Tire ?? looking for feedback
 

I am ready to buy new tires for my freshly powdercoated wheels and was looking for tire feedback. Generally I ride 3000 mi a year and don't mind putting new tires on seasonally. My current tires are dunlop d-208's that I feel have terrible grip. I was considering maxxis tires but haven't heard a whole lot about them. Everyone I talk to loves michelin pilots. Any other options I should consider? Anyone with maxxis with some feed back? How about changing sizes from stock for better turning etc.? Thanks for the help guys.

i havent used maxxis street tires, but i use them on my dirt bikes and they're really awesome. definitely great tires. i dont know much about the street ones though. i run shinko 005 advance tires on my hawk and i love them. even in cold weather they stick well. not in freezing weather though, though i dont know if any tires work well in freezing weather. ive never had problems with them. ive put 3000 miles on them and they still have at least half of the tread left. i would look into them, they're very affordable as well.

Dunlop Roadsmarts. You won't need anything more, unless you are racing on the track. You will get mileage and traction.

what about the conti road attack tires? anyone tried those. As far as what I have used both pilot power and pilot road, and have been very happy with them, a friend of mine uses the pilot 2cts and loves those.

dunlop 208zr's are an old tire... not bad in the day.

lot's of tires out there, you need to be more specific on your riding style & what your looking for. ( miles or grip )

tim

I put dunlop qualifiers at start of last season - at the recommendation of many here, mostly for fast sporting riding. they are equal to any street legal tire for sporting use I have tried - in addition to fantastic grip, they warm up quickly, and are good in rain. Lots of choices out there though.

I recently put on a pair of Bridgestone BT016's. They've got a dual compound front and triple compound rear. I am very impressed with their grip and overall feel. They seem to be a happy medium between a race tire and a good touring tire. Price is surprisingly reasonable if you stay away from the dealers. I usually use bike bandit.

pilot road 2s for me. got them for my gixxer when they first came out. like them so much that i got them for my hawk too.

Lots of good choices out there. Kinda like asking what's the best flavor of ice cream. I'm using the BT-016's and I think they work great.

After going thru 3 sets of Bridgies (cant remember #s but now long superceded by their latest SP/ST combo tires), 1 set of Metzlers STs, 2 sets of Avons (SP & ST), I'm running the Conti Rd attk SP & ST. Not exceptional but I'm not a road burner anymore. I always run a sport (SP) front and Sport tour (ST) rear cuz the VTR is hard on rears and easy on fronts. Any modern SP front and ST rear with high silica content these days is more the enough for th VTR unless you live close to the twisties or have dropped the front and run in hard all the time. You can expect close to double fronts to rears; i.e., 7.5k front & 5.5k miles rear before its so squared off turn-in becomes problematic. Look for a good deal and go for it. If you don't care about milage, then go SP F&R. With the economy the way its going and the USD to be closer to the Euro, you'd think the Euro rubber would be more reasoanble but they are not. I'm due for a new rear and may just go for another Conti RA ST to keep things same-same. Also check out Moto-X and SW tire for deals, sometimes Chaparrel, MC wearhouse and Comp Accessories have good deals too. Shipping is often free for sets or no more than $15-20, and I mount them myself on my buds shop (4&6 Cycle, Jim Rashid, Chief AMA tech inspector)

Extremely happy with my Pirelli Diablo Stradas. Higher mileage tire with great grip.

I like my newly mounted Pilot Powers...

In my 50k miles of experience, Qualifiers wear too quick but have good grip, Bridgestones wear funny but last awhile, Pirelli Diablo Corsas are good overall, but the Michelin Pilot Power (not 2CT) are superb. Good life, even wear, and outstanding grip really set the standard with the PPs.

Metzler M-3's rock

HOOK-EM HORNS!

