An Idiots Guide To New Tires

[wattsbrian]

Hi yall, im that guy who has never bought tires for a bike and Im asking for recommendations as to what everybody has got. I have a 2010 7th gen with stock tires. Bikes got just under 6K on the stock set. Looking kind of worn and was thinking of getting new ones. I carry a bit of luggage(see pic) on the back and need something to accommodate that. I don't go bananas on the bike so I am definitely looking for touring over sport tires. Any recommendations would be helpful.

Thanks all for the advice

Edited March 24, 2014 by wattsbrian

[lshark]

Michelin Pilot Road 3 which has now become PR4 is the most popular it seems among owners on this and other sites....i am getting 10,000 miles to a set with the fronts wearing quicker than the rear...this tire works extremely well on the VFR12....the PR3 seems to have been developed on the VFR .... promo pics on Michelin site and their ads used pics of it

Edited March 24, 2014 by lshark

[Switchblade]

10,000 miles ?

[Guest]

I'll give another thumbs up the the Pilot Road 3.

When the oem tires were done at around 4,500 miles I put a set on....I'm just under 11,000 miles and the PR3's have ton of life left at (around 6,200 miles on them now)

They work really well on this bike too - I was a big Avon Storm Ultra II fan on other big sporttourers (ZX-14, FJR, etc) and these are my new favorite tire.

Edited March 25, 2014 by blakebird

[Volfy]

Michelin Pilot Road 3 which has now become PR4 is the most popular it seems among owners on this and other sites....i am getting 10,000 miles to a set with the fronts wearing quicker than the rear...this tire works extremely well on the VFR12....the PR3 seems to have been developed on the VFR .... promo pics on Michelin site and their ads used pics of it

With the way you say you ride, I would've thought you'd be lucky to get half that many miles.

To OP, if you load up pretty heavy and ride 2 up a lot, you might consider getting the "heavy duty" version of some of the ST tires. Michelin has their B-Spec in the Pilot Road series. Pirelli calls theirs E-Spec in the Angel ST and GT lines. Bridgestone calls their the GT version in the new T30 tire. They all typically have extra belt(s) or otherwise reinforced for the heavier Sport Touring bike applications. VFR1200 is not exactly a big heavy ST when ridden solo and lighted loaded, so the regular ST tires will work just fine depending on how you ride most of the time.

Had the PR3 on a C14 and liked them a lot, though they do charge a pretty penny. Have Angel GT on the S3R right now and it feels pretty much like a supersport tire. Wears well on the relatively lightweight Speedie, but have heard others complaining of so-so tread life. On the VFR1200, I replaced the OEM tires with Road Smart II, which I have to say I'm not overly impressed with. The rear stepped out on me once on a not-exactly-fast left hand sweeping turn. Not sure if the tire was cold or I hit a grease spot. I was able to recover but I lost confidence with that tire after that pucker moment. Just swapped on a set of T30's and so far like them a lot better. Good feedback and feel more like a sport bike tire than the RoadSmart's. Cost is considerably lower than PR3 and PR4. My current favorite if cost is a major concern. If not, get the PR4.

Here's an ex-MotoGP racer who runs his race bike school on T30's:

http://youtu.be/eGBTnU5w6Fk

[Clint]

I have had the OEM bridgestones 6000km's

Pirelli Angel ST's 7,000km's

and currently Pirelli Angel GT's 3,500km's and counting.

I can't recommend the Angel GT's highly enough.

[herts]

My tires:

Z8, interract

PR3

Dunlop RS 2

I like Dunlop best. Very light front and good grip. When its rainy I drive quite easily though.

For you, because I see that you drive with heavy load, I recommend Z8. I think that Z8 is the good for touring with heavy load.

[Dae]

I tried most sport touring tire on the VFR, currently running Angel GT. Since you don't put that much mileage, go for a tire that has production date preferably made in the year 2014. Rubber degrades over time and you will lose performance.

Tire life greatly depends on the road and how aggressive you ride.

On two different sets of Michelin Road 3

1st set lasted 3000 miles, road primarily on curvy mountain.

2nd set lasted 9,000 miles, road primarily on highway/motorway.

Edited March 25, 2014 by Dae

[Yokel]

I used the PR3 and liked them fine. 7k trouble free miles and rode them hard. My scooter was loaded up similar to yours at the time. They do squirm a bit when pushed, but never to the point of feeling insecure. Can't go wrong IMO.

:)

[lshark]

i went from the OEM B-stones to the PR3's and like them enough that i just put on my third set...i'm sure i would like a set of the Pirelli or Metzelers too but the Michelins work more than well enough for me...i done experimenting....next set will be PR4, prob by the Fall

[BrandX]

Yeah, +1 on the PR3s. They transformed the bike's handling and feel compared to the stock tires.

[dadofseven]

Angel GTs on my 2012, rode them from Reno to Kansas City and back in August, they wore a little quick the first 500 miles...then they are Ok! Wear really well, wet traction is superb, and they ride nice....

