tires

On the verge of replacing my 98 VFR tires with Avon Azaro STs', a sport-touring tire. I considered the Dunlop D220. Any input on this tire catagory? I do ride swiftly at times, will I regret not getting a sport tire?

 

I just put a BT-020 on the back of my '01. Much better than the stock D204. I've had good luck with the Bridgestones on several bikes. Never found the traction limit on dry pavement yet. Wish I could give you some sort of objective comparison.

 

/Re: tires

From my experience the Bridgestones are significantly better than the Dunlops and I wouldn't want to drive Avon if I got them for free. But that's my personal opinion. The bridgestones have very good grip in both the dry and the wet, and decent longlivity. They do wear out faster than a touring tire though, but that is to be expected. I get about 8000km/5000mls on a BT020.

 

I put Dunlop 220's on my '98, and I like them a lot. They have about 4000 miles on them. They're wearing well, and I think they stick better than the 204's.

 

I've got bout 4K on a set of 220's and am going to try them at the next track day(Feb.17th). I'll post how they do. I can't tell allot of difference on the street than the 207's I was running. Never got more than 3K out of the 207's.

 

I put M-1's on my y2k, tires are awesome a little twichy at first but turn in and handling are great and they are good in the wet. Had BT020's nice but front cupped bad enough to cause a front end wobble in 4K miles and rear squared off pretty easy, big improvement over stock 204's though. IMHO 020's good, M-1's better.

 

Dunlop 220's update. In my previous post I said I was going to try a track day on them. After my last SMR of 250 miles I noticed the steel belts showing in the middle of the rear. I don't think 220's are particularly suited for higher sustained speeds. I'm re-thinking what to try now.

 

I went through a Dunlop 220 in about 7500 miles, going average of 70 MPG with about 100 lbs. luggage on the bike. This was less mileage than I got with a Dunlop 207 on the rear. The front Dunlop 207 has lasted me about 16,000 miles, and still has a couple left. I took a 10,000 mile trip with my friend who ran Bridgestones, and he still has the back tire he started with. I'm going to try the Bridgestones next.

Marc

 

Man, I just installed a set of Dunlop 220's thinking I was getting a better set up than the 207's!

It sounds like Bridgestones are preferred by most sport bikers.

Spencer

 

I wish I could get that many miles out of any of the tires I have bought over the last few years! stones or dunlops,maybe I'm riding more aggresive than I thought I was in my old age!

 

One more post on Dunlop 220's and I'll quit.
I ride a VFR 800i on the aggressive side of the spectrum. I've gone through 2 sets of 207's (3K each set) and just worn down to the belts on the rear of a 220 at 3350 miles. The 220's wear is a shock. I put 2750 miles on them on a trip from Texas to Colorado with good wear. They felt great in the mountains of N.M. and Colorado. That trip has allot of sustained 90's mph just to get in and out of the flat lands of Texas. The center rear went from still round to flat spotted and steel belt showing in the next 600 miles of local back roads. I'm 57 years old and don't do burn-outs, wheelies, or stoppies I just ride fast where it's reasonably safe. I was going to try a track day in a couple of weeks when I noticed the accelerated wear on the rear. I'm a Dunlop man from my off road days and like the street tires. I wonder if the compound in Dunlop 220s is unsuitable for higher performance applications. Unfortunately, all my riding involves at least half the trip on straight roads to get to the twisties. I'm going to try a set of 208ZR's next. ;D

 

How about a set of Michlein Pilot Roads? I had a set of Macadams on my '97 and got almost 8000mi before the front started to cup. My Metz. 4s are flattening out badly at 6000mi. and will need replacing soon. I am going to try the Pilot Roads as soon as all this damn snow melts.

 

Anyone try Metzler Rennsports on a VFR for track/canyon purposes? Just curious how they handle, how long (or short) they last, etc.? Ride safe... Rick

 

I ran RennSports on my 929 last summer and will again this. I ran one front about 5k miles and two rears. One track day included. Not great for wear but unbeleivable
grip. I have never felt the front end so planted at insane
speeds and lean angles..

 

The New Pirelli Diablo Corsa Makes My 02 Handle better than my 600. Faster Through The Twisties, Able to get Through "S" turns quicker side to side . They heat up quick And are super sticky. They changed the bike completely and They Have been track tested in actual races. Have 1K on them and seem to be holding up well.Make My Metz Z4 and bridgestone BT-020's Obsolete.If I only get 6K out of them , the handling is far and above worth it.

 

I ended up going with M1s and I love 'em so far--very sticky, lots of confidence accelerating through and out of turns. Used them at Streets of Willow a couple weeks ago and ran 30psi front and rear because of the cold...but they had a good contact patch and never slipped. No telling how long they'll last at this point, but I won't go back to M4s even if I only get a few thousand miles from these! Ride safe.. Rick

 

I too just got a set of M-1's after having 207's...and I agree w/ rick...very sticky & confidence inspiring in the 'twisties'. Haven't had mine at the track...yet...but May 12th is a 'Hammy Boys' track day at Streets.
If I was doing more track days, I would've gone w/ the Rennsport 'supersports'

RF

 

Here's an update on a set of Dunlop 220's I've been running, after just under 4000 miles of touring and twistys the rear tire is showing the cords! I believe I'll be going back to Bridgestones,

 

Hey Guys and gals new bee here. Have 38,000 on my 99 vifer. 204's came stock got about 7,000 out of them. 205's came next got about 5,000 out of them. 207's next back to 7,000 mi. Bridgstone BT020's got about 7500 out of them but they squared to much for me and felt like I added a steering dampner, also they follow the rain grooves in the freeways way to much for comfort. Now have Metzler sport techs getting about 2500 on them and they are still very nice. Not quite the comfort level that I had with 207's. Going to try the 208's next as they held up real well on my F4I and I got about 7,000 on that bike with them. Hope this info helps.

 

I run D208ZRs on my '93 and love them so far. I have about 3000 miles on them and it looks like I'll get quite a bit more. Well, looked like it until I moved out of CA and over to the Midwest. :'(

I switched to the Dunlops because of a headshake problem I was getting from a BT-020 on the front. Turns out due to a communication breakdown that I had a 120/60 on the front instead of the stock size. So instead of risking more headache (no pun intended) I decided to replace the tires with what superceded the stock tires from Dunlop, which was the D208ZR.

Anyway, check out the latest (June 2003) issue of BIKE - they do a test of what they term to be "street tyres" (as opposed to "sport-street tyres" - they define what they mean) and end up ranking the Michelin Pilot Sport #1. The 208s came in 2nd.