SPORT TOURING Tires

I'd be interested in what kind of mileage you get with the Rosso IIIs. Have been thinking about trying a set, but I commute about 200 miles a week, and hit the back roads on the weekends. 4-5k miles is fine for life, I just don't want them squared off too bad. I've also been looking at the M7RRs, but I think they are a pretty similar tire to the Rosso IIIs.

 

If doing highway commuting you may be better off sticking to the Roadtek 01's, I liked them much better than the Michelin Road 3's and Road 4s I had either side of my Rosso 2s. Will also be interesting to see how people take to the Michelin road 5s, the owner of my Motorcycle tyre shop of the last 12 years tried to convince me Michelin listened to peoples complaints similar to mine and started with a fresh sheet so may try them next dependent on feedback from here and biking friends.

 

On my 99 I started with Metzeler z8 they where pretty good. They came on the bike where pretty new. I got about 7-8k out of them. By the time the rear was toast the front was cupped pretty bad.

2nd set where Shinko 016 Verge 2. They looked really good on the VFR but where complete junk. After a couple thousand miles the front tire was wearing funny and became downright dangerous in slow speed turns. It would pull really hard in the directions you where turning. Got about 6k miles out of them

3rd (current set) I got a set of Pirelli Diablo Rosso III's. After a few hundred miles I really like then so far. Way better the the other two. I don't expect I will last long. They are sticky but they claim the rear is dual compound and hold up well. We will see. I got them dirt cheap and could not pass them up.

I also run Bridgestone BT45's on my Suzuki 500 and they hold up great. Handle like a dream on a small bike. If I liked the look of them more I would run them on my VFR without hesitation. They just look to much like touring tires for my liking.

 

Nice to have a new pair of shoes - no more tracking on these corregated highways from the Q3s. They feel like my PR4s from my 919. Very predictable, smooth rolling, very neutral. I'll be sure to post some updates once I get the chance to try them in some wetter weather.

So far so good.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

Well I just had a new pair of Battleax T31's fitted to my 8th gen.

First impressions really high lighted how bad my oem D222's where. My bike had a slight vibration thru the handle bars and the right hand rear view mirror vibrated, obviously due to a scalloped or slightly out of balance front tyre.
On the new tyres, the bike is silky smooth, no hint of vibration.

The tyres feel almost too sharp, like the bike is rolling on tyres an inch wide. The bike turns in much easier and almost falls into the turns by itself. It's good, but a bit unsettling until I get used to it. Again, pretty much what I experience everytime I get new tyres, but the difference between the T31's new and the old D222's is much wider than I've experienced in the past on previous bikes.

One thing I have noticed is that when coming to a stop with moderate braking, the D222's "squirmed" which I could really feel thru the bars, something they have done since I got the bike new. The T31's don't do this at all.

Our wet season is coming here in Aust, hence why I got new tyres. No way was I going to do another wet season on the slippery D222's. I expect I'll be using the ABS and traction control a lot less on the T31's. I think I'm about to realize just how woeful the OEM D222's are.

 

Where I bought my Q3+ from

 

$30 install if you bring loose wheel. $70 if you ride the bike in.

 

I've ridden the T30 Evos pretty damned hard. I would take them to a track.

 

Too bad the T30 is not the tire pictured. The ones in the picture are RS10s I think.

 

You are right. I saved the wrong ad. I have my friend who runs their social media a hard time about it!. Still the price is valid.

 

No worries.....it's a great price for T30s, I just did a double take on the tire pic.

 

Me too!

 

Just ordered myself a new T30 EVO GT rear tire for the season ... $189 CAD shipped.

 

That's like $35 USD, hahahaha

 

Funny that you pointed that out. I'm not that familiar with Bridgestone tread patterns, I though that the lack of sipes was odd for an ST tire known to a good wet weather tire. I thought, maybe that's why Lint likes the grip so much, there's plenty of rubber there!

 

Aussie tax for you. Wheels in motion price for front and back tyres ride in fitted = $274 usd, equal to $365 aus assuming exchange of $0.75.
I paid $528 aus, or $396 usd.

Not as bad as paying $11,250 usd for the bike brand new I guess!

 

Sounds about right ... LOL!!!!

 

Asking about tires is like asking about oil..or what the best color is.

I run Dunlop RSII on my '98 without issue rain/dry, solo or two up, comfy cruisin' or wearing out knee pucks. I've even had it on the track on them. Two sets are in the closet ready to go on as needed. Most ST riders I know run the Q3 front and RSII/III and love it. In the end, it is all going to come down to preference. no one makes "bad" sport or ST tires anymore.

 

.... uhhh .... Shinko?