| Author | Message | ||
     Redponcho |
I know this has been beaten to death. I cannot decide what tires to put on my 03 XB9S. I am torn between the Syncs and the Corsa III's. So who here is using what and how do they like them? | ||
| Old_man |
I had Metzlers (M1), liked them. Now have the Syncs and love them. | ||
| Nutsnbolt |
I went with the Diablo Strada's and couldn't be happier. They last longer, and you give up nothing as far as performance like the regular diablos. They heat up FAST, and I am happy as a lark with em. I tried the qualifiers... Good tire but they don't last long. | ||
| Jjk |
I really liked the Scorpions that were OEM on my CityX, got almost 4500 miles out of the rear. But I have to say the the new Dunlop Qualifiers are superb. They grip even better at heavy lean angles, they ride better, the bike feels much more stable, too. And my friends who have ridden it all agree, including one of whom felt the bike was too twitchy on the Pirellis - he could not believe how much more confident the bike felt. I have no idea about mileage yet; I've done about 1500 miles on them and the back does seem to be wearing pretty quickly, but the grip and stability are worth it to me. | ||
| Bébèrt |
Second set of sync's, best tires in 15 years of biking at maximum lean angles. Best in wet and cold money can get...  | ||
| Teddagreek |
My bikes at the dealer getting Corsa III put on.. I spent about 250 for both tires.. I think pirrelli has got them discounted still... | ||
| Djkaplan |
When I put Metzeler M1's on my bike, my 401k went up, I got a raise at work, women were more attracted to me, this strange rash I had mysteriously disappeared, and my dog came back home after running away for 3 years. I can't wait to get M3's... | ||
| Diablobrian |
I have the diablo corsas on my bike and I love the grip and feel I get from them. The new diablo corsa 3 should get better mileage too. They will be my next set of tires. Honestly though about anything but the stock Dunlops work well on the XBs. It's amazing how much better street tires today are than they were 5-10 years ago. If you have a preference for a particular brand it can be worth it just for the extra measure of confidence you will have in them right off the bat. | ||
| Nutsnbolt |
Yeah.. I second that. Basically as long as you get them crappy stock tires off, you're gonna be a lot better off. As soon as I got that 208 off, I made it into a tire swing. | ||
| Lenb |
Bridgestone BT002 Race/Street are a nice sticky tyre. The front is a dual compound with even stickier sides. This tyre is virtually a race slick with the minimum of grooving cut in to make it road legal. VERY confidence inspiring when cornering hard. If you are worried about wearing out the rear too quickly (easy with a torquey bike and the soft BT002) go with the slightly harder Bridgestone BT014 at the rear. That way the front and rear will wear out at about the same time. | ||
| Thespive |
Syncs are awesome! They grip the road well, wear well and have the advantage of gripping in gravel and bad road surfaces. --Sean | ||
| Hdbobwithabuell |
For $100 I'll make you an oak set that you'll LOVE! No, really... get the Pirrelli's. There may be a better tire but I don't need it. | ||
| Irideabuell |
Corsa III's are awesome. I've got nearly 5000 miles on mine with loads of tread left. They are great in the rain and warm up quickly. | ||
| Tx05xb12s |
I'm riding on my first set of Corsa III's right now. I've got 750 miles on them thus far, and both still look so new you can still see the horizontal mold marks. The old 208's were already beginning to cup at 750 miles. I was always wary of riding in the rain with the 208's too. They were very slippery. The Corsas are so stable in heavy rainfall I don't think anything of blasting down the highway 70-80 MPH. They heat up quick, have much better traction wet or dry (especially wet), and the front tire design really allows the bike to "fall" into curves much more than the stockers. As a matter of fact, the first time I got on the bike with my new tires, I almost fell over when I took a low speed sharp turn out of the parking lot because there was such a huge difference between my cupped out old 208 and the new corsa III's. The turn in is effortless on these tires but still rock solid stable at high speed. The extra soft compound on the sides of the tires is super grippy too. I carve corners with much more confidence now. I would suggest considering a 190 rear tire though. I could swear the Corsa III rear is narrower than the 208. It looks funny to me. I think it's because it's got a much more rounded profile for cornering, so it looks narrower. | ||
| Kootenay |
