After Market Tires

[ME_with_a_B]

I just ordered Michelin Pilot Road 2 tires.

I got a small rock of glass stuck in my rear tire some time in the past week and I'm not liking the idea of riding with it in there for very much longer (its not leaking air) -- so I'm replacing both tires once these new ones arrive. Amazon.com had the best price (front and rear shipping from different vendors) The tires I'm riding on now are the original ones, and have 11.5k miles on them anyway...

I know nothing about tires , so I hope these will be okay. We shall see...

 

[JonKerr]

I just ordered Michelin Pilot Road 2 tires.

I got a small rock of glass stuck in my rear tire some time in the past week and I'm not liking the idea of riding with it in there for very much longer (its not leaking air) -- so I'm replacing both tires once these new ones arrive. Amazon.com had the best price (front and rear shipping from different vendors) The tires I'm riding on now are the original ones, and have 11.5k miles on them anyway...

I know nothing about tires , so I hope these will be okay. We shall see...

Good choice. I'm going to get the Pilot Road 2 if I end up commuting on the bike with a Pilot Power front.

 

[mtucker]

Is anyone having clearance issues with a 170-180 rear??

 

[Grinch79]

Dealership is saying 170 is as big as we can go with our swingarm and rim. He said the difference between a 160 & 170 is less than an inch in diameter.

 

[JonKerr]

Yeah 170 is the max. 180 is too wide for our rim mainly. You'd be pinching it too much changing it's profile.

 

[JonKerr]

Well I just found some kind of small metallic something embedded in my rear tire. I don't think it's gone all the way through but I don't know that for sure. It's not leaking air so that's good. They were pretty much done anyways so this is a good excuse to replace them. So I call around and apparently Michelin is back ordered on pretty much all of their Pilot tires (Pilot Road 2, Pilot Power and PP 2CT) in a 170 and 160. So I just ordered some Bridgestone BT-016's in a 170/60 and a 120/70 for the front. They'll be in Friday and installed Saturday morning. I'll get some pics when I get it home and do a side by side with the Pirelli's to see the different profiles.

I ended up getting about 5000 miles out of the Pirelli Diablo Rosso. Mostly riding canyons and back roads. Very little freeway riding. The front looks OK, the rear, being a single compound, did develop a bit of a flat strip even with the minimal highway riding I do. I would not suggest them for a commuter. But for a canyon carver, they had great grip, warmed up very fast, and lasted a good long time.

 

[Heineken]

If I get the time this weekend, I will be getting the Metzeler M5's put on my bike. I will stick with the stock sizes. They are claiming that the M5's are getting better traction in all conditions (dry vs. wet) and extended tire life. I figured I would give them a try, and it doesn't hurt that the dealership is giving my a 30% discount for both tires. :steve:

So... what happened? Are you a elephant hunter?)
I'm a couple of months away till the tire change is due, I'm trying to get as much feedback as possible.

 

[99vengeur]

So... what happened? Are you a elephant hunter?)
I'm a couple of months away till the tire change is due, I'm trying to get as much feedback as possible.

Not yet....

I had to go out of town last weekend, so I didn't make it to the dealership. I will try again this weekend.

 

[99vengeur]

Alrighty, new tires!

So, I called the dealership this morning to ask if they had the Metzeler M5 tires in stock and they said they did. So I rode over there and dropped it off at the service bay. I didn't have a ride, so I stuck around. Good thing I did, cuz they didn't actually have the M5's in stock. Guess I won't be hunting elephants this time around. :rant:

So I ended up with the Shinko Raven 009's in the stock sizes. The switcheroo actually saved me $100 bucks! :steve: I only road about 10 miles back to work, but they feel like they want to tip in a lit easier than the stock tires. I have read mixed reviews about them, but I will save judgment for when I have put a few hundred miles on them.

 

[dart1963]

but they feel like they want to tip in a lit easier than the stock tires. I have read mixed reviews about them, but I will save judgment for when I have put a few hundred miles on them.

I thought the same... but keep in mind, I had 12k mile on stocks, I had flat spots, the tires wanted to follow every crack in the road... It's been 9 months since I road on fresh stock tires, so I can't really say the pilot road 2ct are more wanting to lean in, or if it's just been a while since I wasn't riding on flattened tires.... just something to keep in mind.

 

[99vengeur]

I thought the same... but keep in mind, I had 12k mile on stocks, I had flat spots, the tires wanted to follow every crack in the road... It's been 9 months since I road on fresh stock tires, so I can't really say the pilot road 2ct are more wanting to lean in, or if it's just been a while since I wasn't riding on flattened tires.... just something to keep in mind.

