| Author | Message | ||
     Silas_clone |
I just turned 52. I am slowly starting to ride Buell style but I am afraid that I will never be Kenny Roberts. My rear tire is getting a nice wear patch right down the middle. I wonder if perhaps a touring tire would better suit my riding style? Any tire suggestions? I know nothing about tires. | ||
| Bake |
These young whips probally don't know who Kenny Roberts is  | ||
| Easy_rider |
A group of us went to Deal's Gap last summer. When riding with one of the locals it was funny to learn that bikers in that area tend to wear out the edges first, where we in Indiana (and you, apparently) wear out the middle. What we need to do is create a tire exchange program at this site for situations like this. | ||
| Skyguy |
I live in the mountains of SoCal and ride full time. If I ever wear out the center of a tire before the edges I would trade my bike in for a VROD! Hell if I ever find a tire I can get more than 3,000 miles out of I would be so excited. I go through so many tires living up here that I don't change the rear until I see caseing. The front alwaysets changed when the rear does. My local tire guys sells my front tires to his stunt riding buddy lol | ||
| Mmmi_grad |
I live in Indiana , My front tire looks great it has about 4-5000 miles on it. My back tire is starting to flatten in the middle. So far I cant offer anything because the rear tire has a plug it. Would be great to see a trading thread for tires in here. good idea | ||
| Dave |
Not sure exact tire but definitely a good dual compound touring tire. When I lived in the flatlands on IL, the SLAB (IL Buellers and the MO Buellers) had an exchange program going so we could get equal wear on the tires. We'd trade tires ever 2000 miles otherwise us flatlanders would be completely down to cords in the center n'arly the release agent off the sides of the tires. DAve | ||
| Jack_fe |
There are some new tread compound tires available now michelin is one i know of, harder in the middle and softer on the sides - stay away from totally hard compound "touring" tires they'll put you down b4 you can correct for thier sorry grip. 3-4 k miles is normal wear for a rear tire that gets the best grip it's just the cost of riding. cheaper than a hospital visit! | ||
| Djkaplan |
I know a fast guy who uses a Metzeler Sportec on the front and an ME Z4 on the rear. | ||
| Buellbozo |
I just got a Metzler rear,and will get a front soon.I'm 53 Silas,and my S3 and these new tires are SO much better than I am.I can get the chicken strips down there,but if I want to look really hot in the parking lot,I need to let a really fast buddy of mine ride it!!He can feather 'em out to the edge,and I can pose like I'm not the middle-aged scaredy cat I really am!!  | ||
| Silas_clone |
Safety first 4 sure, but I am definitely of scare-dy cat persuasion. Metzlers eh? | ||
| Buellbozo |
I have no idea about wear.I'm sure mine will end up flat-pretty boring roads 'round here. One thing I just like about Metzler is that it's the only m/c tire builder that ONLY builds m/c tires.Life rafts and inflatable dinghys don't count. In the good ol'days on /5 BMWs,Contis stuck better ,but Metzlers lasted longer.Of course,that means nothing today,but I do find it interesting. Silas,folks like you and I are probably the ones who REALLY get their monies worth out of track days/riding schools.We've got the farthest to improve...and raw terror=adrenelin=whheeeeee!!! OOOH BABY! Scare me some more! | ||
| Oldog |
Blake said  These young whips probally don't know who Kenny Roberts is the manager of team roberts father of curtis roberts father of kenny roberts A champion road racer the Rossi of his day (the 70s,) rode for yanaha as they swept road racing with their 2 strokes, the TZ 750 is the only one i know any thing about it was soo cool to me then i bet it would hold its own with all but the fastest repli recers now. ok ok I fess at 48 I was old enough to have read about his recent exploits when they were recent. my favorite was Yamaha having him use the tz750 mill for flat tracking, he described it as being hard to handle I would like to get some longer wearing tires that stick in the corners, I can't ride the dunlops hard enough to tell a diff, | ||
| Paint_shaker |
For what it is worth. I am having good luck with the Bridgestone BT 020s. They are a sport touring tire and I have approximately 3000 miles on them. | ||
| Spiderman |
These young whips probally don't know who Kenny Roberts is He has a great chicken joint  | ||
| Paint_shaker |
Forgot to say at 3000 mmiles, the tires still appear to have a lot of tread life. | ||
| Denfromphilly |
My brother has Metzler Sportec's on his X1 and they handle great. Good feel, nice ride, lots of confidence, I will have them next.... I remember Freddie Spencer, do you recall in 1985 he was racing the then brand new Honda 750 Interceptor at Daytona in Superbike? Had a problem, dropped into the pits and with I dunno, 20 laps to go went from like 51st position to win the race. Passing 5 bikes at a time on the high side of turns at 175, it was thrilling, incredible. I have wanted an Interceptor ever since.....and the skill to ride it like that... | ||
| Luftkopf |
Avon Azaros. Great tread life, with nice wide rain channels that get traction on most every contaminate (sand, water, snow, gravel)that gets on the road. A great bonus is the warranty. I had one put on my ride, 200 miles later picked up a nail which drained the tire FAST, forcing me to ride to the shoulder on the sidewall. I found the nearest dealer, and they gave me a new tire for the cost of installation. Since then, I've put 5k on it with no thoughts of replacing it yet. | ||
| Brion |
I have used the dunlop D220 on my S3T and was pleased with the performance and wear rate. However, I was using the D209 on the front. I am not sure if this was a sin, but found the combination got me almost 6K on the set. I did this intentionally because the D209 rear only got me about 3K and the front still had more life to live in my opinion. My rear normally wore in the middle due to my long road trips on the interstate. I am using the Pirelli Diablos right now and have almost 3K on them and the rear still looks fairly healthy. | ||
| Phillyblast |
I put Avons on the S2 a few years ago and couldn't be happier. Got great tread wear from them, and great traction. Not the stickiest, but the dual compound is a good compromise and has worked as advertised. | ||
| Ricky |
What about Metzler Road Pilots? | ||
| Henrik |
I've always been running Metzeler Me4 on the S2 and have the last years been running Metzeler Sportecs on the SV650 track bike. I even ran MeZ4s on the S3 during some track day stints years ago. Didn't run out of traction until I was running out of ground clearance. While a tad pricey, I'd recommend the Metzeler Roadtec Z6 for good all-around performance and wear. Henrik | ||
| Firemanjim |
Well I have run the Dunlop 205,220,Michelins,Avons,Bridgestones,Pirellis,all handled well and had decent mileage,usually go through nearly 2 back to a front. Ricky,it's Michelin Road Pilots. | ||
| Ricky |
Well two words out of three should count for something.  | ||
| 89rs1200 |
Hello All: Thought that I should start contributing. Below are my tire results for my '98 & '97 S3s: Dunlop Original Rear - 4,877Mi ContiForce Rear - 3,092Mi, 6,063Mi Bridgestone BTX20 Rear - 7,952Mi, 5,265Mi, 6,410Mi Dunlop SprtMax D220 Rear - 3,061Mi Bridgestone BTX20 Front - 6,613Mi, 5,880Mi, 10,100Mi I presently have Continental Road Attack's on the front and rear. Rear is less than half used, and I expect to get over 8,000Mi on it. (Presently have 4,229Mi on the rear & 3,600Mi on the front.) | ||
| Josh_ |
I run Metzeler Z6s on my RS1200 and my FJR1300 including on the track. I'm getting ready to change the rear - it has 2 track days and over 8000miles on it and is almost to the wear indicators. Great tires. I really liked the Z4s but these stick better, last longer and don't get greasy when I do stupid things to the back tire (easy to do with an FJR). |
