Hello. When I joined I stated that I could not wait to change from Pirelli Sports Comp to Continental Road Attack. I can honestly say what a difference they make to the stock tyre. Changed today and straight away you notice the difference, comfort, handling and most of all confidence that they will grip. I did notice that a few other members had also mentioned this subject. What is annoying is Triumph put these Pirelli tyres on for looks and not what they are supposed to do! If anyone is a fan of Stock tyres my are for sale.
The more I look at the stock the more I think they just need rounding off a little, so you don't start to meet the ridge at an average amount of lean angle.
Changed to the RA3s a couple months ago and put a review on this forum. Pretty much feel like the oem tires were junk compared to the Contis. I’ve put some good miles on them, including commuting in the rain. I will be replacing them with the same when the time comes unless something goes horribly wrong as they wear.
Fingers crossed they do exactly what Continental state they do and that keep you safe and out perform other leading brands.
Funny thing, on today’s outing picked up a nail in the rear tire. It hit right in one of the sipes in the middle of the tire. Ran it until it was low enough to possibly start damaging the tire to get to a safe spot to stop. Had to call in the missus to bring some kit for a roadside repair. I have a quality plug kit, five minutes and done. I need to figure out a mobile flat repair kit. Don’t know how often the wife will come to the rescue. This is the first puncture I’ve had, and I chalk it up to plain bad luck. Nothing to do with the tires. I do hope my plug repair holds.
Im debating whether to replace the tire I just had to plug, or run it. If it holds air I might run it for a while. I rarely get onto major motorways and honestly don’t like going much over 70mph. I’d much rather be doing the twisties. Any thoughts?
Most plugs are temporary solutions until you can get the tyre patched. If it holds air the length of temporary is up to you we used to leave plugs in on newer tyres without any issue, but now I travel out of town with limited assistance, I would get professionally patched
Plug has been in for 24 hrs and no noticeable drop in pressure. If it continues to hold I may run it until I have time to see if it can be patched.
When I bought my GS five years ago, I put new tyres on and almost immediately found a nail in it. I thought the same thing as the OP. Fcuk, now I have to get a new tyre. Did some research and decided that Safety Seal were the best plugs due to them being self vulcanising and no need to use glue. Plugged the tyre and after a while I forgot about it, lasted the entire 20,000 km's never losing pressure. Over the past five years I've had a total of two nails and one screw that I had to plug. I can confidently say that, at least for 'Safety Seal' that you have absolutely nothing to worry about. In fact the last nail i found last month, I actually enjoyed plugging it, it was fun. I keep a mini air compressor on my bike, which I never used because i only found the nails when I was already at home. And it's also why wire wheels scare me. No room on my new Street Twin for a compressor. Look at it this way, with both nails and screws my tyre did not lose any pressure until I removed them, so if a metal nail can seal a tyre, a plug is going to be better. A self vulcanising plug actually becomes part of the tyre. My advice...forgeddaboutit. https://www.safetyseal.com
The plug kit I use is made by ARB, a well known company that makes overland 4wheeling equipment. They don’t make anything that’s cheap or junk. I’ve used their plug in many tires and never had one leak. They are the gummy self vulcanising kind, so sticky you almost can’t get the damn thing out of your hand. If it holds air for a reasonable time without loss, I’m running it.
A cheap Chinese plug reamer and inserter are fine as long as you have a quality self vulcanising plug. Mind you the handles come off eventually.
I’ve been putting some good miles on the repaired rear tire, and I’m keeping it. It’s not like it’s on a 200mph super bike. I rarely get on a 4lane for more than a few minutes at a time, so high speeds are not a concern. I’ll keep an eye on it as I would any repair, but not worried about it at this point. If you research repairing motorbike tires you will get as many opinions as asking about oil.
If you think about the mechanics, for the plug to detach from the split insertion pin means there has to be a 'bulb' on the inside of the tyre. It's therefore effectively impossible to for the plug to get pushed out and as I said earlier I've never lost pressure having a nail or a screw in the tyre therefore it beggars belief that it would be possible for a self vulcanising plug to leak air. And while I haven't tried it I'd be pretty confident to say that even a low quality plug with glue would be fine.
Update, OK I just got another frikken screw in my tyre, first one on the ST. I left my old self vulcanising plugs in the toolkit when I sold my GS. But I'm getting pretty adept at plugging tyres these days, job done in about 5 minutes. I just bought some ordinary no name brand plugs as I don't have time to wait for delivery of the Safety Seal brand. As I'd expect they may not be as good, but nevertheless they sealed perfectly. Seriously, plugs are absolutely not a problem to worry about at all.
I dumped my Street twin's phantoms after 600 poor miles and fitted Avon Road Riders..now it handles as a bike should. The phantom rears are made in China and the fronts in Brazil - it's printed on the sidewall. The front has a 3.3mm tread depth from new - pirelli confirmed this to me - So unless you run your fronts right down to 1mm before scrapping, you have less than 2mm of wear before you have to replace them. WTF. My Avons have 5mm front tread. So I have twice as much rubber to wear away before replacing. I have emailed Triumph asking why they fit 3mm treaded tyres. No reply yet....I will post any I get..
