How about tires? Isn't it hard to find tires for such a heavy bike, that both have good grip and great mileage?
Yeah, it is. My personal experience follows: The OEM Bridgestone Battlax BT54s (since replaced with the 020) were probably the best when it comes to mileage, however they had less than perfect grip in the wet and I replaced them with Michelin Macadam 90s. They wore twice as fast and when those were approaching baldness I got a pair of Continental Contiforce tires which wore half again before showing their innards. I have also used a pair of Metzeler MEZ4 which, despite their race-inspired ads and pattern, are holding up fine. My guess is they're roughly the same as the Michelins when it comes to mileage. The grip in all three (Michelin, Conti and Metzeler) has been great, both dry and wet.
Reently I have been using Metzeler Z6 and really like them, although they have a tendency to wear square at the end of their lifespan.
Random image
Recent blog posts
Where there is no police, there is no speed limit.
-- Roman Law, trans. Petr Beckmann (1971)
I have always had the
I have always had the Michelin Road Pilot mounted. I think they run quite OK in means of wear (though flattening occurs after ~15K miles) and I've never felt them losing grip, even in cold and wet conditions (as usual in half of the year in the Netherlands). I'd buy them agin.
asd
Whether any relation between mileage and grip of tire?
Ut tire
I think that i order this
I think that i order this rear tyre. Just 110 Euros.
http://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?details=Ordern&cart_id=40219754.12...
Tire Wear
I bought a more aggressive set of tires for my '95, a set of Metzler Sportec M1's, and got about 9000 miles out of them. Not stellar by any means, but the lower wear was a great tradeoff for such a solid grippy tire. They don't make the M1's anymore, but just ordered a set of the replacement M3 model to replace my balding M1's.
They wore very evenly without squaring off too, even though a majority of my riding is straight and flat roads (can't help it - I live in chicagoland).
Considering they're a supersport tire with nearly 850lbs (with me on the bike), they NEVER lost traction, and I push it pretty hard at times.
It may not be worth it for the budget minded riders, but I think it was well worth the switch.
UPDATE
I've now put over a thousand miles on my replacement Metzler Sportech M3 tires, and am happy with them. They feel very similar to the M1's I had prior, but seem to turn in a bit more readily while still giving straight stability that rivals a train on rails.
I am not crazy about the front tire tread pattern, but obviously that is not important. The tires are great, and I would totally recommend them.
I assume they will wear similarly or better to the M1's, so 9-10k miles is expected. That's plenty, considering the weight I put on them every mile of the way.
* Update - 4k on the tires now and really love them. Superior to the Metzler Sportech M1 in every way in my humble opinion, and have gotten used to the goofy front tire tread pattern - they also seem to be wearing a tad better than the old ones as well.
Tires
Has anyone gone up a size to the 180 55 ZR17?
Tire Size
Going up in size to a 180 will make the bike handle worse
Does Size Matter
Squeezing a wide tire onto a narrow rim can be a big mistake. Here's why.
By Andrew Trevitt
Those low-profile 190-series tires sure look gnarly on the back of a sportbike, and we've seen them pinched onto all sizes of rims. But in reality, a 190/50-17 fits properly only on a 6.0-inch rim, and cramming it onto anything smaller severely changes its profile.
As an experiment, we mounted a 190-series Metzeler Rennsport onto our F4i's 5.5-inch rear wheel and took some measurements. Compared to the correctly sized tire on the same rim, the 190's profile closely matches the 180's near the edges of the tread, but is much lower in the center area-equivalent to about a 6mm change in ride height. Effectively, the wider tire will give more rake and trail when the bike is vertical, while keeping close to the original geometry when the bike is leaned over. Accounting for one (by changing ride height) will unduly affect the other.
Following our test with the Metzeler Sportecs, we slipped a 190/50 rear Sportec onto the F4i and rode a portion of the test loop for a practical comparison. With no changes to suspension or geometry, the F4i felt substantially different with the wider tire. With the bike straight up and down, steering was slightly sluggish in comparison, but just off vertical, the F4i was quite tippy and darted into corners. The light, neutral steering of the Sportecs was completely changed and the bike lost its balanced feel. The sensation was very much like riding on a tire squared off from too many freeway miles. At higher lean angles, performance was less affected, although making transitions from side to side was unpredictable. And, contrary to the popular myth that the wider tire puts down a bigger footprint and gives more traction, we felt no improvement in that department from the properly sized tire.
We've experienced similar changes with a 180-series tire on a 5.0-inch rim meant for a 170-series bun. Tire engineers work hard to design and match front and rear profiles for characteristics that we sometimes take for granted. Upsetting that balance is surprisingly easy a
Currently running on Avon
Currently running on Avon Storm 2 Ultra's and got to say wonderful tyres for this bike...
As for lifespan, I'm currently doing 1000 miles a week so no doubt I'll find out soon enough...currently 2500 miles in with no noticeable wear. Would rate these tyres as better all round than Pilot road 2's as the Michelin's feel too stiff for these machines...