Good road tyres

Thrasherg

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Oct 16, 2017
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Dallas, TX
Ladies and gentlemen, I have ridden just over 6000 miles on my 2017 ES and noticed the rear tyre is very square (bald in the center) and the front has got exceedingly low tread on the sides (the middle is legal and the far edges are okay but halfway round (between center and edge) the tread has completely gone. These are the stock battle wing tyres and worked very well, I am only riding on tarmac so want to get a set of replacement tyres, was hoping to get more than 6K miles out of the set so thought I would ask for recomendations here!! Loved the Battle wing and am happy to get another set, but thought I would ask before pulling the trigger and ordering a new set..

Cheers Gary
 

EricV

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jeckyll

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How would you describe your riding style Gary?

What suits one may not be best for another.

Bjorn
 

Thrasherg

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Hi Bjorn, I am an ex road racer (raced Suzuki RG500's, Yamaha RZ350's, etc for several years) so tend to carry a lot of corner speed and accelerate quite quickly but rarely top 85mph on the road. Most riders consider me to be a quick (but safe!!) rider. I do like to lean the Super T as it handles surprisingly well in the corners despite the weight!! :)

Gary
 

Chaz

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Hello!
I have tried the Shinko 705 front and rear.
They have good manner on the road and on hardpack gravel ( and even loose) and in heavy rain .
I consider myself a medium -hard throttle and at about 8500km The rear is about 95%done.
Cheapo to replace !
 

Flat lander

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Michelin pr5. I don't think that you can top them if you're doing 100% asphalt. Have been using these for several years on my fz1. Put a pair on my tenere in January of this year. Around 6k on them now. Show very little wear. My riding is asphalt and gravel roads that I consider hard surface covered with marbles. Also excellent rain tires .
 

Longdog Cymru

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Michelin pr5. I don't think that you can top them if you're doing 100% asphalt. Have been using these for several years on my fz1. Put a pair on my tenere in January of this year. Around 6k on them now. Show very little wear. My riding is asphalt and gravel roads that I consider hard surface covered with marbles. Also excellent rain tires .
Got to agree with this.
 
B

ballisticexchris

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Michelin pr5. I don't think that you can top them if you're doing 100% asphalt. Have been using these for several years on my fz1. Put a pair on my tenere in January of this year. Around 6k on them now. Show very little wear. My riding is asphalt and gravel roads that I consider hard surface covered with marbles. Also excellent rain tires .
Got to agree with this.
+Me too!! There is no better handling all around street tire than the Michelin. They are the gold standard when it comes to road tires.
 

magic

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Ladies and gentlemen, I have ridden just over 6000 miles on my 2017 ES and noticed the rear tyre is very square (bald in the center) and the front has got exceedingly low tread on the sides (the middle is legal and the far edges are okay but halfway round (between center and edge) the tread has completely gone. These are the stock battle wing tyres and worked very well, I am only riding on tarmac so want to get a set of replacement tyres, was hoping to get more than 6K miles out of the set so thought I would ask for recomendations here!! Loved the Battle wing and am happy to get another set, but thought I would ask before pulling the trigger and ordering a new set..

Cheers Gary
I like the stock Battlewings for the road. They are easy to mount, require almost zero weight to balance and are decent in the rain. I have been through several sets and will keep buying them until I see something better or if they are no longer available. I usually get about 8-9,000 miles on the rear and 11-12,000 on a front tire. Even though I do a lot of riding on chip sealed roads. What are you running for inflation pressures? I run 38-39psi rear and 34-35front. 6,000 miles on a rear seems like unusually low mileage.
 

Sierra1

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....was hoping to get more than 6K miles out of the set....
Sounds like you did the same as I. I learned a little late, that the Tenere is VERY light in the rear. I found myself downshifting to early, and applying too much brake; even though I wasn't using a lot, it was too much. My tires started squaring off VERY early; on pace for being done by 4k miles. Once I changed my downshifting habit, and using front brakes only (which does apply a little rear) they stopped the rapid wear. I would have replaced the BWs, but they're going away. So, I went to the Bridgestone A41s. They remind me of the BWs with their ride, but cost more.
 

EricV

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Play with the pressure and see what you like. I'm 260 lbs and ride loaded most of the time and have better wear at 36F/42R. Many, not all, feel the 33F is a little low on this bike.
 
B

ballisticexchris

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Thanks Guys, I ordered a set of Michelin Pilot Road 5's to try!! I run Yamaha recomended pressures in the tyres (33 front, 38 rear).

Gary
You can't go wrong with 32/36 loaded to the hilt or just everyday unloaded riding. 33/38 is pretty harsh. However you will get better tire life with the higher pressure.
 

Flat lander

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Thanks Guys, I ordered a set of Michelin Pilot Road 5's to try!! I run Yamaha recomended pressures in the tyres (33 front, 38 rear).

Gary
I run 40/36. This is recommended from my service tech I use for parts and service. Also need to add I'm getting 15k plus miles on them with my fz1. Wait a see what happens on the tenere.
 

jeckyll

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Hi Bjorn, I am an ex road racer (raced Suzuki RG500's, Yamaha RZ350's, etc for several years) so tend to carry a lot of corner speed and accelerate quite quickly but rarely top 85mph on the road. Most riders consider me to be a quick (but safe!!) rider. I do like to lean the Super T as it handles surprisingly well in the corners despite the weight!! :)

Gary
I'm very heavy on the throttle with a lot of lean angle and never had an anakee 3 lose traction.

Edit to add: I ride the super t like a motard in slower corners, so I tend to carry max lean angles and work the edge of the tire hard.
 
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SilverBullet

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Harmaston, TX
You can't go wrong with 32/36 loaded to the hilt or just everyday unloaded riding. 33/38 is pretty harsh. However you will get better tire life with the higher pressure.
Aaah come on man. 32/36 is great but 33/38 is harsh. LOL LOL
I would defy anyone to tell ANY difference between the two settings.
Probably more variance than that by gauge accuracy or conditions/temp when checked.

Sent from my SM-G860P using Tapatalk
 

ord13

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Nov 2, 2015
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Marseilles (France)
I have found the Dunlop trail smart to quite the upgrade from the battle wing. In the dry and rain much better. Have not worn them out yet. Longevity is undetermined as of yet.
Completely agree.

TrailSmarts are the best tires I've ever had on my bike, regarding only grip and security when angled with footrest on ground, and not overpriced IMO.
Good too on wet tarmac, absolutely not made for mud or hard TT, and max mileage unknown as I don't care about that as long as these tires do the job of maintening myself in relatively safe I change them before 100 % out of use.
 

Longdog Cymru

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Aaah come on man. 32/36 is great but 33/38 is harsh. LOL LOL
I would defy anyone to tell ANY difference between the two settings.
Probably more variance than that by gauge accuracy or conditions/temp when checked.

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True, there are not too many Rossi’s or Marquez riding around on the roads, in fact, your tyres will vary in pressure during the course of a ride as they heat up and cool down and with road tyres, they are generally designed to give good grip from the outset and work well in cold and wet conditions.

A question for Boris: Why do you say that using Bar as a method of measuring pressure rather than PSI will give “better tyre performance”? It seems to be a rather unusual claim to make and I’d love to hear the reasoning behind it because the air in your tyres doesn’t give a hoot as long as it’s correct.
 
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