| Author | Message | ||
     Bomber |
All I know that tire tech morphs quickly and regularly -- I'm getting ready to order tires for my Y2K MaDeuce, and wonder what the best choice is these days -- Dunlops are a non-starter, but I remember that Metz offered less stand up while cornering on the brakes -- what sez the quivering mind of the Badweb? | ||
| Mikej |
I guess you don't want to know about the 208ZR on the rear of the S2 since it is a Dunlop. If I were to get a non-Dunlop I'd be looking at the Bridgestone 010/020 and the Pirelli and a few others. I'd also be looking at the tires of anyone who was faster than me on a track or B'Trax.  I think Shane ran Bridgestones at one time, not sure what Jose Q. runs these days, or TwoBuells, or any of the others. Most of the tire talk lately has been about the Uly tires. But I've got to run out the Dunlops I'm currently running before I have any firsthand opinions on anything other than Dunlops. In the mean time I'll just sit back and collect data as people reply to your inquiry, and then I'll go home tonight and work on cleaning the S2 carb which is sitting on the garage floor currently between the S2's front and rear Dunlops and the spare unmounted Dunlop leaning up against the wall waiting for the M2 to need a new rear tire again. I think I'll duck and run now before you throw a used Dunlop at me.  | ||
| Lake_bueller |
I've been very happy with the Metzlers on Marilyn. Great traction and good tread life. I've been not so happy with the Bridgestone tires for the S3T. I went with a sport touring tire that is just to hard of a compound for my riding style. Does that help????? | ||
| Bomber |
Lake -- which Metzes are you running? Mike -- ;-P | ||
| Loki |
Being in the market myself. Been thinking about the NEW Sportec M3. The scribbling about it seems very favorable. | ||
| Loki |
better milage than the M1 and traction to boot. I did find the M1s limits during my track school though. | ||
| Sloppy |
I've got the B'20's now. Too hard and too round of a profile - takes too much effort to corner. But it may be excellent for mileage. D208's are GREAT, but only last 2000 miles! Never cared much for Metz. so I haven't tried them. My preference is the OE D205's or D220's. I like the "drop in" feel and it has decent mileage ~ 9000 miles. Hard braking feel is excellent as well. | ||
| Jimincalif |
I just tried 020s for my '97 S3 (stock sizes) and am less than thrilled. They're very stiff. It's not that I care about a bumpier ride; near as I can tell, in hard cornering they're not doing their fair share of "shock absorbing" and are causing the suspension to flutter more on mid-corner bumps. I will say this, the front is sticking better than the Dunlop 205 I had up there. It would actually slip rather than let the rear end come off the ground - note that I weigh almost 300lb  (6'4") and this is an S3. With the 020s I can do stoppies. They also seem to "suck me down into the corners" more than the Dunlops, which is saying a lot as those have the same tendency. I'm running stock sizes (incl. 170 rear) on PM rims. I'm going to try and tune my suspension further to eliminate the flutter but my front end on this model isn't as fully adjustable as most (S1, X1 and the XB series). Unless I can get results that way, I'll just have to live with them for a while. Next tires I try will probably be the Conti Road Attack: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/4062/186075.html?1144151369 I bought the 020s because that's what local cops are running on their ST1100s and getting decent mileage out of them...and that's a much heavier bike. So on a fully adjustable suspension bike the 020s may be a very good critter indeed, if the mileage is any good...because they ARE out-sticking the Dunlops. | ||
| Bluelightning |
I have to say that I use an unconventional tire. I run the Tomahawk tires. Yes, I know that they are re-treads, but when the manufacturer that makes the tires use the same procedure to remanufacture aircraft tires (and I mean the big planes!!) that are able to withstand those pressures at 225mph, I figured for the money, I'd give them a shot. I have been pleasantly surprised at how well they hold up, give great traction on almost all surfaces (not too fond of riding in the rain, but they do hold their ground). You can buy them directly from Tomahawk or can get them for less than $100 each from Arizona Motorsports. I thought about the colored versions, but decided to just get the black for cost and availability | ||
| Sflabuell |
