new tires at 5500

[max1138]

put a new set of bridgestone 023gt's on the FA today. the stock 021's were still viable but had the rear way flat in the center despite my efforts to powerslide them back to roundness. not bad for stock buns, be interesting to see how the gt's hold up.
anyone tried these before? thoughts?

[achesley]

You did better than most of us. My stock rear was pasted the wear bars to slick in a few spots at 4000 miles. That being easy break in miles. Then stayed in the 8,000 mile range with rears consisting of Bridgestones, Dunlops, Avons before going to the Mich RP2 and 14,000 on the 1st set, 12500 with some left on the 2nd set, premature change out due to upcoming trip at 7000 on the 3rd set and now 6500 and going good on the 4th set. I did keep the 3rd set for use down the road if needed.

[max1138]

Originally Posted by achesley

You did better than most of us. My stock rear was pasted the wear bars to slick in a few spots at 4000 miles. That being easy break in miles. Then stayed in the 8,000 mile range with rears consisting of Bridgestones, Dunlops, Avons before going to the Mich RP2 and 14,000 on the 1st set, 12500 with some left on the 2nd set, premature change out due to upcoming trip at 7000 on the 3rd set and now 6500 and going good on the 4th set. I did keep the 3rd set for use down the road if needed.

cool, if I can get 8k ill be pleased, 10k and ill be ecstatic. will be looking for a set of PR2's to keep on hand. just starting my experience with this bike so itll be a bit of experimenting for a while. I try to keep a spare set of tires on hand after holing/ruining a brand new less than 100 miles dunlop E3 for the wing.

[toolmaker91]

I'll put in another plug for Michelin...

Just spooned on my second set of PR2s today. The previous set went 14,000 miles and performed flawlessley from new to completely worn out.

My riding buddy (who rides an FJR Yamaha) and I just got back from a trip to the Arkansas and Missouri Ozarks. We both started the trip with well worn sets of PR2s thinking that they had enough life left in them to make the trip. After lunch on the third day, my riding buddy noticed (with some amount of horror) that there was a strip about a foot long and an inch wide of cord showing on his back tire. In the center of that strip was a small area where that layer of cord was worn all the way through. Needless to say, he didn't want to ride any further on that tire. We were in Harrison, Ark. at that time and luckily found a Yamaha dealer who had the rear PR2 in stock. An hour and a half later, he had a new shoe on the back of his FJR. The dealer said that they frequently saw worn out tires there due to the chip seal roads in that area. He said they were like cheese graters on tires.

While all of this was going on, I started worrying about the condition of my tires. I found several spots on my rear tire where the cords were just before peeking through. I decided that my fun riding was over and that I needed to ease back to Tennessee. When I got home, the first layer of cord was peeking through on the back tire and the front was in pretty bad shape too. I have had an extra set of PR2s on hand for some time now and have been waiting for the old set to completely wear out. Well, today I changed them both. I hope this new set serves me as well as the last set did.

This was the first set of tires that I have changed out on a street bike. Thanks to some advice from several of the members here, it went very well. I had bought a bead breaker and static ballancer from Harbor Freight and tire irons from Competition Accessories. I made some rim savers from some old spray bottles. I'll have to second what others have said and that is to be sure to keep the tire and rim lubricated well with soapy water. It makes the job much easier.

Note to self: Always be sure to count your rimsavers after you get a tire on! Preferably before you air the tire up, balance it, and install it back on the bike!

[achesley]

I use to use rim savers , but now, let them get scratched up.LOL! I limped in from Arkansas one trip on Dunlops with the front slick between the center and the edge. Started sliding on me in the corners. When I Changed the tires out, I found about a 1 foot 1/2 in thread bare piece on the rear.

[Rexter]

i run 023s. never had them feel like they were gonna slide or step out. got tired of swapping the qualifiers at 2500 on the rear. the rear 023 has about 5k and after a hard 1k in eureka springs last week it's time for a new shoe. the rears always run 2/1 for me.

other guys run the pr2s and get 10k. i have found i really like the 023 and i'll stick with it.

www.americanmototire.com has some great tire prices and free shipping. usually ship the same day

[ed29]

That is about average mileage for stock tires. Your replacement will net you more and I bet will meet your expectations. The PR2s always met mine going 10K on the FJR and 11K on my Versys before I cut the rear down on road debris in New York State.

I used to use that tire vendor too, several times a year. The most recent experience soured me on them. We needed a Strom tire, in a popular brand, I heard nothing from them for a week after I placed the order. No confirmation, no shipping info, which I was accustomed to getting. I reached then by phone and learned that they were out of stock and had no clue when they would get it, Order cancelled and placed with a different seller, tire on the porch in two days.