Looking for some tire advice

Discussion in '7th Generation 2010-Present' started by Robclo, Jan 23, 2013.

  1. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    I average 300-338 miles on tires of any kind. This is the price one pays at mach 1.
     
  2. Volfy

    Volfy New Member

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    :shocked: You really do fly, huh?
     
  3. Robclo

    Robclo New Member

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    Is that because you have the fasted colour?
     
  4. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    Not really. Lots of dudes mistake the ability to leap tall buildings with a single bound for flying.
     
  5. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    Fasted colors are great but repainting a harley fatboy doesn't make it any different than it was before.
     
  6. jethro911

    jethro911 Member

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    I have to agree with you Dave. The pursuit of grippier tires for the masses has resulted in a crop of amazing dual compound tires that out perform the track only stuff from ten years ago. That grip and safety comes at a cost, which is tire life. I picked up a beautiful 2002 in Dallas two years ago with fresh Dunlops on her. In two and a half days the rear was so squared off that it barely passed a safety check back here in Ontario. The cost of running rubber like that is astonishing with rear tires costing upwards of $300 each here plus installation. It's actually almost as much as the fuel I burned! I don't always super slab it like that but I was on a mission and I couldn't believe how fast the rear squared off. So we do need a tire with a harder compound if we plan to mount the luggage and head out across the country. I can only imagine how much faster the VFR1200 can eat rubber.
     
  7. Volfy

    Volfy New Member

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    I have Q2s on my track bunny (Gixxer600). Unless you are doing track days or carve some serious canyons, these Ultrasport tires are a bit of a waste for general riding - even the spirited kind. No doubt sticky rubber gives an added margin of safety, but few riders will exceed the limits of the latest sport touring tires like the PR3. There are guys who do track days with PR3s and reportedly did just fine. Personally I wouldn't do that, but it just goes to show how well these ST tires perform.

    That said, if you are willing to live with the expense, there is no other downside to using tires like the Q2.
     
  8. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    What the fast guys here need is a garage full of qualifying tires like the roundy-round guys use that are good for maybe five laps.

    I figure too that just maybe the aggregate , matrix and slope profile of the roadway depending on where one lives might have just a little to do with tire wear. ie Ain't much snow in San Diego.

    Anybody wanna buy a BB Tshirt that sez, "My tires are stickier than yours" . They could be the latest viral thing at bike nites.
     
  9. RustyBit

    RustyBit New Member

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    These guys that are saying they wear the front first, I just have to ask, HOW? I use the front picks hard, or so I thought, don't touch the rear, I push/pull steer and my front OEM Dunlop Roadsmart was like new when I had to replace the rear. Am I not trying hard enough?

    Pardon my ignorance, how many K's (miles) is it from Dallas to Ontario? Being from OZ not familiar with the area. Not trying to preach to the converted I hope. What Dunlops were fitted? Could it have been over inflation due to "super slab" riding as you put it, I presume you started the trip with the correct pressures in them? If you are fanging it for a long distance loaded, the pressures are going to increase a lot. Just like on a track day where you must drop your pressures before you start, same goes if you are pushing hard for a long time, especially depending on ambient temp's. Where I live our temp's have almost consistently been pushing 100 this month and no rain so I have dropped pressures before a run.

    Haven't tried the PR3's at all so can't comment on them, I am more than happy with my Q2's and will stick with them at this stage. Just 2 hours ago they probably saved me a lot of pain, took the VIFR to work today and on the way home, entered major intersection which is a right then left, green light, car came through red then stopped in my path, had to pull hard left then really hard right and left again in a split second, if I didn't have my rearsets on I would have pivoted on the pegs. I KNOW I would not have been able (confident) to do that with the Roadsmarts. Nuff said.

    Definitely agree about where one lives etc. A guy offered me a set of scrubbed slicks for a $100 for my next track day, now that I'm used to the Q2's maybe I should try them. They are Dunlop's.

    As for the guy that started this thread, it is illegal over here to fit anything LESS than that specified on the tyre sticker, so 180's are a definite no no, 200's on the other hand would pass, though apparently no one seems to like them.

    Cheers Rusty
     
  10. 34468 Randy

    34468 Randy Secret Insider

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    Not intending to step on Jethro's toes and steal his thunder.....well, maybe just a little. According to the "Get Directions" feature on Google Maps, no fixed address Dallas Texas USA to no fixed address Kemptville Ontario Canada, is 2,676 km or 1663 miles. Amazing thing is, regardless if you use miles or kilometers, it is 25 hours travel time. That is one bitch'n ride.

    To put it in your perspective, Adelaide S. Australia. to Pert W Australia. which according to Google, is 18 km longer yet takes 3 hours more. Go figure that one out.
     
  11. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    I know one dude who is hell on tires and tyres too. Some of this high wear both front and back may be caused because he weighs 427 lbs. and rides a Honda 90. Goes by the handle of "Tiny Mad Dog."

    Our friends across the various ponds and checkpoints will have to convert to kilos or stone for yourselves. Same goes fior ambient temps and "tyre" pressures too. ;)
     
  12. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    Ten Loonies says if Jethoro bought his bike in Dallas , Oregon or any of the other "Dallases" , not only would he have better tiire wear but better mileage too.

    Who really shot JR?
     
