Supporting Member maximNikenGT Posted September 11, 2020 Supporting Member Share Posted September 11, 2020 Was reviewing my owners manual and saw the following regarding tire recommendations. Is everyone keeping their stock tire recommendations or are you switching? If switching what are you switching to? I saw on Webike Japan that they actually offer Michelin Pilot tires for front and back. 2019 Niken GT "Motorcycles - the brand is not important, the fact that you ride is." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member betoney Posted September 11, 2020 Supporting Member Share Posted September 11, 2020 19 minutes ago, maximNikenGT said: Was reviewing my owners manual and saw the following regarding tire recommendations. Is everyone keeping their stock tire recommendations or are you switching? If switching what are you switching to? I saw on Webike Japan that they actually offer Michelin Pilot tires for front and back. I think most owners manuals say something similar for any bike for legal reasons. You can use any tire you want for your needs on most bikes, sport touring type tires for more longevity and sport tires for sportier riding. Standard scooter tires will fit the front with many varieties available ranging from pure sport to almost dual sport type tread. ***2015 Candy Red FJ-09*** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member maximNikenGT Posted September 14, 2020 Author Supporting Member Share Posted September 14, 2020 Found some interesting scooter tires for the front end of the Niken. Michelin Pilot Road 4 and Pirelli Rosso's Webike: Motorcycle Parts, Accessories, Gears, OEM parts & Reviews World's largest online store of Motorcycle parts. Huge stock of custom... 2019 Niken GT "Motorcycles - the brand is not important, the fact that you ride is." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member maximNikenGT Posted February 25, 2021 Author Supporting Member Share Posted February 25, 2021 Am hearing owner reports that expected factory front tire life on the Bridgestones are about 21,000 km / 13048 miles. No idea on what owners are experiencing on the rears. Any owners can testify what kind of life you're getting on fronts and rear tires and what you ultimately replaced the tires with? I understand everyone's tire wear rates will be subjective based upon riding style and riding conditions but wanted to get a broad ballpark estimate. I can't tell if 13048 miles on 15 inch front scooter tires is considered good tire wear life or not. Never had a scooter. 2019 Niken GT "Motorcycles - the brand is not important, the fact that you ride is." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilninggas Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 Just an update - i changed my - awful OEM - BS A41s for Pirelli Diablo Rossos, the scooter variant for the fronts (the H rated model) and the ZR rear, at Christmas. I havent had enough time (lockdown) or dry weather (Wales) to try them properly, until this afternoon coming home from work. WOW, WOW, WOW. The bike (trike) is completely different on good rubber, a far better prospect. The front isnt trying to slide when pushed hard (and i mean really chucking it through the turns and gassing hard out of the apex) and the rear isnt spinning up at the drop of a hat. This transforms the bike. Night and day compared to those poxy A41s. Considering it weighs 270kg (mine must be knocking on 300kg with the engine bars, top box rack and my workbag) plus me, it feels lithe - the steep rake working much better with the Pirelli fronts. Felt far sportier and less ponderous (not that it was bad, it was just vague). This makes the bike really, really work. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member maximNikenGT Posted March 23, 2021 Author Supporting Member Share Posted March 23, 2021 2 hours ago, pilninggas said: Just an update - i changed my - awful OEM - BS A41s for Pirelli Diablo Rossos, the scooter variant for the fronts (the H rated model) and the ZR rear, at Christmas. I havent had enough time (lockdown) or dry weather (Wales) to try them properly, until this afternoon coming home from work. WOW, WOW, WOW. The bike (trike) is completely different on good rubber, a far better prospect. The front isnt trying to slide when pushed hard (and i mean really chucking it through the turns and gassing hard out of the apex) and the rear isnt spinning up at the drop of a hat. This transforms the bike. Night and day compared to those poxy A41s. Considering it weighs 270kg (mine must be knocking on 300kg with the engine bars, top box rack and my workbag) plus me, it feels lithe - the steep rake working much better with the Pirelli fronts. Felt far sportier and less ponderous (not that it was bad, it was just vague). This makes the bike really, really work. Two questions sir: 1. Did you swap tires because your other ones needed replacing e.g. Bald tires, or because you wanted to upgrade the rubber to something stickier? 2. How many miles did you get on the Bridgestone stock tires? 2019 Niken GT "Motorcycles - the brand is not important, the fact that you ride is." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilninggas Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 1 minute ago, maximNikenGT said: Two questions sir: 1. Did you swap tires because your other ones needed replacing e.g. Bald tires, or because you wanted to upgrade the rubber to something stickier? 2. How many miles did you get on the Bridgestone stock tires? The rear was shot @3200 miles, it wore out not because it was soft - it wasnt, but because it span up all the time [even above 70mph] and chewed the centre away. The fronts were still useful in terms of tread/wear, but i detested their lack of grip [too hard, had some massive slides that would have put me on my ass, were it not for the 2 fronts] and lack of feel, a really numb compound. Ruining an amazing front end set-up. The pirellis are amazing by comparison. An absolute must change on this bike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member maximNikenGT Posted March 23, 2021 Author Supporting Member Share Posted March 23, 2021 The rear was shot @3200 miles, I'm assuming you were doing something like this at first when you said that the rear only lasted 3200 miles. 1 2019 Niken GT "Motorcycles - the brand is not important, the fact that you ride is." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member maximNikenGT Posted March 23, 2021 Author Supporting Member Share Posted March 23, 2021 23 minutes ago, pilninggas said: because it span up all the time [even above 70mph] Now I know you were doing this... 2019 Niken GT "Motorcycles - the brand is not important, the fact that you ride is." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilninggas Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 9 minutes ago, maximNikenGT said: Now I know you were doing this... I used to all sorts of tricky stuff like big wheelies and stoppies. Not now. But I do expect a 190 rear not to spin up all the time. Those A41s are rubbish. Perhaps aftermarket versions are better than OEM (as we all know, OEM models can be quite different to the aftermarker version of the tyre), but i no longer trust them at all. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilninggas Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 + I have wheelied the Niken. That engine is a peach and it'll lift the front end on the throttle quite easily. Not gonna make a habit of it, as the front end is heavy and the rake is steep. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member maximNikenGT Posted March 23, 2021 Author Supporting Member Share Posted March 23, 2021 48 minutes ago, pilninggas said: + I have wheelied the Niken. That engine is a peach and it'll lift the front end on the throttle quite easily. Not gonna make a habit of it, as the front end is heavy and the rake is steep. What traction control setting are you in? I'm on two and haven't explored a full throttle dump limit. 2019 Niken GT "Motorcycles - the brand is not important, the fact that you ride is." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilninggas Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 Either TC-off or Tc-1. Not used 2 at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member maximNikenGT Posted March 24, 2021 Author Supporting Member Share Posted March 24, 2021 6 hours ago, pilninggas said: Either TC-off or Tc-1. Not used 2 at all. Come to think of it, I've only been in TC2 this whole 2000 miles...hadn't had enough time to really open up past break in... 1 2019 Niken GT "Motorcycles - the brand is not important, the fact that you ride is." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetpilot5 Posted April 1, 2021 Share Posted April 1, 2021 With all of the shipping problems going on in the world I proactively ordered a set of replacement tires to have on hand. I'm only at 1,600 miles right now so the stock rubber will last a while yet. I can say the replacements feel substantially softer to the touch than the A41s. Got the fronts today and the rear is scheduled to show up tomorrow. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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