I've run through a set of Pirelli Diablos and a set of Continental Road Attacks; decided to buy another set of Contis for the 'Bolt, as the performance is about the same but the Contis lasted a few thousand km more... | ||
| Schmitty |
I went with the Avon Viper Sports. Only a couple hundred miles on them, but so far so good. Quick warm up and good street grip. I'm doing a track school on them in July, so this will decide their ultimate performance. Schmitty | ||
| Spatten1 |
Anybody try the Dunlop Qualifiers that came out last year? I've heard they are awesome, but not from Buellers. Guys at track days raved about them. We can thank Dunlop for any big sales on Corsas now, they stole the limelight from Pirelli. I want to know if the Q's have a different profile that works with the XB better than the 208s did. If so, you'd have an awesome and long lasting tire. | ||
| Redponcho |
Thanks guys I think I am leaning towards the Corsa III's. I cannot wait until spring is here! | ||
| Barker |
Pilot Power 2CT!!! are the best price/performance/milage for the Buells IMO. Sync's will get you more milage, but less performance. | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
I went from the stock Dunlop 207's on my Nine to Michelin Pilot Powers. They were just better in every way, and lasted twice as long. I hadn't realized that tires could make that much difference, or what poor performers the 207's were!! When I got my twelve, it had M1's on it, they seemed nice, but before I could really get a feel for them, I picked up a huge nail, and I fitted a pair of Qualifiers, which had just come out to rave reviews. I feel that the Dunlops are the best of all the tires I have had, the only negative is shorter wear: 2500 mi. seems to be it. However the tires themselves are not the most expensive, and I save a little money by changing my own tires on my friend Gerry's No Mar changer. Personally, I would rather have the good handling than long wear. There are several good reviews of these tires in Sport Rider magazine. Their results seem to reflect what I have found with them. Basically they have good turn in because of the new front tire profile they adopted from their race tire, excellent grip from cold, and handle bumps very well. Traction in the wet is good too, although I really don't ride in the rain if I can avoid it. The only other problem is getting them. The company is on strike, and it is hard to get the fronts. PS. I now always keep a spare pair of tires in the basement, and I always change them in pairs. You never know when you will need them, and I don't like to be off the road waiting for them. Also makes it possible to shop for the best deals. Pirelli often has a free front tire special when they introduce a new product. | ||
| Spatten1 |
Great review of the Qualifiers. That is exactly what I wanted to know. | ||
| Pwnzor |
I'm going to have to go the opposite direction with my review of the Dunlop Qualifiers. I just finished up with my first and only set. The back tire after about 3500 miles was splitting down the middle and showing cords. These tires do not stick in the wet. They were scarcely better than the D207's in my opinion. In the past I have been a strong proponent of the Metzeler Z6, touting their long wearing and all-weather capabilities, and I still maintain that it is an excellent tire. For a more track oriented tire, I have sung the praises of the Metzeler Sportec M1. I just got the new Metzeler Sportec M3. I was convinced to go this route by Mcgiver who has them on his 2005 XB12R. With 4500 miles on his M3's they look like they have another 4000+ miles left in them. Having ridden his bike with those tires installed, I was already happy with the handling characteristics. Now I have the M3 on my bike, as of two days ago. Let me just say that it is the best feeling tire I have ever ridden. I am suddenly able to achieve lean angles that never felt safe before. I actually scraped a footpeg for the first time, and it sort of startled me because I didn't even think I was that low. Hell, I was just trying to scrub the tires in a bit, and I was flicking the damn thing from left to right and marveling at how incredibly planted and steady the bike felt. Don't know how they perform in wet weather, yet, but I'll let you know when I get caught in a downpour. Everyone's got their opinions on tires, this is just mine. | ||
| Glitch |
One word. Round | ||
| Damnut |
Corsa III............................... nuf said | ||
| Firebolteric_ma |
I agree with the nut guy! | ||
| Buellrcr |
i got 208 gpa and 209 take offs good tread in center.50bucks plus shipping | ||
| Metalstorm |
In general, any tire that doesn't say Dunlop on it will be a good choice. I personally run Pirelli Syncs but it seems all the Pirelli tires work great on the XB. The profile of their tires simply work well with the XB chassis. |
