What are the best tires for Sport touring?

[LMFIRE629]

I have a VFR 2000. I am on the third dunlop on the rear and second on the front. I do like the Dunlop D207 that came on the bike, but I am starting to shop around and trying to get the most out of the tires. I want good mileage with out sacrificing performance. Dunlop is tried and true for me, if I have to put them back on i will.

So, I guess My question to all of you is,
What is the best mileage and best performance tire for the VFR and for the money?

Thanks for the help.
John
:chug:

[arcangel]

Can't speak for VFR, but I have a new set of Michelin Pilot Roads on my Honda CBR1100XX, and a new set of Avon Azaro 45/46 on my Yamaha FJ1200. Both feel GREAT in the corners, haven't had a chance to ride in the rain yet. Have about 3K on the Roads, wear is minimal, less than 500 on the Avon's, so can't say much there. People reporting 8K on the old Macadam 100X's, which the Roads replace, so hopefully I'll be able to hit that at least. Be sure and check out www.swmototires.com .Great guy, got my Roads for 220, my Avon's for 206, to my door, both in 3 shipping days.

FWIW, every Dunlop I've had, I've had problems with, or just didn't trust, especially after having ridden on the Roads & Avon's.

Happy hunting.[/url]

[AggieVFR]

Try the Bridgestone BT-010 on the front and the BT-020 on the rear. I have the BT-020s front and rear, but the tread design of the BT-020 front tire likes to follow grooved pavement, so I'll be going with a BT-010 on the front next. Mileage on the 020 is great and I actually feel like it sticks better than the D-207 I used to have on the rear. The 207 had to be warmed up pretty well before it would stick and the 020s seem to stick all the time and even in rainy weather. Good luck with your decision.

[Tourmeister]

Howdy,

Just recently removed BT020 rears from our VFRs. They were great while they lasted, but they only lasted about 3500 miles :eek: They were completely worn down to the cords and tossing chunks of rubber. I won't be using them again.

I used to run D205 on the rear and BT010 on the front and it worked great. Now I am using the Pilot Roads front and back. The rear has a little over 3000 miles on it already and looks like it has barely begun to square off. The grip is great even in the rain on twisty roads. I'll be putting the fronts on in the next few days. I've been running the Pirelli Dragon GTS on the front and love it. However, it has been discontinued :-(

I hate the D207s, the profile is to triangular for me. I prefer the constant radius nuetral profile tires.

[buck000]

I'm pretty happy with the Dunlop D220s on the Futura. I got about 5700 miles on the rear (it was way past the wear bars, but still stable), compared to the 4600 or so I got on the slimy Michelin Pilot Sports that preceded it.

The D220 front is still going strong (I don't push the bike that hard), I'm hoping to get close to another rear tire's worth of mileage out of the front.

The Pilot Roads and Pirelli Diablos are getting good reviews; I've no problem with the D220s, and may just go with them again, but I'd like to get a bit more mileage.

Even thought the BT020s get good reviews, I won't go with Bridgestone, due to a personal bug up an orifice about their handling of the SUV tire debacle with Ford.

Oh, and wet-weather is no problem with the D220s.

Paul

[VFRinAustin]

FYI,

The new VFRs right now are coming with BT-020s, Metzler Mez 4s or Dunlop D220s as stock. Mine came with the 020s. I love the Battleaxes, have a 010/020 set-up on my SVS as well and they work great and getting great life, but that is a much lighter bike so that helps. We'll have to wait and see about the VFR.

[hillcountry]

I ran over 6K miles on Dunop D220s and liked them a lot. When I went to get a new set, I found that they didn't actually set them aside (like they said they would) when I called. I asked if they had a suitable substitute and I "ended up with" (long story, but I'll be changing my own tires from now on) Avon 49/50s. They're not really sport touring tires, but it seems like I can turn much quicker on them. I've only had them on for about 500 miles so I can't say how long they'll last.

They seem to run well in "normal" wet conditions, but I'd have to give them two thumbs down for "low water crossing" traction :oops:

Bill

[buck000]

Would the AV 45/46's be the equivalent of the D220s? I've heard generally good things about those Avons, save one or two "stay away" comments regarding slipping and sliding (iirc)...