[wattsbrian]

So the Angels and the PR3's and PR4 seem to be the front runner. About the PR4's: been reading about them and the PR3's. Seems the only difference is the added feature of 20% less wear. Do i spring for the more expensive PR4's or budget down and go for the PR3's? Thank you all again for the suggestions and recommendations.

Edited March 28, 2014 by wattsbrian

[Volfy]

If you buy online and have to pay good money for mounting, get the tire with the longest expected life. If you can mount them yoirself or get it done el cheapo, than less expensive tires might get you more road miles on relatively new tires per money spent. I freshen my tires long before they hit the wear bars.

But that's splitting hairs. Find a good deal and go with it. It's hard to pick a true loser these days on tires.

[HispanicSlammer]

I have spooned on several sets of Pilot Road 2 180/55 rears on the veefalo great tire, this year I got a deal on PR4 so we will see, smaller profile since all they had was 180/50 so we will see, it was not easy to get to the edge of the 55's so maybe this time I will not have such huge chicken strips. Ridden just about every kind of weather on those michelins, love them. Hated the dunlops it came with, horrible tires.

[lshark]

the VFR12 uses a 190 rear tire, why would you go to a smaller 180 ????

[Guest]

typo?

there's a 190/50 and a 190/55, maybe he meant "all they had was 190/50..." (not 180)

just back from a quick ride down to Santa Fe for dinner with friends - the Pilot Road 3's have 7,000 miles and look pretty good

[WestOfBen]

Try Continental.

[Guest]

I run the contential road attack 2 gt...the ones for heavier bikes....love this tire....I ride with sport bikes and this tire gives me the most confidence....I used to run angels both st and gt, but the contis make the vfr a heel nipper

[Volfy]

There is nothing wrong with mounting 180/55 on 6 inch rims. Guys used to do that, especially for quicker transitions with track bikes back when there were only 190/50 and 180/55. I used to think that 180/55 are meant strictly for 5.5" rims and that mounting on 6" rim would "stretch" the tire profile. That was until I started mounting tires myself.

First off, not all tires of the same numbers are sized the same. I had a ContiMotion 180/55 that barely measured 180mm across the tread and looked very obviously smaller next to a 180/55 Q3, which measured more than 185mm across and the tire beads - unmounted - sat naturally at about 6" apart, similar to other 190 tires. I would have no problem mounting that Q3 180/55 on the VFR1200, whereas the ContiMotion 180/55 probably would have been okay, but not ideal. Either way, spreading each side of the tire bead out 0.25" does little or nothing to the tire profile.

These days, with the 190/55 available in most sport and ST tires, there is less of a reason to use a 180/55 for quicker turn-in.

[luvtoleanit]

Angel GTs on my 2012, rode them from Reno to Kansas City and back in August, they wore a little quick the first 500 miles...then they are Ok! Wear really well, wet traction is superb, and they ride nice....

Will be my next set. My BT023GT's are doing quite well for the time being. I do prefer the Metzeler/Pirelli compounds with Bridgestone being a close second. Pirelli's work in WSBK has moved them along nicely.

[wattsbrian]

Ok so I just got back from the tire place with a set of Michelin PR4's. GT's. Not sure if its me or the bike but it feels like Im driving a stiff brick in the front. Im hoping that is the tire actually hugging the road but am still skeptical. This feels nothing like my stock tires. The whole bike feels lighter and more tip prone(didnt drop it). Still needs to break in I guess.

Edited April 16, 2014 by wattsbrian

[Guest]

have you checked to see how much air they put in them?

[Duc2V4]

Ok so I just got back from the tire place with a set of Michelin PR4's. GT's. Not sure if its me or the bike but it feels like Im driving a stiff brick in the front. Im hoping that is the tire actually hugging the road but am still skeptical. This feels nothing like my stock tires. The whole bike feels lighter and more tip prone(didnt drop it). Still needs to break in I guess.

BTW, the GT is meant for heavier bikes than the VFR and that's a possible reason for the "brick" feeling, or like said above, check the air pressure.

[Volfy]

Ok so I just got back from the tire place with a set of Michelin PR4's. GT's. Not sure if its me or the bike but it feels like Im driving a stiff brick in the front. Im hoping that is the tire actually hugging the road but am still skeptical. This feels nothing like my stock tires. The whole bike feels lighter and more tip prone(didnt drop it). Still needs to break in I guess.

BTW, the GT is meant for heavier bikes than the VFR and that's a possible reason for the "brick" feeling, or like said above, check the air pressure.

Not sure. When I ordered the Bridgestone T30s. I had my local dealer check mfr recommendation through his distributor. The answer was that their GT was recommended for the VFR1200. At 600 lbs curb weight, I can see it go both ways. If you're serious sport tourer that ride 2-up with 3 hard cases worth of gear, GT tires would work. OTOH, if you ride mostly solo and no luggage, and you don't weigh much, then you might consider regular ST tires a better fit.

R1200RT and Norge 8V both have GT sport touring tires as OEM, and they don't weigh much more than the VFR1200.