Tyre talk for the noob.

[Clarkey]

Agree with Cab.. Sports touring are brilliant all rounders, and agree with Dave that it's very much a personal choice / what suits your riding and what inspires confidence in you. Personally I don't buy anything other than Avon, I've tried others and always come back to Avon as they are the best for me (especially in the wet), but others have the same feeling on totally different ones

(Having said all that, Avon are the best, and everyone else is wrong, lol)

[jimmytanko]

Metzeler roadtec Z8's for me at the moment on my monster, sport touring tyre and had no issues with them wet or dry, and can be picked up.quite cheaply on tyreleader.co.uk

Sent from my SO-01G using Tapatalk

[SMUDGER]

I have to agree on the bt021 rear lmfao I'll be sampling the bt023 this week pirreli super corsa were not my cup of tea they were great when the road was dry but in rain and snow crap drifting round corners was scary lol or was that they were racing compound but as of the Dunlop qualifiers 1 and 2 these tyres give me so much confidence and allowed me to go right over to the edge great in rain also once they reach temp which isn't long also the Dunlop q3 which now can be had in the UK has carbon fibre walls and was tested and engineered on skid pan.

Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk

[Dooffle]

Note the immediate cheap tyres means there shite. Blah Blah.
I ride like a god so need the best most sticky tyres in the universe. Blah Blah.

So here comes someone who HAS fitted Maxxis M6029 touring and Supermaxx sport tyres so can speak from experience.

I fitted a set of Maxxis M6029 tyres to my ZX9r a few years back, needed a set and funds were tight so went for these instead of any others. I will note that my impression of these tyres may not be the same as George down the road on his GPz305.
OK so tyres fitted and balanced by reputable dealer etc. Popped the wheels back in the bike and leap off for the first ride. First thing I notice vibration from the front, now the M6029 has a straight cut around the centre of the tyre which will track on the road and I also had a slight notch in the head bearings OK could be the problem.
So I complete my mandatory 10 mile scrub in route (dry) and start to get a feel for them, first impression well they ain't bad front lacks some feed back and feels hard (ish) rear seems the same.
I changed the head bearings which improved things by about 50%.
So I dropped the pressures by a couple of PSi which improved things a bit. Had a few run outs and that's when you find what these tyres are for and the list doesn't include sports bikes with 140+ BHP. Rear spins up without any warning the front tucks when pushed into a corner on the brakes. In damp conditions it's a lottery.
Needless to say they lasted a full 600 miles before I changed them, for some scrubbed Super Corsas gone was the front shake , they didn't give me confidence. That said on a sub 100bhp touring/naked bike they should be fine.

I have a set of Supemaxx sport tyres on the ZX9r trackbike, now I must add here they were not my choice, when they were first introduced a friend of mine had the opportunity to test them on track for Maxxis fitted to his Fireblade. His opinion they weren't half bad.
So a couple of weekends ago I got to try them out for 2 days on track, first time out on the ZX9r so needed to get used to the bike, etc. Well TBH I can agree with my mate, they ain't half bad. 250 odd miles in inters over 2 days and no drama at all, not the stickiest tyre but plenty of feed back span up in a couple of places but then so were a lot of guys on 'better' tyres.
Plenty of grip easily lifting the front through 2nd, 3rd and 4th, very stable under braking from 150+ into a tight left handed the odd head shake easily dealt with (no damper ). All in all I'll keep em on till they need changing. Not tried in the wet.

If you want good mileage great handling in wet and dry, for me, it's hard to beat the Pirelli Diablo Strada, did 2.5k miles round France enduring heavy downpours and 35 degree temps. Great tyre, even did a trackday with the front on. They are a more touring based tyre but you'd need to be a very fast rider to get em to feel bad.

I'm now fitting Michelin Pilot Powers on the Super Duke, mileage and handling are great wet or dry. I've done a trip to Spain this year and a trackday plus ride outs. The rears seem to be a good compromise on the SD as multi compound tyres seem to wear the same on the centre of the tread and the additional mileage doesn't equal the additional price. But I see 3cts are at a more reasonable price.


Edit: I'm sorry for not mentioning Bridgestone's, I don't like em. Over priced and over hyped.

[Green]

Ah, this is good stuff. Cheers for the input all, there's a few I'll look into there for sure. Seems I've got my homework cut out regardless

So I complete my mandatory 10 mile scrub in route (dry) and start to get a feel for them, first impression well they ain't bad front lacks some feed back and feels hard (ish) rear seems the same.

