Top tips from everyone, thanks. This morning (in the dark and inside a cloud) I switched to Rain mode, misjudged the throttle and stalled. No big deal, I was on the drive. However, I forgot that it defaults back to Road mode when you restart. So I ended up in Road mode all the way to work anyway! It's fairly grim out, so I'm definitely just cruising along at the moment, working out smooth shifts and applying the (frankly quite substantial) power gently and when I'm pretty much facing where I want to go. Also, short-shifting a fair bit to keep me away from the more lunatic end of the rev range. The loose stone drive up to my office was a little edgy, but that was almost certainly more about me being tense than the bike not being capable. Judicious use of the back brake and some clutch control kept it all nice and upright for the crawl into the gravel-pit carpark! Good shout on checking what the tyres are. I simply looked at the amount of tread (lots) and figured it'll be a while before I'm using the full width!
Whilst there is no particular reason why you shouldn’t mix tyre brands on your bike, me personally I wouldn’t be comfortable with this setup. The road 5’s are a good tyre, so if it were me I would swap the front for a new road 5. Just my opinion.
I had a feeling someone would say that! Now I confess to be utterly green when it comes to motorbikes. So go easy on me. However, from the perspective of pure physics, I can’t see the argument for both tyres needing to match. With the difference in width and depth, plus weight distribution, tyre wear, powered/un-powered and all of the other factors at play, the front and rear tyres are going to behave totally differently even if they’re same make and model. I suppose you could argue that matched tyres are designed to work in harmony. But I reckon that level of harmony is probably reserved for riders who are waaaaaay better than I am! Of course I could well be 100% wrong here, in which case I’ll bow to the much better judgement on this forum! (side note: when I do need to change the tyres they’ll match. But that’s mostly to appease my OCD)
At least both tyres (Angel GT and Road 5) are sport touring tyres, but I'd still prefer a matching set! Having said that, due to availabilty (or lack of) my Honda CL500 has a Metzeler Tourance replacement on the back and the original Dunlop Trailmax Mixtour on the front and I didn't notice anything awful going on. However, that will be sorted when the front needs replaced..... probably early summer with its MOT.
Upon further research I’ve realised that I’ve inadvertently opened a MASSIVE can of biking worms with this tyre thing. Apologies one and all. I hang my head in shame. Might get a Road 6 on the front. So long as no one minds?
Ditto on my Multistrada. The insurance company repairers put a different front tyre on compared to the rear, but I don't notice any problems. Again, I will look to match them up when the rear needs replacing.
Just don't mention which oil and you'll be fine It's usual practice to have the same make and model of tyres frontband rear. Your front Pirelli could be a different profile, have different construction methods, different types of rubber/compounds in different proportions compared to the rear. Some are duel compound with the centre of the tread harder than the sides to help prevent squaring off and give better milage too. Good luck!
I think the biggest point for me is that it means the front and rear could have a different profile so may react and turn in slightly differently.
You wouldn't think twice about having differing tyres on your car, unless you're OCD. I've driven thousands of miles on mixed tyres front and rear and am still above ground and breathing. Never ceases to amaze me how paranoid ppl appear to be with their bikes, over nonsense like oil, filters, tyres.
Although it is recommended to at least have the same tyres on the same axel, for the same reasons as stated already. Having said that I have 3 different tyres out of the 4 on my own car!!
Agreed mate but on a car the whole of the tread is flat and in contact with the road whereas the rounded profile of different tyres can be very different therefore giving differing contact patches at front and rear. As you say, in terms of the makeup of the tyre no problem it's just the potential for handling differences due to the previously mentioned profiles.
Having just bought a new Avon for my Thunderbird, the guy was asking me a few questions to be sure I was getting the right tyre, and what you've said above, he raised the potential for lousy handling if you don't get the correct tyres front and rear.
Yes i do like to keep a matched pair. But if the tyres you have on there work well then i don't see any problem. You know your bike and its capabilities so ride and enjoy.