Best tires

[PhotoAl]

1 hour ago, fjray said:

Yanked the stinking stock tires off in less than 500 miles on both my brand new 09s. Put the Bridgestone S22's on and there's no reason for me to try anything else. Get three new sets of tires on sale in the spring and you're covered.

I had S20s and S21s on my ZX6R and was impressed with them.  Good traction in the wet and did well in the cold.  Don't last as long as the Road 5s but didn't do long trips on the ZX6R although I did do 600 miles in a day.  My CBR600RR could pull the front wheel up in 1st gear on wet pavement with the Road 3s - a while back.  CBR was a 2012 that came with Dunlap Qualifiers (not Q2 or Q3) and they were easy to spin up in cold or wet - nothing like dirt tracking onto the interstate when the rear spins up unexpectedly at 70mph!

Edited August 15, 2021 by PhotoAl

[Xstoff]

I had PR4 on my Kawa Z750 and they were stupidly good especially on wet roads (which happened often in France).

For my FJ09, I recently put Bridgestone T32, and I love them so far! I surely could put more aggressive tires since I don't ride that much, but I like the touring feel!

[PhotoAl]

I have 3 Michelin Road 5 rear tires.  A new one, one with 5,000 miles and one with 7,000 miles.  Just for fun measured the depth to the tread wear bar nearest the center of the tire.  New is 5.8, 5,000 miles is 3.5 and 7,000 miles is 2.5 mm.  It is tricky to measure as can vary depending on which side and where around the tire but these are general numbers not a high or low so should be a good indicator of wear.  

Over the first 5,000 miles it wore at 0.46mm per 1,000 miles and over the last 2,000 miles it wore at 0.5mm per 1,000 miles.  According to this I should be able to get 12,000 miles before hitting the wear bar.  Yea right! I trust myself so much had a new tire fitted before setting out on a 5,000 mile trip which depending on what I do during my non travel days could be closer to 6,000 miles!  I have heard tires wear faster at the end of their life than at the beginning and this would seem to indicate that.  If I was not headed out on a long trip I would certainly ride these tires much longer. 

The tire with 7,000 miles was on my BMW F800GT for 3,800 miles before I took it off and then on the Tracer GT for 3,200 miles.  F800GT is similar to the Tracer GT but with a little less power.

[fddriver2]

Next let's talk oil and then seats. 😀

FTR. Dunlop RoadSmart 3's and 4's for me. Solid mileage, good grip, wet and/or cold.  I like the feedback. They give plenty of warning before getting loose. 

I'm old and likely slow compared to many of you. I don't do track days, (I would like to) and live in flat, straight, hot and boring SOFLA.  

So. YMMV

[betoney]

1 hour ago, PhotoAl said:

I have 3 Michelin Road 5 rear tires.  A new one, one with 5,000 miles and one with 7,000 miles.  Just for fun measured the depth to the tread wear bar nearest the center of the tire.  New is 5.8, 5,000 miles is 3.5 and 7,000 miles is 2.5 mm.  It is tricky to measure as can vary depending on which side and where around the tire but these are general numbers not a high or low so should be a good indicator of wear.  

Over the first 5,000 miles it wore at 0.46mm per 1,000 miles and over the last 2,000 miles it wore at 0.5mm per 1,000 miles.  According to this I should be able to get 12,000 miles before hitting the wear bar.  Yea right! I trust myself so much had a new tire fitted before setting out on a 5,000 mile trip which depending on what I do during my non travel days could be closer to 6,000 miles!  I have heard tires wear faster at the end of their life than at the beginning and this would seem to indicate that.  If I was not headed out on a long trip I would certainly ride these tires much longer. 

The tire with 7,000 miles was on my BMW F800GT for 3,800 miles before I took it off and then on the Tracer GT for 3,200 miles.  F800GT is similar to the Tracer GT but with a little less power.

I got tired of swapping tires before they were worn out because I was going on a multi-day ride, I recently located a like-new rear wheel on eBay, with rotor and very usable tire for under $200.  The FZ/MT/ XSR/FJ and ‘19 and ‘20 TRACER wheels are interchangeable as long as they have the ABS ring on them  

I always have a rim and tire ready to go, one with a ST tire and the other with a sport tire and swap them depending on the type of riding I am doing.  I have been able to get much more life out of a rear tire this way, WELL WORTH THE MONEY!  I wish I would have bought a second rim years ago. 

[Northern900]

I’ve run the Pilot Roads on my BMW R1200RT for 12 years. Great mileage running mostly 2 up with luggage. Great feel on all road surfaces, wet and dry. I will stick with those.  

[Mr.Jeem]

1 hour ago, fddriver2 said:

Next let's talk oil and then seats. 😀

FTR. Dunlop RoadSmart 3's and 4's for me. Solid mileage, good grip, wet and/or cold.  I like the feedback. They give plenty of warning before getting loose. 

I'm old and likely slow compared to many of you. I don't do track days, (I would like to) and live in flat, straight, hot and boring SOFLA.  

So. YMMV

I’m old too but not so slow. Not happy with the stock seat, the comfort seat or air hawk. May look at Lamm or Spencer redoing the stock seat over the winter. Oil, way too much drama to go there, kinda like talking about the dark side. 

[Instinct28]

Hello, so I purchased a 2015 fj09 about 3 weeks ago. It had a wore out rear tire when I got it so I went up a size and did a 190/50 17 Shinko 009 Raven.

It rides great but the bars have vibration that makes my thumb, index and middle fingers on my right hand go numb after 20 minutes of riding. 

I'm thinking about going up on the front to a 130/80. I'm kind of a taller guy and have the seat up also

Edited August 16, 2021 by Instinct28
Wasn't finished

[PeterL]

Instinct28 sez: bars have vibration that makes my ... hand go numb after 20 minutes of riding

First thought- get both tires rebalanced.

Edited August 16, 2021 by PeterL

[Instinct28]

11 minutes ago, PeterL said:

Instinct28 sez: bars have vibration that makes my ... hand go numb after 20 minutes of riding

First thought- get both tires rebalanced.

Does many go up a size on the back tire?

[Mr.Jeem]

30 minutes ago, PeterL said:

Instinct28 sez: bars have vibration that makes my ... hand go numb after 20 minutes of riding

First thought- get both tires rebalanced.

Try this. I used it on the sportster years ago. 

http://www.barsnake.com/index.php/about-barsnake

 

[Wintersdark]

22 hours ago, betoney said:

I got tired of swapping tires before they were worn out because I was going on a multi-day ride, I recently located a like-new rear wheel on eBay, with rotor and very usable tire for under $200.  The FZ/MT/ XSR/FJ and ‘19 and ‘20 TRACER wheels are interchangeable as long as they have the ABS ring on them  

I always have a rim and tire ready to go, one with a ST tire and the other with a sport tire and swap them depending on the type of riding I am doing.  I have been able to get much more life out of a rear tire this way, WELL WORTH THE MONEY!  I wish I would have bought a second rim years ago. 

Do you know if the 07 and 09 tires are interchangeable as well (again, ABS sensor allowing)?

[Mr.Jeem]

58 minutes ago, Wintersdark said:

Do you know if the 07 and 09 tires are interchangeable as well (again, ABS sensor allowing)?

I have no idea. I have a 2019. You could look it up by looking at the parts online by year. That should tell you.

[Clem Fandango]

I've always been a Continental man, but I just bought a set of Dunlop Mutants.  Hoping they'll be a good winter tire here in the Pacific Northwet.  I'll throw up some pics after I get them installed.

 

[micah2074]

I ride year round. I like Dunlop’s. No complaints with the rs3 or 4’s.