Tires......

I'm about to buy new tires for the streetfighter. I have little experience with radials, so what do you guys recommend for a general-purpose, all-around good tire? I don't do a lot of super-fast cornering, and will likely put some long rides on this one, so I would trade stickiness for mileage....to a point. A friend of mine sells and uses Shinkos. He has them on his ZX14, but I'm a bit skeptical.


Thanks,
Lane

 

Tires? yep I have one on the front one on the rear. Seriously, check this site out, I have bought from them and have no problem buying again.

http://www.tiresunlimited.com/motorcycle_tires.htm

 

Oh goody, it looks like Nozzle might have a little competition finally.........

 

Normally I'm not a big name whore, but Shinko doesn't install any more confidence then Tomahawk does...

That being said, I pretty much swear by Avon Storm ST's. They're more then general purpose, they're great touring tires. The multiple compounds handle serious downpours as well as they handle the twisties. But expect to pay a few bucks more.

I've personally tested them from one coast to another and back... The rear still has plenty of meat left.

 

I can't post this enough. Buy yourself a set of Pirelli Diablo Strada's and forget about your tire choice from here on out.

I ride super aggressive on the street and also put A LOT of miles on my bike. The Strada's do everything great. You can expect at least, AT LEAST 7,000 miles from a set with countless knee drags, rain rides and other unfriendly conditions all handled with a great deal of competency.

 

How do the Strada's compare with the Pilot Road? Also, which is better between the Pilot Road and Pilot Road 2. I keep getting mixed reviews?

 

I just got a Maxxis Supermaxx rear tire off ebay for $75 shipped brand new...and I must say I love it so far...not the best by any means, but not the worst either...I like it, and for the price you can't beat it. Thats just my .02...

 

Was going to throw out Pirelli too and put the question to rest, but saw that he wasn't in a spot to go top end yet.

 

in europe for vfr, many drivers use metzeler roadtec z6.
this tire is very good for doing many mileages(usually 6-7000 miles)depending obviously by your way of driving,and is fantastic on wet street.
the grip is very very good as well as feeling too.
in short,if you don't need to make race session is a very great allround tire!
mikyvale

 

Another Tyre thread

Conti road attacks are great sport-touring/commuter/all weather, long lasting tyres as to what you asked for advice on how you will be riding the bike.

Take that from a die hard Dunlop racer/sponcered/fan !
see, I do have a open mind

 

On my other bikes, I'm a big fan of Bridgestone BT-45s for my sportier bikes and S-11s for my touring bike, but like I said, I've never owned radials before, so I appreciate your inputs, and I apologize for not doing a search, thereby avoiding another tyre thread!


:biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:


Lane

 

The Strada's scored very high in the VFRD Tire Survey. The Pilot Road and Pilot Road 2 didn't score as high as the Strada's. The VFRD Tire Survey is a quick and easy way to gather ratings and recommendations concerning what other VFR owners tire experiences have been. It also gives a percentage range as to what VFR riders have paid for different tires. I would check the Survey out on the VFRD home page...............

 

i was back home in louisiana,had to buy a tire and the only tire they had that would fit my 98 was a shinko,never heard of them but was really getting good wear out ot it but it did not stick like the meztlers i have always used

 

OMG he said the VFRD word

 

can't tell you about the road2 but I hated every mile that I had pilot roads on my VFR. They were the most lifeless, numb, confidence destroying tires i have ever had on any vehicle.

The move to pilot powers made me love the bike again...

 

Against everyone's recommendation, I went with the Shinkos. I use a Raven 005 (intermediate compound) on the front and Raven 009 (sport touring) on the back. I forget what online store I got them from but I paid $59 front and $74 for the rear with free shipping. Price-wise you can't beat that, even cheaper than the Tomahawks plus I'm not real stoked on retreads. At any rate, combined, that's about the same price as one tire from the big companies.

Real, real happy with them so far, I've only got about 2k miles though but I don't forsee any problems with them for the life of the tire. Word has it they are very long lasting tires, I've heard 10k miles is easy.

Handling-wise, I have no problems. The rear might not grip quite as well as my old Dunlops but the margin is so slim it's not noticable. If that's an issue, go with the 005 on the back. I'm more concerned with mileage for my rear that's why I went with the 009. The front grips great and turns in real nice. I have absolutely no complaints. 95% of my riding is commuting to and from work but I also run the hell out of the canyons on the weekends.

The verdict? If you're scared of buying a set of tires for the price of one big brand tire-stay away, open up your wallet and pay the man. If you want good tires for a great price, buy Shinko. I'm not a Shinko rep, I'm just a cheap-a$$ that doesn't like paying ungodly amounts for tires. I rack up miles on my bike pretty quick so I wanted a longer lasting tire that performed good and didn't cost an arm and a leg. I got what I wanted, I'm happy and no regrets. Next set I may go 005 on the front and back just to see if there is much tread life difference or performance.

 

Found it, ridenow.com has them for cheap.
005 120/70zr17 $59.99
005 180/55zr17 $89.99
009 120/70zr17 $54.99
009 180/55zr17 $79.99
Free shipping on orders over $100.

Can't beat that. (I don't work for them either just trying to help out)

 

No direct experience with the Shinko's, but I can tell you that the budget priced Maxxis Promaxx set (bias ply) that a buddy put on his Bros (Hawk) 400 were the worst tires I have ridden ever. Inferior by far in every way to the (worn) Bridgestone BT45's (also bias ply) and by so big a margin in the rain that the bike was scary to ride. Numb, sluggish, no wet grip - when you can spin up the rear going straight on a new (1000 km on it) tire in the rain, in second gear on a bike with 33hp, you know you have a problem. For some reason, they also wore square in the back and cupped in the front quickly over the course of a couple highway trips even though they were properly inflated. At the proper temperature in the dry, they were grippy, but went from cold to greasy over a very narrow margin. I'm not a Bridgestone man, but for a bias ply tire the BT45 is a reliable all-around choice and the difference in it's temperature stability and in the rain was night and day.

That said, I've tried radials on the VFR and I'm not going back. I'm very, very happy with my Continental Road Attacks as a general purpose street/sport/touring tire. They're not Supersport tires, but they steer crisply, ride well, grip better than most that I've ridden in the recent past (BT45's, BT020's and Michelin Pilot Roads) whether hot or cold, wear well, are forgiving with good feedback, are good in the rain and don't cost that much more than the 'bargain' tires. IIRC I got mine from competition accessories in the correct 120/170 combo and they cost a little over $200 shipped.

The other tire for the VFR that I liked when I rode a 5G VFR with them on, was the Metzeler Roadtec Z6. Could have just been the newer bike but they felt very smooth and progressive.

my .02 FWIW,

Steve

 

While I have not ridden a VFR on the Pirelli Diablo Stradas, I believe that the tire is a close match (same owners, shared engineering) with the Metzeler Roadtec Z6. The Roadtecs were on a 5th Gen VFR I test rode and seemed to be a tire very well suited and matched to the VFR; much more impressed with them than the Pilot Roads I have ridden on.

To carry the thought through, I would have no qualms about the Diablo Stradas on a VFR. I would not recommend the Pilot Roads as I had them on my FJ1200 and they were a poor performing tire IMO.

 

Tires

I used Bridgestone BT 20 radials 120 in front 170 in back, quite happy with them they have a more rounded profile VS the Contis I had so the transition from left to right is a lot easier without feelin "tippy" got around 6000 miles out of them.