  13. jethro911

    jethro911 Member

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    Quote,
    Pardon my ignorance, how many K's (miles) is it from Dallas to Ontario? Being from OZ not familiar with the area. Not trying to preach to the converted I hope. What Dunlops were fitted? Could it have been over inflation due to "super slab" riding as you put it, I presume you started the trip with the correct pressures in them? If you are fanging it for a long distance loaded, the pressures are going to increase a lot. Just like on a track day where you must drop your pressures before you start, same goes if you are pushing hard for a long time, especially depending on ambient temp's. Where I live our temp's have almost consistently been pushing 100 this month and no rain so I have dropped pressures before a run. (end Quote)

    The distance between Dallas and my home in Ontario is roughly 1700 miles or 2700 kms. I dropped by some friends in Chicago along the way which extended the trip a bit to around 3000 kms in total. It was a real Iron Butt ride on a stock seat!
    For track days I typically start at 28 psi in the back when hitting the track and it does rise due to thermal expansion during the track session. For a trip like this where I departed at 4am, the OAT was around 70F and the rear pressure would have been 35psi. The OAT rose during the day to 90F and then I hit a storm system in Missouri with hail etc and the temps dropped to 55F. What the rear tire pressure did as I transitioned from stationary to running temp to rain and hail etc etc is hard to say because I don't stop to check it every hundred miles. The bike was loaded lightly with only a tank bag and a small bag strapped on the back so weight wasn't an issue. The tires were Dunlop Qualifiers which is the same tire I use on the track so it is sticky and in my humble opinion, not the best choice for real touring which I guess is the point I was trying to make but I did a poor job of making it.
     
  14. Volfy

    Volfy New Member

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    F/R tire wear depends on the riding style, the particular tire, and to some degree on the bike itself. If you are an aggressive rider that likes to brake hard and late, and if the tire is dual compound that is ridden on the shoulders a lot (as in canyon carving), and/or if the bike is generally front weight biased, then the front might wear faster. It is rare... in my experience.

    Race slicks will generally require tire warmers and IMHO not really gonna help you much unless you are over-riding tires like the Q2 in intermediate level and up. Even if you are exceeding the Q2's limits, it might not be a good idea to let an instructor follow you to see if your riding style can be improved. Dunno what level you are in, but I'm probably gonna be in Novice class for a long time to come, so Q2 works just fine for me.
     
  15. jethro911

    jethro911 Member

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    Thanks Randy!
    It was a haul but I had a fixed time frame to work with and I had friends to visit in Chicago along the way. I had to be back at work Monday morning!

    The VFR performed well with just the odd burble due to the lean spots in the fuel mapping and the Vista Cruise was crucial.


    [​IMG]

    Start mileage was 8089 miles and end mileages was 9986 in two and a half days.
     
  16. RustyBit

    RustyBit New Member

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    Thanks for all the responses guys.
    Mine too! You don't see the penultimate riders wearing out fronts. Back to novice these days, children hiatus for a number of years off 2 wheels, though the Q2's make you feel a class above! Was inter. in years gone by. Lot of difference in bikes, tyres and younger riders now. Always learning which is great.

    I was preaching to the converted then, sorry, I don't think I will do a long run like that with Q2's on these days. The Roadsmarts were great for long runs, though they do square off in suburbia.

    For Badbilly, I do have access to warmers, for $100 could be fun.
     
  17. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    Back in the day we used hair dryers and old electric blankets from thrift stores. :) Some of the rich guys have warmers to match the bike paintjobs..

    The excessive wear on one end of the bike and not the other is a little hard for me to buy into. I am wondering if the "data" is skewed because a new set of tires was not the precursor to the overall wear factors. Bent stuff? bad alignment?

    Tires in general have been the "problem" for a bunch of years. Tires were one of the reasons of the demise of dustbin fairing some of the more exotics like the Moto-Guzzi GP 500cc V8.
     
  18. HondaVFR800

    HondaVFR800 New Member

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    After running a set of PR2's for 10,200km, the rhs of the front tire was well worn (compared to the front lhs and the rear) and was spoiling the ride so much i had to replace it. Put a set of Metzeler Z8's on. 5,500km later the rhs of the front is shot. Maybe another 1000km+ remaining if i can tolerate it. The rear (a C spec Z8) shows increased wear on the rhs but still has about 5,000km remaining.

    I do not brake hard into corners if at all. I like to ride smoothly with good corner speed. Occasionally might trail the front brake into the corner but not hard, just washing off a bit of speed and setting the front end.

    Riding on the lhs side of the road in Oz we have negative camber on right hand corners and generally, positive on left handers. This wears the rhs of tires more than lhs. My brother also points out that along a section of windy road, overall the tire is on the rhs for a greater distance than the left (think about it, i believe he is correct) so this puts even more wear on the rhs.
    Maybe it's a VFR thing. It's a heavy bike that handles well and promotes spirited riding and maybe puts a lot of load on the front tire.

    I got back into riding 2 years ago after a 10 year layoff. Back then i would go through 2 sport/touring rear tires to 1 soft front tire.

    As much as i like the Z8's (better in all ways to the PR2 except wear) i will look for another tire to try and even up the front/rear wear rate.
    Thinking of giving the Bridgestone BT023 a try.
     
  19. mjjflynn

    mjjflynn New Member

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    I just put Pirelli angels on my 2000 vfr and love them, you have a very different ride, but like the tires
     
  20. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    Different places build their roadways with different materials. Could this account for some wear there in OZ or am I painting with too broad a brush?
     
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