pelayo Posted April 14, 2021 Share Posted April 14, 2021 I will never use the original tyres again. First set were ok, but the second one was rubish, specially the front ones. I looked like a car with oversteering problems in every corner, sliding the front everywhere feeling like Marc Marquez without his balls and talent. Not a good feeling. I got less than 2500 Km from both sets for ridding up and down all day in a very agresive tarmac during sumer time. Center of the tyre were like new in both sets when changed. I will try the Pirellis for the summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member maximNikenGT Posted May 5, 2021 Author Supporting Member Share Posted May 5, 2021 One of the things I'm doing when I swap tires is to swap out the stock tire valve stems with these 90 degree valve stems to make it easier to inflate and check tire pressures with my compressor tire gauge. This will really help with the rear tire. Puig 90 Degree Valve Stems | 5% ($1.29) Off! - RevZilla 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 May 5, 2021 Share Posted May 5, 2021 14 hours ago, KellyL said: Hello everyone. It's time for me to replace those awful A41s on my Niken. They didn't last very long, and were terribly squirmy. I've noticed that some of you have tried the Pilot Road scooter tyre, and the Diablo Rossos. How have things been so far? Cheers I’m solidly into the wear bars on the stock A41s at 3,100 miles but haven’t mounted the Pilot Road 4s I have sitting here yet. Sometime in the next few weeks. I’ll report impressions after I get some miles on them. I also ordered a set of 90 degree valve stems. Planning on just changing the rear as the fronts are pretty easy to get to from the inside. I went with Moto D brand. They should be here in a day or two. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetpilot5 Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 I'll be interested to hear how you like them. My Pilot Road 4s still haven't been mounted. Between work and garbage weather I haven't been riding much lately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetpilot5 Posted May 26, 2021 Share Posted May 26, 2021 Ran the A41s a little too long. Noticed a little cord when I was 120 miles from home. Nursed it back to the house no problem and have now changed to the Pilot Road 4s I had waiting. This is the stock rear at 3,913 miles, traction control on level 1 the whole time, no burnouts but what I would consider mildly aggressive riding. The fronts were better, probably 70% gone. My tire guy told me that Bridgestone Tires sold aftermarket are generally higher quality than the OEM tire but I can't see me spending money on another set of A41s after being totally gone at this low mileage. Long weekend coming up with forecast good weather so looking forward to giving the Michelins a good ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferrett847 Posted May 26, 2021 Share Posted May 26, 2021 I'm having Michelin s fitted next Tuesday ,gone with the gt spec rear as supposed to suit a heavier bike better .I was going for Dunlops but availability is bad at the moment and my rear is shot so pr4,s it is . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member maximNikenGT Posted May 30, 2021 Author Supporting Member Share Posted May 30, 2021 On 5/26/2021 at 9:52 AM, jetpilot5 said: Ran the A41s a little too long. Noticed a little cord when I was 120 miles from home. Nursed it back to the house no problem and have now changed to the Pilot Road 4s I had waiting. This is the stock rear at 3,913 miles, traction control on level 1 the whole time, no burnouts but what I would consider mildly aggressive riding. The fronts were better, probably 70% gone. My tire guy told me that Bridgestone Tires sold aftermarket are generally higher quality than the OEM tire but I can't see me spending money on another set of A41s after being totally gone at this low mileage. Long weekend coming up with forecast good weather so looking forward to giving the Michelins a good ride. Thanks for sharing. Will keep an eye on my wear rates. 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...
Ferrett847 Posted May 30, 2021 Share Posted May 30, 2021 I'm having Michelin s fitted next Tuesday ,gone with the gt spec rear as supposed to suit a heavier bike better .I was going for Dunlops but availability is bad at the moment and my rear is shot so pr4,s it is . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferrett847 Posted June 3, 2021 Share Posted June 3, 2021 Initial findings after having pr4 gt fitted to the rear and pr4 scooter to the front .They felt really strange for the first 50 miles,then they just started to work and got better after a few more heat cycles .Stability feels much greater than the A41.Definitely more feed back from front and rear.GT carcass is more ridged and you can feel it so a play with the shock settings is needed .I will be doing 250 miles tomorrow with pillion and luggage so will dial them in better.In the wet they are just as great as I remember . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member maximNikenGT Posted June 3, 2021 Author Supporting Member Share Posted June 3, 2021 5 hours ago, Ferrett847 said: Initial findings after having pr4 gt fitted to the rear and pr4 scooter to the front .They felt really strange for the first 50 miles,then they just started to work and got better after a few more heat cycles .Stability feels much greater than the A41.Definitely more feed back from front and rear.GT carcass is more ridged and you can feel it so a play with the shock settings is needed .I will be doing 250 miles tomorrow with pillion and luggage so will dial them in better.In the wet they are just as great as I remember . Good to know on the pr4 GT for the rears. Did you remove and mount the tires yourself or did a shop? Am curious how difficult it is to remove the front tires in my garage if my Niken GT is on its center stand... 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...
