Tyre Suggestions

Well i've squeezed just over 15,000km's out of my rear Arrowmax and it's needing a replacement right about now. Even still, with a decent amount of tread left on the sides i have problem taking it for a blat this weekend - just commuting is getting a little slippery.

Well i'm actually thinking of throwing a BT045 on the rear after all the good press people have been giving them; the dual compound looks to be a good thing especially for commuting.

Looks like i'll go chase tyres after i pay off the insurace (and get my accounts back under control).

 

I was thinking of looking at the BT-45's after hearing they are good for commuting since my fizzer is my main form of transport. Although my mate keeps talking about his Michelan Power Pilots. But they don't come in 100/80. They do come in 110/80.

Has anyone put a 110/80 on a 2kr with the standard rim?

 

I can vouch for the quality of the Pilot Powers. Reasonablly priced as well.

 

They're the Dunlop Rideen GPR 70's
110/70 HR17 front
140/70 HR17 rear

 

Hey FZR dude. Do you know if I could put a 110/80 on the 2kr considering they come standard with a 100/80.

 

Edit... Sir skuffy (a netrider - rides a gsx1400 VERY hard) has just posted something to that effect - finds that they are great until they warm up too much, after which he doesn't have the same feel or confidence in them.

Personally - I know I do not push my bike to the max it is capable of so I may (probably not) not push the tyres to the limit. For me they are great value for money (which is very important when 90% of my riding is commuting - close to 500 k's each week...). So far the tires have about 8000 k's on them, and still going strong.

 

You should be able to with little adverse effect. I think the biggest thing you'll notice is a little slowr turn in, but you may also experience a little more stability.

 

interesting article on putting the wrong size tyre on a rim:

http://www.sportrider.com/tech/tires/146_0206_size/

 

My bike came stock with a 130/70 on the front and a 170/60 on the rear. I have sinced changed to a 120/70 in the front and a 180/55 on the rear.

Yep, I went smaller in the front by one size and larger in the rear by one size. Now this wasn't something that I did on a whim. I asked around, read the write-ups, and then did my own comparision. I will not go back to the stock setup. I have no complaints or worries. I will never be able to push beyond the limits of the bike or the tires, so I am very happy with the setup that I have. It works for me and about 700 or so members of my board.

I'll take that as gospel before I trust some track junkie writing for some rag I don't read. just my 2¢ worth.

Now on to another topic being discussed here. It seems that everyone is starting to talk about heating up a tire or over heating a tire and what not.

First off how long do you think it takes to warm up a tire? Well, it takes a lot longer than you think.

Just watch a race, and take a minute to think this through. They have tire warmers on the bikes in the pits. These heat the tire tup to about 170 F then they go out and scrub more heat into them on the warm-up/sighting lap at high speeds. Then they reasonably gingerly rip around the track on the first lap getting the tires even hotter before getting down to business.

Do you think that you can get your tires up to temp in 3-5 minutes? I don't. You "might" get them up to temp riding semi-aggressive for about 15 minutes.

Sorry for the lengthy post and the rant. My intention is/was not to piss anyone off, but to provide info.

Edit: This was taken from the MotoGP website and is a quote from Tony Elias: “This morning I got up and noticed that the temperature was about five degrees higher and we decided to use a hard Michelin tyre during the warm-up and then in the race also. It was a bit risky, but after five laps of the race they had warmed up and after that they worked very well. I am very happy with our progression and I hope to continue like this in the final race of the season.â€

 

Thanks for all of the info. I am certainly not pissed off.

I did like the example of the race track. It gave a clear indication about tyre warming by using an example which everyone can see for themselves.

 

I did forget to mention that I recently took my bike on a long ride, approx. 5,000 km. Some of which was through some of the twistiest roads that I have been on in a long time.

At one point, I pulled over after about 2 hrs of some serious stuff (temps around 29C) , thinking wow, the tires have really gone off. How can that be, with only 1,600 km or so on them? It felt like the front was pushing. Sure, I was loaded with about 100 extra pounds, but it wasn't acting like this eariler. Surely I've just heated the tires a little much. I mean I was romping it pretty good. (Hey Boz, what's 6-10K in 3rd like on a bigger bore bike?)

So I takes a looksy at the rear, and wow. Big ole chicken strips. Well, not really, I had gotten all the way over to the edge. Tire is showing some good signs of wear and pretty hot to the touch. I'm thinking, yep, it's the tires. I go look at the front and it is wearing, but nothing like the rear. It seems much cooler to the touch. Wear patterens on all but about 1.2 cm of the edge. Hmmm... so it isn't the tires.

So I sit down to think about it, and whoa... All the energy just drained out of me. Come to find out, what was happening was I was losing concentration. I was just being over-whelmed and having WAY too much fun to realize it. I have little doubt that I will ever out ride my tires

(When you go one these longer rides, say 6 hrs or more, you have to remember... rest stops and food/water.)

 

Thanks for all of the advise guys. I decided to stay with the arrowmax because regardless of whatever tyre I get it will be the last set. As within the next 12 months I will be upgrading. I will think about tyres then.

I am not likely to ever outride my tyres with my current experience level.

 

I edited my post on Page 2, to provide more info. Would have seemed out of place posting it here at the end.

 

To be honest I am rarely there! I cruise city streets in second (between 50-70 kph = ~4500 - 7000 rpm... sometimes I will switch to 3rd but that brings it back down to 5000). When on the freeway I usually put in 6th (fuel saving - and usually no need for acceleration or deceleration). Too much commuting, not enough pleasure rides.

However, when I have had it up around the 10k mark in 3rd - loads of fun <!-- s --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s --> Twist and hold on...