I have the Michelin Power Pure for my front and the Michelin Power 2ct on my rear. I absolutely love those tires! Completely night and day compared to the Battalax's. I did get about 10,500 miles on my OEM tires though. I'm working on 5500 on my michelins right now and they still look brand new!
I just bought some tires at 8500 miles on my stocks, i went with the shinko 009 was a so called deal for the pair at 160.00 Just bearly braking them in have not gotten to wild with them but sooner then later i will and see how good they do i went with a 120/60/17 in front and a 170/60/17. So far i like the feel and handling of them from taking a few turns from onramp that merges with other freeways its actually 4 on my way home or to work but ya so ya so far so good.
O ordered a new rear also yesterday, Conti Motion still. 10K on it and still some life left before the wear mark. Just keeping it as a spare for now in case something comes up. In the past me and the wife have been riding on Thanksgiving weekend. So if it looks like we're going for a long ride... I'll put the new shoe on.
OK. The Shinko's are history. They really were an awesome tire, but the with run on the Dragon coming up and a decent tax return, it was all the excuse I needed to get a set of PR3's installed.
The Shinko's did well. I put about 4k miles on them, but that darn center strip was beginning to scare me. The tread in the center was becoming seriously shallow, and with the flat spot, it just wasn't going to cut it.
If anyone is considering new tires on a budget, and you don't commute or tour, I can heartily recommend the Shinkos. They're not perfect, (they slip pretty easily on a hard stop) but they are surprisingly good.