I'm on my 3rd rear and 2nd front Dunlop Qualifier. My first front lasted through 2 rears, but just barely. 7,000 miles minimum on the rears, would've gone farther if not for freeway miles while commuting. Great grip in the twisties.:D

I liked the Pilot Powers I had on mine a lot. Great stick and acceptable wear. Now I have BT016s, and they seem pretty good for the city riding that I have done. They inspire confidence, but I won't know how well they work when pushed until I hit the mountains.
In my opinion, tires keep getting better and better, so it depends on how hard you ride and how long you want the tires to last whether you should go for super sporty tires like Racetecs, Diablo Corsas, etc. or compromise sport/wear tires like the Roadtecs and Roadsmarts, etc. And I guess Pilot Powers, BT016s and Metzeler M3s are somewhere in between the two.

Well we all know the stock D204s sucked. I'm sure everyone replaced them as soon as they did the 600 mile break-in service from buying their bike new(those that bought new).
Since then I've tried full sets of the following;
Dunlop - D207s - too hard, slippery.
D208s - better but too squirmy.
Pirelli - Corsa - great all around, confident feel. Several sets. I loved these tires.
Super Corsa - even better. Wear quick. Expensive.
Conti - Conti-Force Max - Confident feeling, good wear. Free.
Pirelli - Diablo - Confident feeling, not so good wear but less expensive. On second set, still looks good.

road attack rear did not last very long for me

I'm really enjoying the Michelin pilot power 2CT front and Road2 rear combo

Alright thanks for all the feedback. Sounds like the michelins are coming out on top. I ride mostly back roads pretty conservative compared to most. Possibly a track day in the future. I like the maxxis on my offroad bike but don't want to lay down the coin if there street tire is not so hot. The d-208's aren't very confident inspiring so I really want new tires that I can get comfortable with.

I just went from Dunlop 208's to Pilot Power 2ct's (probably didn't need the 2ct, regular Power woulda been fine, but for $5 why not) and I love the feel of the new tires. Night and day.. of course that was from worn to the chords to brand new tires.. lol but still I like the Pilots.

I'll second that the Conti's wear out too fast. Now I'm on a set of Metzeler Z-6's. So far they're great!

Maxxis is actually Cheng-Shin. They make some of the most inexpensive tires on the market. Maxxis does some mass advertising in the off-road world. I know the ATV riders really like em'.

I have Dunlop Qualifiers, good tire.

Just curious what psi the guys with the conti's were running? I think I got about 4-5k out of my rear conti's which is way more than i usually get. Anyway I have the corsa III right now and after 5 trackdays and 3 thousand miles it's finally time to replace them, nice tires. I've tried a million different tires but rarely use them all up because of the track but if you want long life go with the pilot road 2, I'll be trying the bridgestone 016 next though.

I'm currently running the conti sport attack front / road attack rear. Running mostly 32/36 psi (short commute and common quick canyon runs). This setup has afforded me around 6K between tire changes. I'd like to think I run hard in the canyons and I'm not so gentle on the straights either..... so I'm happy with 6k on the tires. Next will be a repeat on the Conti's or the 2CT's depending on the deals I can find.

+1 Mich Pilot Powers rock!
RC

I run same combo but 35/41 +/- No way I get 6k before rear turn-in is like rolling the edge but once over OK. Maybe -5k & 7k+ in front with a far bit of hiway (1/2?) and a trunk (a lot less than a beech man).

Why are the Michs so expensive, the dual-compound? Making up for loosing motogp?

I bought a set of Bridgestone BT-021s last summer because they are dual compound and over 4000 miles later of mostly highway riding they look brand new still with just a little coming off of the middle. I expect to get another 5-6K on them at this rate, so anyone that commutes a lot may want to look at this tire. Plenty of grip for canyon carving as well and for $230 a set you can't wrong.

Two years ago I tried my first set of Avons on my Triumph.Mounted Avon Storms,which are a V rated sport/tour tire.Good grip, good feedback and so far excellent wear.I always check pressures before I ride and inspect my tires. I can't fault them,so I will be putting a pair on the Hawk this spring...... My 2 cents...........