Went from the Pirelli Diablo Rear/Diablo Corsa front (Large improvement over the Dunlops) to Michelin Pilot Road to try to get greater than 3000 miles. Very unhappy with the Michelins. Feel of the bike is not nearly as inspiring. Now that I don't really like them, are they guaranteed to be 9000 miles??? | ||
| Lake_bueller |
Bomber....I was running M1's. Unless I can find some left over stock, I'll be switching to M3's this spring. I bought the Metz Racetec tires for the track. I haven't used them yet but looking forward to some sticky tires  | ||
| Bomber |
thanks, all, for your input -- dunlops are a non-option, for me, because of the standup under braking behavior, AND the fact that I've now had two rear tires that developed the mystery crack across the tread (left to right) about halfway through their life -- while not something that's happened to everyone, it happened often enough that it's not an isolated incident | ||
| Djkaplan |
Hey... I had that mystery crack on my first set of factory 205's. I never encountered the standup under braking with Dunlops I've used (205, 207, 208) on my M2, though. The 207 and 208's were very quick to turn in and my bars would weave a little under full throttle acceleration when they were brand new. After the tread wore a little, the weaving tendency disappeared. I currently use Metzeler M1's. I did notice the M1's added a huge amount of stability to the steering and increased the inputs needed for changing direction with my low Crossroads handlebars, but this isn't a bad thing. It helps me stay bit smoother mid-corner. | ||
| Denfromphilly |
I put new tires on my 99 X1 over the weekend. I went from Dunlop to Michelin Pilot Power. The feel, grip, cornering, ride etc are simply excellent, like a different bike, it hunkers down in the turns and just goes. The compound is really soft and feels sticky, they may only last 2000 miles but I will enjoy minute of wearing them out and grinding my pegs to a nub. My brother has the same bike and has Metzler Sportec, not sure if M2 or M3 but they are also an excellent tire, much better than the original Dunlop. I lusted for Metzlers but got talked into the Michelin at the bike shop. The Metzler has excellent grip and feel, a little harder feel than the Pilot's but they still inspire confidence. I am sure you will be happy with either of these choices. Den | ||
| Jackbequick |
I've only had my M2 for a year and it's my first Buell. I just went from the D205's my M2 came with to a pair of Metzler Z6's. The D205's had about 4,300 miles on them, were starting to "cup" a little, and the rubber was getting hard from time and sunlight. From day one I felt like there was some small thing in the handling of the bike that occasionally got my attention. Once or twice it startled me a little by sort of diving into a turn at slower speeds on off camber parking lots or when making left turns off of older more highly crowned roads. In hindsight, I think I needed to pay more attention to where I was at and where I was going with those tires. I couldn't really put my finger on anything but it occasionally seemed to tighten a turn radius more than I wanted or was expecting. I could correct it and just figured it was the way of the bike and maybe the tires. I have 490 miles on the Z6's and now realize that the D205s were a bigger factor than I realized. The Z6's have a much rounder profile and they simply seem to go where I intend to go, I've quite expecting anything else to happen. Very confidence inspiring. I'm still tip toeing around the gravel and sand from the winter accumulation but I've pressed the Z6's a little bit harder in corners I knew well from when I had the D205s and they feel so much better. What I really like is I feel like I can change the line in a turn easily and with no fuss by just thinking about doing it. My final choice came down to the Z4 and Z6 and I went with the latter on a slight advantage in the wet. I don't ride agressively and am not sure what my milage will be on these, I'm sort of hoping for two years and guessing I may ride 8,000 miles in that time. Jack | ||
| Sleez |
BT-012SS, enough said! usually found at decent prices on the web. love em! not the best mileage wise, but on par with any of the others for as grippy and smooth as they are! usually get 3k on the rear and about 6k on the front. less than 200.00 for the pair. (Message edited by sleez on April 04, 2006) | ||
| Jersey_thunder |
i like AVON MY .02 JT | ||
| Bluzm2 |
I guess I'll throw in my 2 cents. I have the Dunlop 220's on my Cyclone. Last set I'll ever buy. They spook me out a bit. They take a long time to heat up. My last front started to cup around 5000 miles. My S2 has Bridgstone BT020's front and rear. They seem to work well on the S2, I'm happy with them. I wanted to put a 020 on the rear and a 010 on the front but couldn't get the 010 when I needed it. It would be nice to have a little sticker tire in the front but then again I don't push the S2 that hard. Not sure what I'll do next time around for the M2. Brad | ||
