comes with Pirelli Supercorsas, I am sure they're an excellent tyre however wouldn't be good for the type of riding I like to do as they're as close to racing slicks as you get on the road from my understanding. Because I am sad and like to read lots of reviews of new bikes, a reviewer often also says the OEM tyres don't suit whatever bike they are reviewing and that it is transformed with different tyres. Again, would I be able to tell being a "normal" rider not an expert - who knows? As you point out, we're not robots so luckily there's loads of choice out there for us all.
I was the same for years, my Aprilia RSV Mille came with Dunlop 207RR's and I hated them. They never felt planted, skipped across white lines, I just had zero confidence with them and changed them really quickly. However, fast forward 23 years and having read a lot of very good reviews I thought I would give the Roadsmarts a go and put them on my Tuono, it was an absolute revelation. So very different from before and absolutely confidence inspiring
