I had BT016 on my Honda as oem supplied. Front ok, rear terrible. It took ages to warm up and I had a few spin ups and slides whilst not up to temperature. Can't recommend them at all. Interesting you mention turn in when comparing Metzeler and Michelin. Years ago I had a Suzuki 600, Mich front, Metz rear. Front wears down so decided to match them up. The result of my best intention; Steering slowed down and spoiled what I was used to! That must be 25 years ago I have run, for the last 20 years or so, the original Michelin Pilot Powers and they do all I need at a fair price. I would recommend those and currently have a new pair on the 765. Trials bikes; Michelin x1, everything else is not as capable ( Dunlop, IRC etc). Rock grip is far superior and carcase flex is more moulding to poor surfaces. Trail; not so easy to answer, see elsewhere on the forum. Kove as supplied comes with CST (a branch of, or relation to, Maxxis apparently) and they, for a knobbly, are a great dry tarmac tyre. The let down is wet grass and slippery or deep mud as they lack bite. The wear rates aren't great but under 2k miles for what they are doesn't sound too bad really. Michelin Trackers are currently on test, I'm not expecting a good road tyre or wear rate, but let's wait and see.
Ha! Back in the '70's I had some Yokohama knobblys on my XL250, They were a tyre to be desired, I could go round corners in the wet grounding the pegs,,,,,,,handlebars and finally my shoulder. Crap tyres but made riding interesting!
The one from my past that nearly killed me, was the dreaded Avon Square. Bought my first bike, an RD 250DX and the owner of the shop says, 'Oh and I've put a new back tyre on it for you'. My mates all saw it and told me to get rid of it smartish, which I didn't. Fast, (really fast), forward three weeks and I have a written off Yamaha, broken bones and a hellish amount of gravel rash all down my right side. A harsh lesson learned early in my biking career. The horrifying thing is, just before I wrote this post, I did a quick Google search and they're still available, even worse, a member of one of the Royal Enfield forums, was raving about how good they were lasting him, but were expensive! That horrifies me...
Oh and I forget @Mrs Visor but prompted by @JackWS Avon tyres..... Triumph 900 street twin: Avon Storm which are now superseded by Avon Spirit I believe, or is it the other way around? Ideal on this bike, gripping well to the edges and to the wife on the backs nudged acceptance limits No slides, reasonable warm up and acceptable longevity. Very happy with them and would recommend.
I don't want to come across as anti Avon @Eldon the Roadrunners were really good back in the day and went straight on the RD, once it was re-commissioned. They were all I ever put on the RD 400 and never missed a beat, with no frights at all. It was just that Square, that spat me ar$e over t1t, down the road, showing off in front of my future wife, (who I hadn't even asked out at that point). She must have thought, 'If that didn't kill him, he'll do' and here we still are 45 years later. How I just don't know..
I’ve put Michelin Anakee Roads on my scrambler,7,000 miles on them so far with just one millimetre of wear in the centre section (they're multi compound) only downside is they’re very noisy. Upside is better grip at low temperatures than the originals
Thinking back to 1990/91 Michelin Hi Sport TX23’s were an excellent and very popular sport tyre but with very poor lifespan on bigger bikes. The GSXR1100L I had at the time came with A59X’s on but I fitted some Hi Sports and it could destroy a rear in 2K miles. The compound was very soft but the tread pattern also gave good wet grip. Tyre choice and performance has come a long way in the last 30+yrs which it had to do of course to keep pace with bike tech.
I could have written this post,johnjo.i agree 100% with everything you've said.My gravel driveway gives me the shits,take this off road,!! Feck that
Absolutely fantastic thread, thank you all for the great posts. 40 years of sport bikes, mostly in Los Angeles, now in Portland, UK. I currently have a 2012 Ducati 848 with Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV for the street and the Super Corse SE for the track and my wife has a 2024 ZX6R with same tyres (tires). We just did a trip from Portland, UK to Germany and back. We had such an amazing time but learned a few things: 1- We had pannier envy!! A giant Kriega bag strapped to my tail was not fun at all. 2-Rain in Luxembourg on sport bikes with Rosso IV tyres was not fun at all. 3-6 days touring on a sport bike (back and shoulder pain) was not fun at all. 4-Touring in Europe on motorcycles...so much fun!!! We spent the last several weeks researching and test riding touring bikes. We both ended up liking the same bike, the 2026 Tiger 900 GT Pro, so next week we will go pick up two of these (hopefully with different colours (colors). I do have a few questions about the stock tyres. They are the Metzler Tourance Next tyres. I have never rode with Metzler tyres, but I have friends who swear by their track tyres. I have been reading horrible wet reviews on those tyres. I will be 90% street and lots of wet m motorway conditions. I might even research having a set of winter time tyres, but currently looking at switching out the Metzler's with the Michelin Anakee Adv? After several hours of downpour while riding from Clervaux, LUX to Trier, I would really like a good wet performance tyre. Any thoughts would be appreciated as this will be our first touring style bikes... Thank you.