Ferrett847 Posted June 3, 2021 Share Posted June 3, 2021 I was present when the dealer fitted the tyres ,the bike was on the centre stand .He removed the rear mudguard plate holder first which was a pain ,then the rear wheel.This allowed the front to be lifted a few inches so the front wheel s could be removed.He has a hoist in the shop with a soft strap to support and lift the bikes slightly while on centre stands . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetpilot5 Posted June 3, 2021 Share Posted June 3, 2021 (edited) I pulled my own wheels and took them and the tires to a local guy that mounts and balances for $25 a wheel if you bring them in off the bike. If you have a way to lift the front end it's no problem at all removing the front wheels. In my case I put it up on the center stand then put on the Yamaha front stand and raised the front till the tires just cleared the floor. Loosen all five front wheel nuts and the wheel axle nuts before lifting. Once raised, completely remove the five wheel nuts, tip the wheel slightly and it will come off the hub and out from under the fender without having to remove anything else. After removing both wheels put an old piece of carpet or rug on the floor under the brake discs. Remove the axle nut and push the axle out backwards. The front hub and brake disc will then pull straight down out of the caliper. When you do this the front will be unbalanced and the heavier side with the hub still attached will fall to the floor landing gently on the carpet that you put there just for that purpose. Do the same to the other side and the front will be balance again. I always put a shim in between the front brake pads to keep me from accidentally squeezing the front brake lever and pushing the pistons out of the calipers while the wheels are off. If you have some way to balance the wheels without the hubs being attached you don't need to remove them. The shop manual calls for the hubs to be attached to the wheel for balancing though and that also allows a normal wheel balancer to work on these front wheels. With the hubs removed I just bolted them back onto the wheels with the five wheel nuts snugged down and had the tires changed in that configuration. My tire guy had no problem with the wheels. As they say, assembly is the reverse of removal. Use care when you put the hubs back on the axle that you don't damage the ABS sensor. It doesn't need to be removed but's it's close. The rear wheel was actually a little bigger challenge. Four bolts gets the mudguard off but the ABS sensor has to go with it and access to the bolt holding it isn't great until you get the mudguard loose. Then I just rotated the entire assembly to the right and set it on a milk crate with a towel over it. Then it's just like any other chain drive bike you've ever worked on. Edited June 3, 2021 by jetpilot5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member maximNikenGT Posted June 10, 2021 Author Supporting Member Share Posted June 10, 2021 Interesting aspect about the proper stored speed rated tires for the Niken, it would appear that there's only one seller of V rated tires for the front tires and that's the Bridgestone A41s. Found the following table at a website that shows tire speed ratings. Tire Speed Rating and Why It Matters - Les Schwab Tire speed rating is the max speed tires can safely carry the weight of your... The H rated tires are for speeds up to 130mph while the V rated are Rated for 149. Here in the US I can never get anywhere close to H rated speeds (much less V rated speeds) unless I'm on a racetrack, which I doubt the Niken can even hit 149mph due to its large front end aerodynamics. Incidentally - anyone ever test the top speed of a Niken? 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 June 10, 2021 Author Supporting Member Share Posted June 10, 2021 Stock V rated Bridgestone Battleaxe A41 Adventure tires are V rated. BATTLAX | BATTLAX ADVENTURE A41 | Motorcycle Tires | Bridgestone Corporation Bridgestone Corporation is the world's largest tire and rubber company. In... Front and rear tire specs: 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 June 10, 2021 Author Supporting Member Share Posted June 10, 2021 On 5/13/2021 at 11:19 PM, KellyL said: Ended up installing Michelins on the trike. Front - Pilot Road 4 Scooter 120/70R15 56H Rear - Pilot Road 5 190/55ZR17 75W Haven't had the chance to try them out properly, as it was raining on the ride home from the workshop. Pirelli Diablo Rossos were about 15% more expensive. Didn't ask about Angel GTs as the Pirelli online tyre selector doesn't offer them as a recommendation. There is a rear Angel GT in the right size, but no corresponding Angel front tyre with appropriate speed rating - it's Rosso Scooters or nothing. After 7000km, OEM rear A41 had reached its wear indicator, whilst two fronts had about 20-30% tread left. I should note that a fair amount of that distance was mixed surface Australian outback roads. Wow, only 4349 miles / 7000 km on the rear tire? I'm getting closer to that. 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...
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