| Blake |
You put tubes in your tires? | ||
| Henrik |
I've always been partial to Metzeler tires. Used to be MeZ4 on the S2 and either Sportec or Racetec on the SV650. I'm realizing I'm not fast enough to fully appreciate the extra stick of the Racetecs, so I've been running M1 Sportec on the SV the last couple of sets. Of course that's mostly for track day duty, so I can't vouch much for mileage. Depending on your street riding habits and need for traction vs. mileage, I would suggest the new Z6 tires. The Z4s had plenty of traction for my street riding and got pretty decent mileage too. The Z6s are supposed to be better than the Z4 on all counts. Henrik | ||
| Loki |
Lake, The M1 is still here for awhile. The M3 is the next evolution of it. Metz is saying there will be about a 25% downsize in price of the M1. At that rate I am looking at about $150 a set mounted an balanced. The M3 is supposed to be in the price range of what the M1 was. | ||
| Lornce |
Don't know your mission profile, Bomber, but I really like the Bridgestone 020's on the S2. They stick remarkably well for a tire that lasts as well as they do. Think I put 12k kms on the last rear 020. The front profile turns nicely, and they're priced reasonably too. Liked the 205's that came on the S3 but they wore out tres quick. I can't remember when I last bought a bad tire... | ||
| Jimincalif |
Hmmm. Maybe I'm judging the 020s too harshly. I'll try some suspension tweaks. The S2 had good suspension, plus with my body weight (sigh) I may be pushing the combination too hard. | ||
| Buellx1w |
I've been running Metzler MEZ3 170/60 ZR17 on the front on "Christine". I get about 10,000 miles. I *was* running Metzler MEZ4 on the back but I got "tired" of coming up with $200 every 2000 miles. So I went to the Metzler Marathon in back. It's been great so far, but I'm not as aggressive in corners. However- 6000 miles later I still have lots of tread! Prior to these I ran Dunlop D207 (1700 miles) and D208 (2000 miles) on the back. ************************** I've been very happy with the Metzlers on Marilyn. Great traction and good tread life. I've been not so happy with the Bridgestone tires for the S3T. I went with a sport touring tire that is just to hard of a compound for my riding style. Does that help????? (Message edited by buellx1w on April 05, 2006) | ||
| Bomber |
Lornce -- mission profile is simply put -- GRIN! for me, that includes primarily weekend warrior type backroad bombing around -- the roads of choice are likely similar to what you'd pick out -- rural, not very well traveled, not very well maintained, lots of bumps and holes -- in other words, the roads through the Kettle Morraine where tubers were tested ;-} Since I changed jobs, and ride the train to work, the commuting miles will go WAY down (good and bad in that, eh? seat time is always good!) lastly, now that I have my own tire changing department in the Entropy Lab, the inconvenience in using up taires PDQ ain't nearly what it was (big ol grin inserted here) agreed though -- like bikes these days, it's tough to buy a bad tire (to quote the pretty lady, THESE are the good old days!) Thanks to all for their sage counsel and opinions -- they all help a great deal | ||
| Paint_shaker |
I've run the following on my 98 S1W, I mainly ride flat and straight (Florida)with occassional high speed sweepers... Dunlop 208s (2 sets)... They stuck good when they were new. The first set lasted 3000 miles, but should have been replaced around 2800. The second set lasted less than 2800 miles. Dunlop 220s... I wasn't impressed with this tire and they lasted less than 4000 miles. Bridgstone 020s... I currently have 5000 miles on them and they are still going strong. Great for Florida, so-so in the serious twisties (at March Badness in Ga). If I lived were there were more twisties, I'd probably run the 014s or Michelins | ||
| Mikej |
Sign above garage, pending village approval:
Can I schedule an appointment at my next tire change????? | ||
| Bomber |
Mike -- you betcha you can also, you've been to the E Lab -- short of a 25-ton power hammer, I doubt if the village would even know I'm there ;-} ps, ammend the sign to read Tires Changed, Rims Gouged, Air Extra | ||
| Road_thing |
Maybe you need one of those signs that says something like: $35 if you watch $75 if you help rt | ||
| Bomber |
"No Spitting" |
