bike tires

[dicki]

ok...

it's coming up for summer and i need some new treads for my bike but sadly i know nothing about bike tires :( i know theres a lot of bikers out there so how about some recommendations

i have myself a dinky little kawazaki ZXR 400 which i am sadly stuck on until i can afford to insure something bigger. i don't ride that fast so i don't need a super sticky race day tire but i also like to stick to the road if i do happen to go into a fast corner.

the tires on it currently are pirelli Dragon MTR 01/02 i've been pretty happy with these ones and they seem to have lasted well enough (bought the bike before winter with quite worn tires done 3000miles over winter and am only just feeling the need to replace them). the only other tire that i can really think of are the bridgestone BT-010's i've seen favorable reviews of them and they seem to last pretty well too.

anyway i'm open to suggestions so lets start having them :)

dicki

[phoenix]

I run my Blackbird on 010s, its a pretty good compound that wears reasonably well.

The choice of tyres is something that you should consider allongside your riding style and your local road conditions, Take the Michelin equivalent, I used a set of these on the bird and got about 10,000 miles out of the rear tyre (I normally expect 4,000), and the front looked good for another 10,000. BUT the downside is that this compound is as tough as nails (hence the milage) and isnt as sticky as the softer compounds... RESULT entered a low speed slide (on mud) tyres didnt pick up when hit clean asphalt and dropped the bike.

010s on the otherhand are a lot softer, they look like they are good for just about 4,000 miles but they are sticky enough to give me the road holding I (note I) require, however, Im a pretty conservative rider who prefers straightline speed against hard cornering (thats cos I live in Herefordshire and there are too many damn tractors arround the next corner!!!), were it otherwise then I would probably go for a softer compound again that may not give me the mileage, but would give better cornering security.

[dicki]

ouch... dropping a blackbird... must have been expensive, did you do much damage?

i think bt010's sound like the tire of choice i think i can live with 4000+miles and pretty good grip sounds like a fair compromise and besides my little 400 isn't a tire eating beast like a blackbird :)

thanks for the advice, anyone else want to chip in?

dicki

[phoenix]

not really like I said it was a low speed slide and all I did (all!!!)was scuff the lower RH pannel (I must get it repaired sometime!!)

the worst part of it was dropping the bike and my foot a pinning me down and having to get the idiot who was trying to pick it up not to drop the bike on the other side!

[gypseyman]

KMS and I want to know how many 'knobblies' you can fit on the things... :rolleyes: :D :xohyes:

[MrP]

Elastic bands ??? :)

toodles :xsofa:

[4.6POWER]

Hey dicki, those bridgestones are auesome tires... they are in my opinion the #1 performance street tire. If your not gonna be doing burnouts or running them into the ground... then they should last. But I've heard of people wearing them out in 2000 miles of hard riding. The 020's are slightly firmer, but I hear are almost as sticky.

[dicki]

good info on the bt020's

as i understand it the bt010's are sports tires, and the bt020's are sports touring so the harder compound would make sense, i guess a harder tire wouldn't be that bad on a little bike like mine it only has about 65bhp compared to about 165 on the blackbird :D but the trouble is you have to wellie it everywhere or you don't go anywhere so the riding style is naturally more sporty so prehaps a sportier tire would be better. any comments from owners of the bt020's? can they handle being riden like a sports bike?

dicki

[4.6POWER]

the 020's are still considered to be a great sports bike tire. I'd say their comparable to what come as o.e. on 600cc sportbikes... like the dunlops, michelins, etc. They way I look at it: stickier is safer. ;) have fun!

[phoenix]

KMS and I want to know how many 'knobblies' you can fit on the things...


same as any bike..



.... one on the front and one on the pillion seat :)

[dicki]

well just for information i got the bridgestones fitted last week and i've done a quick 500 miles to run 'em in and i'm very impressed, they grip extremly well and make the bike feel much more confidant at speed.

around town they really do suck though, they feel like they fall into the corners so when you start to lean you feel like your going to drop the bike and they don't counter steer that well at low speed either, my old dragons used to counter steer down to like 20mph but these need a fair bit of speed (lighter tires maybe?).

final thing they make me look like a compleate weed :) they have a huge curve on them with this profile

||
\/

compared to this for my old ones

\_/

so i am MILES away from getting rid of the blobs on the edges because i'd need to really lay the bike down and i'm a chicken ;) besides it's going round corners quite okay with the little bit of lean i'm giving it at the moment

dicki

[4.6POWER]

nice dicki :D you get the 020 or 010's?

[dicki]

010's my friend has the 020's and they have a similer profile to my old tires and i think they probably would have been a better choice for me (me being a chicken and all :) ) also the 010's are rated to about 160mph when my bike will top out at 130-140 so they are probably overkill... i beleive there is another tire called the BT096 which is an 010 with a lower speed rating and stickier rubber for the slightly slower bikes like mine but i only found this out after i bought the 010's

dicki

[4.6POWER]

the 010's are only rated for 160? Uhhh... that doesn't sound right. They are original equipment on the GSXR-1000, which will do 200mph! Are you sure?

[dicki]

no idea mate, i bought them off a friend who can get them at cost but neither of us knew anything about bike tires, all i know is they are rated far faster than my bike can go :) i'm sure 160 was mentioned somewhere... how are they rated? it might be a 160+ rating or something

[RanGer498]

Michelin or dunlops nuff said ;)

[phoenix]

Michelin or dunlops nuff said

You must be kidding
on a sports bile michelins are way too hard, dumlops maybe, but I think both bridgestone and pirelli have the edge on em!