Best Commuting/touring Tires?

[MorganR715]

I'm getting ready to go ride the Gap in June, and I'd like to get fresh tires on it before then. I'm hoping to stay a little cheaper, but if quality is compromised too much, then ill bite the bullet. I've read that you all pretty much recommend a PP front, PR rear, but is that the case for a commuting bike as well? Just want to make sure since I read they're race tires by definition.

[PirateRiderBen]

Pilot Road 2-3-4. Just got my Road 2's this week and they have handled great for around town commuting.

-PRB

[Switchblade]

If your riding down yeh PR's 2-3-4 but if your trailering down I would get the Met's M5's.

[GadiantonRob]

Continental Contimotions have been great for the price. I have over 4k on them and they still look great, with no square-ing off.

They aren't the stickiest tires but Ive gone edge to edge without any problems.

One of the cheapest non-Shinko tires you can get-- mine were $180/set.

[Switchblade]

Kimball really likes the new Bridgestones Battlax T30's.

And Chaparral Motorsports has them to the door for $232.00

[PirateRiderBen]

I got my PR2's for 263$ to my door from motorcycle-superstore.com

[MorganR715]

Awesome, thanks for the input everyone. I won't be trailering down, but our group will be a Golding, a Triumph America, and myself. I won't be carving at all, it will be a relaxed ride, so handling isn't as much of an issue, my desire is reliability. If I could stick to $300 installed, that'd be amazing.

[Switchblade]

Morgan if you have enough tire to make it here you could contact this member to install a set after you arrive .

Here the link.

http://ridewnc.com/

He is very reasonable .

Not far from the Dragon .

[rangemaster]

2nd on the Pilot Road 2/3/4s. GREAT all-around do-everything tire.

[MorganR715]

I'll take a picture of my tires and show ya, ill be riding a little before the trip, so there will be a little more wear

[MaxSwell]

If you are not riding in the rain alot, PilotRoad2's are fairly cheap for dual-compound tires (mail order). The PR3s and PR4s are reputed to be superior in the wet.

+1 on the M5's. I wore a set out getting down from MN and back (~4,500 mi.) but they were fabulous during T-Mac. Including a morning in the rain. But I'm no knee dragger.

[Switchblade]

I'll take a picture of my tires and show ya, ill be riding a little before the trip, so there will be a little more wear

10-4

[MorganR715]

Front

Rear

I realized I don't have as much to spend on tires as I thought I did. Looking at around $200 for both. So... Favorite strict budget tires, anyone? :P Those Continental Contimotions seem like a good deal to me!

Edited April 24, 2014 by MorganR715

[V-FORE]

i am on my second set of Shinko Raven 009's on my VFR, last cost Motorcycle-superstore March 2013 76.99 front 107.99 rear great tires I love them I just put a set on my NC700 2 weeks ago. I get about 12k out of a set

[GadiantonRob]

Those q2s look like they have a couple thousand left in them, how much you planning on riding before then? Mine lasted 4.5k miles and still had more life but the front started to cup

Sent from my fancy telly.

[CornerCarver]

I thought Dunlop was French for "cupping front".....

If you have $200 to put towards tires brown bag your lunch for the

Next few weeks and drop $230 on the new Bridgeatone T30s .... They should last you a while judging from the Q2s

[Switchblade]

Those q2s look like they have a couple thousand left in them, how much you planning on riding before then? Mine lasted 4.5k miles and still had more life but the front started to cup

Sent from my fancy telly.

+1 you can make it here with no problem ...

[MorganR715]

Awesome, glad to hear they'll make it. Have you gone through that guy before in NC? Through Jake Wilson the Battleax T30's are 101.99 and 125.99, and his site says if he orders them he will only charge $10 a wheel. That would take care of transporting them there and everything. $245 for good tires installed seems like a solid deal to me! I'd like to do the PR's, but unfortunately $40 is a lot to me now(we are penny pinching like MAD!) Thank you all for your help, my next set will definitely be PR's when I can save a little more.

[CornerCarver]

Do it.

Order them from him and have him install them. He is a great guy, actually went looking for me on the Cherohala when I had a flat last year but I was out of cell range so didn't know he was on the way up...

Your current tires will get you to TexasMac but you will want some new rubber after a day or two.

Order the T30s and have him install them while you are there.

[Switchblade]

Awesome, glad to hear they'll make it. Have you gone through that guy before in NC? Through Jake Wilson the Battleax T30's are 101.99 and 125.99, and his site says if he orders them he will only charge $10 a wheel. That would take care of transporting them there and everything. $245 for good tires installed seems like a solid deal to me! I'd like to do the PR's, but unfortunately $40 is a lot to me now(we are penny pinching like MAD!) Thank you all for your help, my next set will definitely be PR's when I can save a little more.

Several members have used him in past . He's a solid dude ...

[Guest]

Thanks for the kind words guys...

I sent him a few JakeWilson quotes.

I can hook him up with 180 Pilot Pure and a 120 Pilot power for 200.00 installed all day long.

He will be grinning through every turn. They are good for 3 to 4K miles. I love Michelin's on a VFR.

The problem with Q2 and Contimotions is the low mileage. If you pay 200.00 for a set of tires, they need to at least last more than 1500 miles.

My Y2K VFR has less than 1000 miles on the current set of Contimotions and the rear is done. So I would say they are not worth the 170.00 which they cost.

[The mailman]

I had less than desirable results out of FOUR different selections from Dunlop. The fronts all cupped horribly, some sooner than others. The rears always seemed to square off in short order due to the straight line riding on my commute. Then I stumbled onto a new set of Bridgestone Battlax BT-023s. I ran them almost twice the distance of my best Dunlops and they still had excellent grip when I hit the mountains. I'll buy another set once I wear out the PP3s that came on my current VFR.

[Guest]

Cupping is caused be two things the first is low tire pressure.

The second is ham fisted riders in the straights then hard on the front brakes when entering the turn. That just destroys a tire.

[The mailman]

Cupping is caused be two things the first is low tire pressure.

The second is ham fisted riders in the straights then hard on the front brakes when entering the turn. That just destroys a tire.

Two of my four sets of Dunlops cupped within the first 1500 miles. Both were immediately after being mounted and hitting the super-slab from CO to WI. There isn't a rider anywhere more anal that me when it comes to tire pressure so while your ideas may contribute to some cupping, that had nothing to do with my experience. Dunlop even replaced one set for free. I'll just stick with Bridgestones although my PP3s are good too.

Tire pressure and/or riding habits didn't have anything to do with my results as I haven't changed any of those habits and got very different results from different tires. Most of my riding is a mix of commuting and mountain twistys.

[Guest]

I don't argue with people on the internet about tires. No one rides the same as anyone else and all of us have bad riding habits.

(Whether we admit them or not... It is just internet fodder.)

If I get 1500 miles out of a set of tires, I am the happiest guy alive.

If I can squeeze out 2000 miles on a set, I am just giddy.

So I don't feel your pain.