Yeah, I definitely had the flat spot on the rear tire. :spank: The last few weeks was when I really started to push the tires and they were hesitant to tip in, likely due to the flat spot. These Shinko's don't have a tremendous crown to them like the PP or the Metzeler tires. I'll try to get some pics later so people can see what they look like.

ETA: I also noticed that the Metzeler M3's also have the elephant on them, just not the lean indicators found on the M5's. So you can hunt that pesky pachyderm with the M3's as well. :rockon:

 

[Roaddawg]

So I ended up with the Shinko Raven 009's in the stock sizes. The switcheroo actually saved me $100 bucks! :steve: I only road about 10 miles back to work, but they feel like they want to tip in a lit easier than the stock tires. I have read mixed reviews about them, but I will save judgment for when I have put a few hundred miles on them.

Gotta keep us updated on those. I just found some online (cyclegear) for $162 front and rear! That's crazy talk there.

 

[JSP]

I've put about 450 miles on my Pilot Road 2CT's and absolutely love them! They are scrubbed in nicely and grip great. I am definitely going to continue buying these as long as they are available.

 

[99vengeur]

Here are the pictures that I promised. The first two are the rear tire and the third is the front tire. You can't see it very well in the pictures, but I have wore off the shiny new tire sheen to the same point that my old tires were scrubbed to. Not even a hint of them getting squirly on me, and these are brand spanking new tires from the factory this year (week 8 and 15 to be precise).

Once they get fully scrubbed in, I think I might like these tires.

 

[dart1963]

I'm really confused on the tread pattern,, most tires that have deep grooves like that, are meant to channel water away, those just look like... grooves....
and the front tire, not sure I like the single groove down the middle... please tell us how those handle in the rain (light and heavy).

 

[JonKerr]

Got my BT-016's on the bike yesterday. Only got to put about 30 miles on them yesterday and about 80 today with the wife on the back. Although they're very grippy right from the start, I'm taking it really easy on them to "break them in." Figured better safe than sorry, especially with the wife on the bike.

So right from the start I felt that, even though they're a wider tire with a flatter profile than my Pirelli's that just came off it, they feel much more willing to tip into the corner. HOWEVER, once the bike is tipped into the corner, it feels like it requires more countersteer pressure to keep it tipped into the turn. This may be partly because I wasn't really able to move my body around and shift my weight like I normally do being that my wife was on the back. But they feel like they want to stand up a bit more. Which did make for some pretty fast side to side transitions even with the passenger. You can see in the pictures there's still a pretty significant chicken strip on there. But now that the main contact patch is scuffed in a bit, I should be able to get a really good feel for them when I head out with some friends Wednesday after work. I'll keep you updated.

 

[99vengeur]

Just a quick update...

I haven't had to ride in the rain yet with the new shoes, but I like how they handle on dry pavement. The bike tips in a lot easier, and it requires very little input to stay in a lean. Sometimes, I actually found myself needing to reduce the amount of counter-steering to keep from leaning too far for the corner and my speed into the corner.

I've got about 150 miles on them, so I will gradually start to push them and see how they handle then.

 

[ME_with_a_B]

I've put about 450 miles on my Pilot Road 2CT's and absolutely love them! They are scrubbed in nicely and grip great. I am definitely going to continue buying these as long as they are available.

I spent the weekend on my new Pilot Road 2's also, and after a few hundred miles - the corners feel awesome. I'm pretty sure I'll be sticking with these tires as well.

 

[Pizz]

I have Pilot Road 2's on my ZX14 and will be switching to them on the FZ6R when the OEM's are done. Much better in the corners.

 

[99vengeur]

UPDATE on the Shinko Raven 009's

Ok, I finally managed to get some time on wet pavement with the new Shinko Raven 009's. I like them! They are better than stock on dry pavement and they are a little more confidence inspiring on wet pavement. I rode like I normally do, slightly aggressively around curves, and the tires held pretty well. However, one area that was less than ideal was the metal joints between bridge sections. The front tire got real squirmy when going over them with only moderate lean angles.

The pavement was wet, but it wasn't a downpour, so I guess I'll wait for another day to ride when it's coming down in buckets.

Overall, these are good tires. We'll see how many miles I get out of them. I got 8k out of the stock tires. When these die, I still want to try out the Metzelers.