Tires: suggestions?

[betoney]

6 hours ago, harraseeket said:

I have to say though as OEM tires that come on a bike they're much better than any others I've had on new bikes .

If you like the stock tires just wait until you put a set of higher quality tires on the bike, very noticeable difference.

[wordsmith]

30 minutes ago, betoney said:

If you like the stock tires just wait until you put a set of higher quality tires on the bike, very noticeable difference.

I back that 100%.   Switching to Michelin PR 4s on my previous Tracer after a puncture rendered the rear tyre unusable was a revelation!   Will probably go to Road 5s on the GT in due course...

[2linby]

 I replaced the worn out OEM tires with only 5800 miles on them with Michelin PR5's. 6500 miles  later they still have more tread on them then the damn OEM's did new!  I ride everyday rain or shine in Oregon, so I need a good long lasting rain proven tire. The Michelin series from the old 88's and 100X to the newer PR2, 3, 4 and now 5's have been on all my bikes since 2001. That's close to 200,000 miles on the four bikes I've owned since then. 

[roadrash83]

 I have 5600mi on the stock OEM Dunlops on my GT and I can't wait to wear them out and put on PR5's. The front tire is already scalping and if I take my hands of the bars below 45mph the bars shake.  The shaking is not the suspension set up as the bike didn't do this when new just as the tires started to wear.I have had three bikes with OEM Dunlops on them and they all did the same thing. 

[bushman57]

I agree with you Chitown,  Money spent on safety such as training is always a good investment.  Michelin's longevity of quality, and I've had probably had every style they make, RS, Pilot's, Road's, whatever, they have all been excellent.  And I believe that confidence in a tire breeds better riding , and safer riding. 

Quetech,  I ride north Ga. Mountains most of the time and during the summer it's common to go through a few showers during the day.  With areas of patchy road dampness.  Mostly in the shady corners.  The 5's are an excellent rain tire proven by many test, Michelin's best. I must admit that the dampness does slow me down , and makes me more cautious, however, the tires still feel stable, I just don't want to do anything stupid!  I know that for me the Road 5"s ( with all the points of tread wear, confidence, Grip, rain or shine, side wall stability, and braking ) you can't go wrong!! 

[harraseeket]

Yes that's the exactly the reason I had the road pilots on my versys 650.here in the Northeast and Canada where I ride you will be riding in the wet. And I never had any drama with the michelins in the rain. Riding Nova Scotia in the rain a month ago on the stock tires, hit a pothole and felt the whole bike hydroplane. Not to say it couldn't have happened with the michelins, but their wet performance is supposedly their forte,and they're dry grip is plenty good enough for me.

[harraseeket]

Just read road rashes comment about shaking. Recently did a blast pass and at 90 miles an hour feltThe whole front end shaking. Just did my 4000 mile service at the dealer they said they couldn't find anything wrong,so maybe I'll get the Michelins sooner rather than later and see if it is the tires.

Edited August 5, 2019 by harraseeket
wrong mileage

[johnmark101]

I am surprised at how so many seem to think the OEM tires are so horrible.  While I agree that they are not as good as pretty much anything you would replace them with from Dunlop, Pirelli, Michelin etc, they are actually fairly decent and probably one of the better OEM spec tires I have ridden.  Dry grip has been pretty good and the rear has worn evenly, although the front has not.  

I managed about 3300 miles before the rear was slightly beyond the wear bars and no longer safe for spirited riding.  I am replacing them with Roadsmart 3's which are a far better tire!

[bugie]

Has anyone found that their front tyre wore considerably faster than the rear? My front hit the wear bars when the rear had just under about 30-40% left?

[koth442]

7 minutes ago, bugie said:

Has anyone found that their front tyre wore considerably faster than the rear? My front hit the wear bars when the rear had just under about 30-40% left?

Only on a Bridgestone have I seen that issue. However, I got less than 2,000 miles out of the OEM rear tire. 

[bugie]

I got 5k km on the front and rear still looked like it had a good few k left in it. I also never had that issue previously so was rather surprised

[flyfifer]

How about we spell Tyres properly😁🤡

[wordsmith]

1 hour ago, flyfifer said:

How about we spell Tyres properly😁🤡

Wye?   😉

[RandyN]

14 hours ago, bugie said:

Has anyone found that their front tyre wore considerably faster than the rear? My front hit the wear bars when the rear had just under about 30-40% left?

I find that on flat Florida roads I wear out rears faster than fronts and in Carolina mountains the fronts go faster. The OEM tires on it I got about 5000 miles on them and had plenty of rubber on them, other than a bit flat in the center of the rear. Brought the bike up here and then rode another 2000 and wore out the front, while the rear still could have gone a little more.

I then put on Dunlop Roadsmart 3 set. Have ridden around 4000 miles on them and front might go for one more 250 mile ride before I hit the wear bars and the back could easily go 1000 more. Point is it's mostly your riding style, types of roads surfaces, and aggressiveness of riding.

By the way these are great tires and I have another set waiting in the basement to go on. They really start out very neutral and light in the steering and don't noticeably change as they wear. 

P.S. Spellcheck says it's tire not tyre. Besides, American English is the most popular. The Brits may have invented the language, but Americans streamlined it and made it more efficient.

[bikerdup]

I recently mounted Michelin Road 5s on my Tracer 900 GT.  Awesome tire that sticks like glue in the twisties and give a ride that feels more plush than the Dunlop OEM tires.