Which tires should I use?

[zarn02]

Dunlops FTW!

i must say, i did enjoy the pair of dunlop qualifiers i had on my 900.

[CRASH!]

For me the sport vs. ST tire comes down to this:

I do one track day a year; not enough to justify having a second set of wheels and tires, yet I need more than an ST tire can deliver on that one day. So I pay the price of accelerated wear.

Yet I still want good street performance. I've found the Pilot Power to give good rain handling and decent tread life. That's my compromise. When I get the ST3S for my primary road bike, I'll put ST tires on that

[COWBOY]

I've had great success with the Dunlop Qualifiers and Pilot Powers.  Only real difference of note between them is initial lean in the Michelin seems steeper and so dives a tad quicker.  Got 6k out of my Dunlops I'm at 3k so far on the Pilots.

[duckwrench13]

I've run Diablos since they came out. Then the Diablo Corsas, then the Corsa 3s. I love them. They have a very round profile, which gives very smooth and predictable side to side transitions. Good grip and feel on street or track, and fairly solid in the wet too. And mileage isn't half bad from them either.

I recently switched to a set of Pilot Powers... I picked up a nail in the rear, and the front was due to be replaced, and all I had on the shelf were Michelins... and I was pleasantly surprised. They have gobs of grip, they heat up quickly, and wear really well. They have a slightly more pointed profile than the Pirellis, so they tend to "fall" into a turn, rather than roll. This isn't a bad thing though. The pointed profile gives a taller tire, at the center... you may have to adjust rear ride height to trim you steering head angle back to where it was or it will be a squirrely ride... but the taller center gives you a larger contact area when leaned over. Once you get past the difference in transitional feel, these things rock!  wt:

Through a series of coincidence... my girlfriend got a puncture, and I had these under my bench, so now she's running my Pilots... I'm running a set of Bridgestone BT-002R DOT spec race tires. Since currently I can't ride, due to back surgery, all I can tell you is that they are black, round, hold air, and roll the bike nicely when I push it around.

[Howie]

can I be a jerk here for a minute?

Dont take me too seriously, but why don't more of you guys buy sport-touring tires? If you're riding on the street, there is no need for anything else. It just wears a helluva lot faster.

Sport Touring tires last quite a bit longer than super sport tires. And they allow lean angles and grip far and beyond what you can do on the street.

So they last longer and work just as good, and many times they are cheaper. So why not use them?

I used to run sport tourers since my bike is only a wee seven fitty and I ride all year.  After hearing all the good stuff about Pilot Powers I bought a set.  They have beetter cold/wet traction and last as long as the Metzeler Z6 tires I used to run

[hypurone]

Interesting... I switched to sport touring tires because the pure sports tires develop a flat-spot too quickly, which messes with the handling.   Dual compond ST tires seem to go further before getting this flat-spot.  But as you said, its scenario dependent.  I commute on mine, so I'm only in the twisties about 10% of the time.   I also think that the ST tires are a better all around general purpose tire, providing better performance in a variety of conditions (like rain), but I could be wrong.  I think that the pure sports tires will mostly be of benefit in extreme twisty riding on clean roads....

Excellent point that I forgot to mention. Dual compound tires rock!! I am on the Corsa III's right now with a  dual compound rear and they are top dawgs in my book. I have had the Powers in a non 2CT format and they were ok. Nothing to write home about. My favs are Metzeler's, specifically their Sportec's. But since Pirelli owns Metzeler and uses their MIRS process and steel belts (very nice) I gave the Corsa III's a try, awesome!!  wt: The bike was always nervous on the Michelins no matter what I did as far as pressures, suspension etc. As soon as I put the Pirelli's on with the steel belts and different front profile, the bike is rock solid everywhere.  be::

[A.duc.H.duc.]

can I be a jerk here for a minute?

Dont take me too seriously, but why don't more of you guys buy sport-touring tires? If you're riding on the street, there is no need for anything else. It just wears a helluva lot faster.

Sport Touring tires last quite a bit longer than super sport tires. And they allow lean angles and grip far and beyond what you can do on the street.

So they last longer and work just as good, and many times they are cheaper. So why not use them?

I'm running pilot powers on my monster, and have on multiple occasions on the street pushed the tires till they lost grip on a corner... to be honest, I probably shouldn't be pushing the monster till I'm leaned all the way off and the peg is folding and the exhaust touches down, but where's the fun in riding if we don't push it from time to time.

I agree, that most riders don't need super sport tires, and it should be noted that they will get a lot more life out of sport touring tires. Still I wouldn't say you can't use the grip that super sport tires offer on the street. Often tires are forced to make up for poor road surface on the street.