Rear spins up without any warning the front tucks when pushed into a corner on the brakes. In damp conditions it's a lottery.
Needless to say they lasted a full 600 miles before I changed them, for some scrubbed Super Corsas gone was the front shake , they didn't give me confidence. That said on a sub 100bhp touring/naked bike they should be fine.

I've read that the agent maxxis use to release the tyres from the mould causes them to be super slippy giving them a bedding in period of a few hundred miles before they're really ready to rock... Maybe that was the issue and you got rid right when they were getting good


Cheers again for the input fellas.

[Fronkey]

My input for what it's worth.

I don't like bridgestones they don't give me enough feed back.

I run pirelli diablo rosso. They are a premium tyre but I can't fault them you get so much feed back. However if your new to biking they won't give you that much confidence in the wet

The pirelli rosso 2. Are meant to be astonishing in the wet. Still a Duel compound tyre but more sporty that a full sports touring tyre. And as it's a pirelli it will give great feedback.

It doesn't matter how great your bike is or how amazing you are as a rider if the black round things sticking you to the floor stop sticking you to the floor you're going to have a bad day.

Hope it helps.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[Soviet]

Just had another pair of Bridgestone s20 evos put on - not for motorways if I can help it ...!!! I'm getting about 3.3k mls out of the back with a mix of sporty touring and back lane scratching - stellar grip and immense front bite in wet and dry - they have a pretty unique 5 layer compound (as opposed to three on most other tyres) - T30s seem popular too ...

[Gary]

I had Maxxis touring tires on the Bandit. Think if iirc it was the supermaxx ones. Single compound , took forever to scrub in.
Once scrubbed they were ok but in the wet they always felt a bit vague.
Mileage lasted well considering they are single compound.
So they last well, perfectly adequate in the dry but vague in the rain is my view. This was on a Mark 2 Bandit 600 ( approx 70 BHP)
If money was tight I would put them on again but more the Diamond ones as they are meant to be a considerable improvement over the supermaxx.
My preferred tires are Michelin PR3/PR4.
The thing with Maxxis is they are a budget tire so don't have the same level of performance of the premium brands such as Michelin , Dunlop et al.

[Dooffle]

I've read that the agent maxxis use to release the tyres from the mould causes them to be super slippy giving them a bedding in period of a few hundred miles before they're really ready to rock... Maybe that was the issue and you got rid right when they were getting good


Cheers again for the input fellas.

Scrubbed in edge to edge in 30 odd miles and heat blueing on the edge of the rear tyre after um spirited riding and as I said 600miles, I hardly think they still had release agent on em.
But then what would I know, I've only been riding for 30+ years and you're a new rider.

The tyres were aimed at the US market initially so they are reasonably hard to cope with the road types over there.

If you apply that release agent rule to the supemaxx as well, then I should have been in hospital after 1 lap.
Tyres had done roughly 50 miles when this pic was taken.

[Green]

The pirelli rosso 2. Are meant to be astonishing in the wet. Still a Duel compound tyre but more sporty that a full sports touring tyre. And as it's a pirelli it will give great feedback.

I'll definitely be looking into those then fella, cheers.

Just had another pair of Bridgestone s20 evos put on - not for motorways if I can help it ...!!! I'm getting about 3.3k mls out of the back with a mix of sporty touring and back lane scratching - stellar grip and immense front bite in wet and dry - they have a pretty unique 5 layer compound (as opposed to three on most other tyres) - T30s seem popular too ...

Cool man, I was looking at the S20s the other day. Though, I'm likely to be doing a few motorway leaps down south on this bike (not sure what 250 motorway miles feels like on a sports bike yet, but that's another story ) I want a jack of all trades tyre though for sure. Bit of a balancing act and my inexperience just ain't helpin! ha

I had Maxxis touring tires on the Bandit. Think if iirc it was the supermaxx ones. Single compound , took forever to scrub in.
Once scrubbed they were ok but in the wet they always felt a bit vague.

Yeah, it's the general word I've seen online tbh... And with me still in the "very cautious when wet" stage of riding, that's a side of them that makes me a little twitchy.

But then what would I know, I've only been riding for 30+ years and you're a new rider.

Easy Chewy Cheers for the info, bike looks good... I'm looking forward to getting some track time once I build in confidence. One step at a time eh!