[hillcountry]

Yeah...the 45/46's should have been the ones they put on (and the ones that I was expecting). Overall a very bad experience with Joe Harrison here in San Antonio. The cut me a brake on the tire cost (I get it anyway because I got the bike there -- and I found them cheaper on line), but I don't like how I was treated with the tires and I think that $126 to swap the tires was a little excessive.

I have enjoyed trying the new tires, but I sure would have preferred it on my own terms!

[RiceRocket_Redhead]

I have a 1997 VFR750 and love my Dunlops, but I use a 205/207 combo. Harder compound on the front tire to help with cupping. A friend of mine has the same year/model bike and LOVES his Mich Macanudos. Just a thought.

8)

Karen "Redd" Rich

[Tourmeister]

Howdy,

:tab Now that is interesting Karen. Most everyone I've ever spoken with runs the soft front for grip and the hard rear for longevity. Or they run the hard/hard combo. The new Pilot Road fronts are great. They are a sport touring tire, seem to have great grip and are resistant to cupping until late in their lifespan. The rears are great as well. Until something better comes along, I think I'll be using the Roads for sometime.

Adios,

[FLUFdriver]

I ran the BT20's for about 6000 miles. I had originally hoped to get two rears to every front tire but the front was starting to cup when the rear went and it probably only had about 20% of the tread left anyhow.

I replaced them both with the Avon 45/46 combo. I don't have a report on the Avon's as of yet because I just started the change-your-own-tire thing and I am waiting on a special set of cones that will work on the RST's rear with my balancer.

If anyone is thinking about doing their own tire changes I highly reccomend this balancer. http://home.socal.rr.com/bbtr/Products/index.htm He didn't have a setup that worked on my bike so he machined them for me over the weekend and shipped them out to me at no extra charge. I have allready used the balancer on my front wheel and a buddy's 996. It works really well and the build quality is fantastic. When all was said and done, it was about $100 less than the other static balancers I found.

I have seen a lot of good feedback on the Avons from the FJR crowd so I thought I'd check them out. The only bad feedback I've seen was about the older 35/36st tires. I almost lost the front end in the apex of a nice clean corner on FM390 with about 4000 miles on the Bridgestones so I'm looking for something better. I don't ride at track speeds or drag my knees on the streets but I was moving through that corner at a pretty good clip. It was quite unnerving to feel the front slide about a foot in the apex of that corner. It must have been especially unnerving for the car in the opposite lane because he swerved off the road when he saw me. :shock: My buddy was about 4 sec behind me and had no problems at all with his Metzler M1's. If the Avons don't do the trick, I'll try the new Metzler ST tire.

Here's a really interesting post on proper tire choices from a Bridgestone tire rep. He mentions quite a few things I didn't know. http://pub32.ezboard.com/ffazerownersfrm5.showMessage?topicID=212.topic

[VFRinAustin]

8) Very cool Fluf

I think I might just have to get one of these and start doing my own wheels. Balancing has always been the reason I havent started earlier.

Schweet.


BTW: What have the rest of you been doing with the oldies after they're off?

[John Bennett]

I recently switched from Metzlers to Pilot Roads.

After about 2000 miles on them, I've very happy with both the performace of the durability of the Roads.

[FLUFdriver]

BTW: What have the rest of you been doing with the oldies after they're off?

I have a tire swing in every tree. :lol:

No really, this is my first self tire swap so I am going to stop by my local dealership and see if they will take them for recycling. I assume I'll have to fork over the $2 state recycling fee, but I think its worth it.

Oh yeah, I got my Avons from http://www.discountmotorcycletire.com/. They were $26 cheaper than SWmoto for the tires but they charged $18 for shipping so it only came out to be $8 cheaper.

Motorcycling used to be soooo much more expensive before the internet. :chug:
I support my favorite dealership (Honda of Houston) when I can, but its just too hard to pass up some of the online deals.

[Tourmeister]

BTW: What have the rest of you been doing with the oldies after they're off?


They're taking over my garage! Sometimes you can sell them to Stunta type riders for about $10 a piece, especially rears :lol:

Adios,

[woodman]

I like bridgestone BT020.Handle good, good mileage,and good traction.My futura came with Michelin Pilot Sports,I've got 1600 miles on them and they are almost bald. I doubt if they will get 2000 miles. Worst mileage I've ever got from a tire. I won't buy them as replacements.