[arai_speed]

I have a 2007 SR4R and I'm very happy with the Pilot Power I have there now.  The monster is my first street bike in years, my other bike (track only) is a 2001 Yamaha R1.  I ran a shit load of tires on my old bike from Bridgestones, Metzler and a series of super sport Dunlop tires.

Recently I put a pair of Michellin Pilot Powers on the R1 and headed up to Willow Springs. All I gotta say is WOW!  I ran 36F/36R and the bike was on rails and the tires heat up super quick!  I have no issues leaning the bike over on those tires.  If they are good enough for the track then they should be equally amazing on the street on my monster.

Here is an old pic of my R1 before I turned it into a pretzel, later to become a franken-bike still kicking and running.

[hypurone]

I'm running pilot powers on my monster, and have on multiple occasions on the street pushed the tires till they lost grip on a corner... to be honest, I probably shouldn't be pushing the monster till I'm leaned all the way off and the peg is folding and the exhaust touches down, but where's the fun in riding if we don't push it from time to time.
I agree, that most riders don't need super sport tires, and it should be noted that they will get a lot more life out of sport touring tires. Still I wouldn't say you can't use the grip that super sport tires offer on the street. Often tires are forced to make up for poor road surface on the street.

<rant on>
I wasn't gonna say it but since the cat is out of the bag! The only tire I ever crashed on, from pushing it hard (on the track) were Pilot Powers. They gave absolutely NO usable warning! Just railin along and the rear was gone in a heartbeat. Every other tire gave me a wiggle, small slide and hook up again or somethin. Not those F*in Michelins. I will never use em again.  pu::

<rant off>

[AndrewNS]

Holy jumpin'! How do you get 3000 miles out of a PP rear, like I heard one of the earlier posters say? I just hit cord at 1485 miles on mine, all street riding on back roads (most at sorta pleasurable speeds). Do the CT's last a bit longer? If so, I want them next.

Mitch

BTW - the BT-002's are awesome on the track. But they've gotta last even less on the road.

[A.duc.H.duc.]

Holy jumpin'! How do you get 3000 miles out of a PP rear, like I heard one of the earlier posters say? I just hit cord at 1485 miles on mine, all street riding on back roads (most at sorta pleasurable speeds). Do the CT's last a bit longer? If so, I want them next.

Mitch

BTW - the BT-002's are awesome on the track. But they've gotta last even less on the road.

My first guess is you're running too little pressure. If you run the pilots soft they get really hot and sticky. Excellent for grip, but you leave a good portion of your rubber stuck to the pavement.

[silentbob]

<rant on>
I wasn't gonna say it but since the cat is out of the bag! The only tire I ever crashed on, from pushing it hard (on the track) were Pilot Powers. They gave absolutely NO usable warning! Just railin along and the rear was gone in a heartbeat. Every other tire gave me a wiggle, small slide and hook up again or somethin. Not those F*in Michelins. I will never use em again.  pu::

<rant off>

Same here.  One minute I'm dragging knees, the next the bike is sliding away from me with absolutely no warning.

They are great in the rain and will last about 6K miles, but if you like to push the bike to the limits, they are not the tire for you.

[hypurone]

Same here.  One minute I'm dragging knees, the next the bike is sliding away from me with absolutely no warning.
They are great in the rain and will last about 6K miles, but if you like to push the bike to the limits, they are not the tire for you.

So what is your weapon of choice these days? As I stated earlier I am currently on the Corsa III's w/ a dual compound rear. But am itchin' to go back to the Metzeler Sportec's, they have a new M3 out. Have you tried it by any chance?

[silentbob]

So what is your weapon of choice these days? As I stated earlier I am currently on the Corsa III's w/ a dual compound rear. But am itchin' to go back to the Metzeler Sportec's, they have a new M3 out. Have you tried it by any chance?

That's odd.  It looks like my post was truncated.  I went on to say that I have been running the super corsa pros on the 1098 and I really like them.  I can get about 4K miles out of a set.  They are nice and sticky, give good feedback (I have lost the front and been able to save it), and they don't cold tear like the pilot power.

I thought about trying the M3 after the pilot powers, but since I got the 1098 with the SC, I haven't been that motivated to try something else.

[DarkStaR]

The stock rear Pirelli Diablos was replaced at 9K.  I could of probably ran it for another 1K or so.  The stock Diablo front probably had about another 3K to go.

My replacement is the Pirelli Diablo Rosso (1k mi).  The profile of the Rossos are about the same as the Diablos.  The Rossos seem to heat up quicker, and seem to provide a bit more grip.  I'm guessing I'm not gonna get 9K out of the rear though.  If I can get 5K out of the rear, I'll be happy.