Great choice of bike,im biased of course.i currently have the original tyres, the metzlers,hate them.will attemt to wear them out in the dry,certainly not riding in the rain if possible. Following on from some recommendations here and from tiger owners I've met,I think i will be going for Michelin road 6,front and rear.
Nice bike! I also love the Honda, it must be a blast. The Michelin Road 6 and the Pirelli Angel GT2 are the other two that I am looking at. So I guess you wouldn't be interested in taking the 2 pairs of new Metzlers off my hands when I switch them?
I'll take the Metzlers off you if you arrange delivery i don't have any issues with them I've a new rear ready to go on when I have worn out the original just set mode to rain
Great thread, @Mrs Visor! I'm late to the party so to speak and just finished catching up on all the comments, recommendations, and a few horror stories. I'm only on my second set of tires on my 2019 Speed Triple RS and currently have Michelin Road 5's which I like a lot. I'll probably go with Road 6's when the time comes. I don't much need to decide on tires for my Speed Triple based on how well they handle in the rain since I live in the desert. On the few occasions that it rains here, I opt to not ride my Triumph as it generally leaves me with a big black stripe up my back! I still have the stock Michelin Scorchers on my 2023 H-D Low Rider ST. They're OK but I"ll definitely do some research and asking around when the time comes to replace them which will be relatively soon, I think. I've heard good things about Metzler ME888's but that's about it as I've not yet been looking. My 2024 Street Glide came with Dunlop "Harley Davidson Series" tires (whatever that means). At the recommendation of a service advisor I trust, I replaced them this past summer with Dunlop AE2's (the successor to American Elites). They are wonderful! I never thought I'd be able to really feel and tell the difference in my touring bike tires but I'm super happy with the AE2's. In the past on my touring bikes I've replaced my "worn out: stock tires with Michelin Commanders (II and also III) and liked them ok. But now I'm sold on the Dunlops. Evidently the previous version was the American Elite which was produced in the U.S. The newer version AE2's are produced in Japan and Indonesia (which is why the "American" went away in the name). The "blurbs" say the AE2's have improved tire life, wet weather handling, and a new tread pattern compared to the American Elites. On this particular bike I really DO care about wet weather handling because of the big touring miles we put on in many different conditions...which always includes rain at some point. And lots of mountain passes with twisties and drop offs! And sometimes rainy mountain passes! Wouldn't it be nice if "demo days" included being able to ride the same model bike with several different tires back to back to back? What a great way to hold ones variables constant and make a more informed decision. Thanks for the thread, Mrs V.
Hi @Sandi T, as this thread has proved there are many options and not every tyre suits every individual but my experience of the Metzeler ME888's which were the oem tyres on my Nightstorm weren't so great, particularly in the wet. I felt they tramlined, moved about in the wet, squared off quite quickly and never really gave me confidence so I moved on to the Avon Cobra Chromes which have been great
I agree on the idea @Sandi T but feel it would be quite impossible to create. Brands are intertwined and background politics would probably bin the idea before it got off the ground. Then of course there's the practical aspects. It would certainly give everyone a better idea especially if they had prior confidence in a certain brand. As an interesting side note and along the same theme. Our motorhome has always been run on "Michelin Camper" tyres. Now because of the weight these aren't just van tyres but have more plies and higher load ratings. At over £150 a tyre it makes it an expensive time when replacement comes. We went to Continental's at the last change, and now we wouldn't go back. A far better ride, as in less harsh, equal grip both wet and dry, plus they are cheaper. Sometimes it's a risk worth taking.
Ooh, good thread. I'm a reasonably quick average size bloke. I ride all year round in all weathers, a mix of town and open roads. I try to avoid motorways because they're boring. My Speed Triple RR has Pirelli Diablo SuperCorsa Pros and they really suit it. I had them on my S1000RR previously.and they are brilliant. They feel horrible in the wet but as long as they are slightly warm they still behave, and more importantly they let you know before throwing you into the hedge. I had Bridgestones on the S1000 out of the showroom and they were...OK. Gripped alright but didn't have much feel, especially toward the limit.
I’m not surprised the Supercorsas feel shite in the wet, there’s hardly any grooves or siping on them! They look like a barely cut slick which will be fine in the dry but that’s it.