02 futura

[terrebandit]

Well guys, I just finished up my first set of Pilot Roads and I'm not real happy with the mileage. I got only 4K out of the rear! :-(

They did stick real good but I got about the same stickyness and 2-3K more miles out of the Mac 100's and Mac 90's.

I've also run MeZ4's and got about 5500 out of the rear on them. I also ran BT020's and got a lousy 3500 out of those.

I need to try the Avons next.

[Tourmeister]

:tab That's what happens when you get hamfisted on the Bandit :-P On the VFR's I get an average of 5K out of the pilot roads unless I am really whacking the throttle all the time.

:tab I'd love to hear how the Avons do for you. Keep us up to date. I will be needing tires in the not too distant future.

Adios,

[brd]

:tab That's what happens when you get hamfisted on the Bandit :-P On the VFR's I get an average of 5K out of the pilot roads unless I am really whacking the throttle all the time.

And yet you only got 3500 out of a rear BT020, whereas I got 6000. Just goes to show there's a lot of variables involved.

After running only Dunlops before, I switched to Bridgestones. I'll probably never run a Dunlop again. Their profile didn't suit me, and they seemed to square off (I've tried 207's, 205's, 208's and 220s).

The BT020 is a good ST tire. Never had any problems in the wet with it. Many vifferista do run the 010/020 combo, but I just replaced my 020 with an 010 to see if a matched set feels better. Haven't got to do anything but commute on it yet, but it feels pretty good. The 010 rear has a more peaky shape than the 020, so I'm thinking they'll work better together.

Though many don't seem to like the 020 front's groove tracking characteristics.

[woodman]

I tried the 010 front/020 rear combo on my 1200 Bandit, couldnt tell much difference in handling over the 020 pair. The thing I didn't like about the 010 front was that it didn't last very long and it cupped real bad. The 020 pair is still the best I've used yet.

:chug:

[Tourmeister]

:tab The funny thing is, the first BT 010 front I ever ran last nearly 10K miles!! By then it was cupped pretty bad though. I have started running the Metzler M1 front and it seems to resist cupping nicely. It has fantastic grip and feel.

:tab I think a big factor in life of the rear tire is the use of engine braking. I tend to engine brake all the time. When I am just coming to a stop I will downshift through the gears to slow down and only brake to come to a complete stop. When going into corners, I downshift to bleed off a little speed and to keep the engine revs up. Engine braking puts all the stopping and slowing forces on the rear tire only, the front is just free wheeling. This means the rear is getting a double whammy, once from acceleration forces and again from the braking forces.

:tab Brake pads are cheaper than tires and last longer to. So I have been trying to make myself use the brakes more and the engine braking less. It's just that it is so much easier for me to ride smoothly using the engine braking.

[kurt]

1000 miles on my new Avon Azaro 45/46's. Nothing but good things to say about them, but I don't have any rain experience yet. They still look new and stick as well if not better than the Mac 90's that originall come on the Bandit. The Pilot Sports lived about 3000 miles and that was it. So far the Avons are my favorites. They were about $10 more, but the extra life should more than make up the cost difference. I also mounted them myself so I didn't have that expense.

[JMc]

I wore out a set of D220's and have ridden the Pilot Roads. Avon Azaro's are on the ground now and they are hands down IMHO :-) , the best.

[Bill Martin]

I ride a 2002 1150RT. When I bought the bike used it had Pilot sports front and rear. I don't know how many miles for sure they had on them, I think the previous owner said about 3 or 4,000. Anyway soon after that I replaced the rear with a Pilot Road and left the sport on the front as it looked to have quite a bit of life left. I got almost 9k out of the Pilot road and the Sport on the front lasted that long too. We ride two up most of the time. I am pleased with the handling as well. When I replaced the tires I put Pilot Roads front and back because there wasn't a Piolt Sport available for the front at the time. So far I am equally as happy with the Roads on both wheels.

[sportridertex]

I'm using the Dunlop 220 on my ZX 11 and so far I like them, stick and yet good ride, and seems like i'm going to get descent mileage out of them..