New shoe suggestions

Well fellow VFR riders, I am due for new rubber and haven't shopped or read up on offerings for a few years. Here's my history and comments from my 1995....

Stock Dunlop D207(?) - Very grippy tire with relativley short heat up time. I tore them up in my first season and looked for something with more longevity. I don't ride this aggressively anymore, but am not interested in replacing tires flat-spotted from my commute either.

Avon (model??? ) - Sport touring rubber...thought it was the answer to my need for more miles. Ended up they were too hard of a compound and were relatively slow to get to temperature. Hated them in cold weather and wet conditions, as I would occasionally get the rear end loose when exiting corners, but never low-sided. Also had a very round profile and were heavier than the Dunlops and took a bit more motivation to fall into a turn. I couldn't wait for them to wear out so I could move on.:frown:

Metzler MEZ2 - Ahhhhh. Just right.:biggrin: Good grip for my occasional 7/10 riding style and great longevity. My second set of these now ready for retirement, I would like to get into something that will commute as well and not give me any pucker factor when I decide to attack a few corners now and again.

I was also impressed with Metzler tires on my previous cruiser.

Given what's been said, any input?????

 

Thanks Michael. I'll consider the Bridgestones.
Hope all is well in Pleasanton. I used to live in Livermore and still have family on my wife's side out there.

Thought I'd get more response than this! Anyone else?

 

Bridgestones are nice. I'm trying out Preilli Corsas at the moment and like em.. a lot.

 

Alright!
Corsas on my short list now too.
I have some reading to do........
:smile:

 

tires

I am on my 3rd set of Dunlop D208's call me old school. I live in AZ and I find they are a nice balance of stickyness and longevity.

 

Take Michelin power road very good tyre I use them and i must say i like them more then bt020 and they last longer

 

I've just put a set of the new Dunlop Qualifiers on. "Wow."

 

Thanks guys.

So far I've checked out:
Corsas - a bit pricey and my surfing has turned up mixed reviews.
Dunlop D208 - should be like the OEMs that handled great, but didn't meet my longevity needs.
Metzeler Z6 - the new replacements to aging Z4s and even older Z2. If they live up to the ad hype (the ever present question) should outperform what I'm currently on, and like.

Now I have some homework on Qualifiers and Power Road......

I appreciate all the suggestions.

Doesn't replacing tires suck? I fear dropping $230+ ($300+ locally) for something I'll hate for a couple/few seasons and not want to pony up the cash to prematurely replace.

I'm also re-realizing why I have done almost all my parts mail-order. The local shops bend you over charging retail for most of these tires. Their incentive.....$20 mount if purchased there vs. $32 if you bring in the rubber . I'm all for finding a good local shop and rewarding good work, but frankly I think the Viffer will go forever with regular maintenance I can do at the house.:smile:

 

The person I got bought my bike from had put on a set of Pirelli Dragon GTS tires. I have not been able to find anything on them on the net and they looked relatively new/low miles when I bought the bike. However, I find that if you get on it hard in 1st gear (high revs combined with a snap release of the clutch) the rear tire tends to break loose and spin. Not saying all Pirelli's are this way, just my opinion of the set that is on mine.

 

This is my new favorite source for tires: http://www.americanmototire.com/

 

I googled AMT up and they had a good price on the Metzelers. Total $238.72 including shipping.
For anyone interested in my finds so far here's the price comparison on the Metzelers only...

AMT (as above) $238.72 shipped
Motorcyle Acc. Warehouse $239.51 shipped
Solo Moto Parts $229.87 shipped
Parts 411 $205.76 + "about $25 to ship"
Cycle spot (mostly cruizer stuff but they had proper tires) $210.33 and haven't had a response via e-mail for shipping yet.

2 Local Indianapolis shops
Dreyer honda $337.90 + local tax:frown:
Honda of Indianapolis $353.90 + local tax:yuck:

Guys at solo moto were really quick on replys to their website E-mail and have great prices. They may have won my business no matter what I decide to go with.:smile:

 

I'll be lucky if I can get 8000K outta my Bridgestones. Riding is rough on tires up here. More "Iron Butt" riding rather than the smooth as glass roads in the Bay Area. (Sigh). Metzeler's are my next batch for the Viffer. Maybe by mid season I'll have to change to those babies. We'll see. It might come earlier.

 

I vote w/Dunlop 208's and/or upgrade to the new Qualifier. Check Ebay,....
if you're able to buy a set(fr/rr), the price can really come down! Ahoyyyyy!

 

Ah cute vman practising burn outs are you... 5K on thy Pirelles, all is great. thing is for me, I put on a 180/55 in where the stock is a 170/60, so I'm going to try on the stock size when I get a new Corsa, thou at this moment it's looking 8K is doable for mileage so it may be a bit longer to try that other tire on for size.. more later as it comes

 

Tires

I put on a set of diablo stratas about 1500 miles ago and I absolutely love them. They are a dual compound tire ( harder in the middle and softer on the sides). So far i have riden them in sun and rain and they proform great in both cases. So you might want to take a look at them

 

I've tried a bunch of different rear tires as I kill one every 4 - 5 thousand miles. The last one I purchased is the Metzeler z6. They make two versions of this tire. One is for the FJR, and the other is for everything else. I went through the one for everything else in about 5k. Now I am trying the one specifically designed for the fjr. I have 5k on it now and it looks like I might get another 1500 - 2000 miles on it befor the tread is gone. I don't think it is as sticky as some of the other brands I have tried, but it might be giving me acceptable miliage. Only time will tell.

My next purchases include;

Bridgestone 020's and Continental Conti-somethings.

Both are less expensive than the Metzelers and are supposed to last longer than regular sport tires.

 

Well I ended up with the Metzeler Z6 (non FJ). I'm likely to have them spooned on after the 4th of July holiday. Commuted in the rain home today and wasn't feeling confident at all on the old rubber. I went with Solo Moto and am extremely happy with the price and service. Follow-up e-mail with the UPS tracking was prompt and accurate, and another follow-up e-mail came after delivery making sure I was happy with them. Good stuff!:smile:

I'll have to get a few hundred miles on them and report back on my riding impressions.

For those shopping and looking for more advice/opinions...I found another site called VFR discussion group (http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php?) that has a great tracking tool for tire opinions and data. That may be old news to some of you, but it was a great find when I stumbled on it.

 

Just my opinion, but, since you obviously like the metzelers, why not try the Z6? I, personally liked my Z4's which came with the bike new even though many people I've heard from said they didn't like them. I have had Bridgestone BT010's which everyone said were great and to be honest with you, I was less than impressed. Have the Michelin pilot roads on right now and think they are allright so far, but I haven't really put them to the test yet. Do yourself a favor and mount and balance your own tires, save that mounting money for other good stuff. If you want to go all out you can even get a motorcycle tire changer and a balancing stand. The tire changer from Harbor freight is fairly reasonable but I made a nice balancing stand and also an adapter and shaft for balancing the rear. It all works very well and I got everything I needed for about $25 more than a tire change from a shop, saving me money from now on. It really wasn't that difficult, just a dirty job.

Well, I just read the part where you said you got the Z6's (that's what I would have done) but now you just got to get the stuff you need for mounting those babies on yourself.

 

I hear ya....but I'm not interested. I'm a huge DIY type, but tires are something I've done 4 times in the 11.5 years I've owned this bike. I'd rather not put time and $ into mounting tires in favor of building the 12X14 deck I'm working on. The savings for my time between the two don't even come close. I'm picking different battles. Maybe when I'm retired and time is not an object.........