Tires

[Chris Gray]

What tire profile is best for the bike

I'm running 110/80/17 front and 150/70/17 and the side wall looks massive.. Whats the best fit 160/60/17 ???? anyone got pictures of what the 160 sits like ??

[NT696]

T - I - R - E, T - I - R - E, T - I - R - E
Write it on the board 100 time after school.

-just kidding around.

[Chris Gray]

ops:

[SpeedyR]

simple

run a 110/70-17 in the front and a 160/60-17 in the rear and all will be good in the world. Most of the good sport tires come in this size. I like the Pirelli diablo. but then again i'm biased.

[ghandi1616]

Biased? That's just sad

[Tusk]

I too have the Pirelli Diablo. Unfortunately, they are overkill for my style of riding. Which is commuting and slow back roads riding with my wife on her Vulcan750.

If you hurry, you can might be able to get a set of Avon 45/46 in stock size. They're discontinuing that line.

Back to the Diablos... If you "sport tour" more than "sport" a rear Strada and front Diablo will increase milage. A buddy has a set of Strada's on his ZX-9 and really likes them.

Here's a post from Jeff Adams from the mail list concerning tires for our Hawk. Jeff works at Pirelli: "What kind of riding do you do? if you are using it most in North GA then the Metzeler M1 (the Z1 is a really old tire that's not made any more) or Pirelli Diablo is good. Both come in 110/70-17 front and 160/60-17 rear.
that is the size I always ran on stock wheels. if you are commuting on it, then maybe more like a Diablo Strada or Metz Z6 rear tire to get a bit more mileage out of it. You can get the Z6 front and rear in the right sizes but the Diablo Strada on comes in the 160 rear, no 110 front.
depending upon your riding style though I always got good mileage out of just the standard Diablo and I know Pirelli just dropped the retail and dealer price of the diablo 20%.

I have Stradas on my FJR and just turned over 10k miles on the rear tire this weekend up around TWO, but usually I run something more sporty on my hawk. I'll be putting a set of Diablos on the wifes Hawk soon. Definitly go with radials. take my advice with a grain of salt though- I am a bit biased because I work for Pirelli, but I've always liked the tires before I started working here and will continue to run them after I'm gone.

Jeff"

[Doc]

I run Michelin Pilot powers for the track and street although the guys racing at NHIS say the Pirellis are good.

Get an f2/f3 front

[raul507]

I run the 110/70 in the front and the 160/60 in the rear. I've tried Pirelli, Dunlop but finally stuck with Michelin Pilot Powers 2CTs. If you want grip but worry about running down the center tread before the sides this is the tire for you. In my humble opinion.

[SpeedyR]

2ct

I run the 110/70 in the front and the 160/60 in the rear. I've tried Pirelli, Dunlop but finally stuck with Michelin Pilot Powers 2CTs. If you want grip but worry about running down the center tread before the sides this is the tire for you. In my humble opinion.

as far as I know (actually I'm positive) in the US there Pilot Power 2CT tires are not available in the 110 or 160 sizes. they only have them in the 120/70 front and 180 rears. they will have 190 available soon.

BTW the Pirelli diablo corsa III (the dual compound Pirelli tire) isn't available in these sizes either. the market for a hard core sport tire in the "SV sizes" just isnt' there.

so your options are to either run the standard sport tires like the diablo, M3, PP, qualifier, etc. or go to a full on DOT race tire.
but if you are looking for better mileage but still plenty of stick, the Diablo Strada is your best bet.

As for the Pilot Power 2CT lasting longer, it won't. The center of both the Pilot Power 2CT and the Pirelli Diablo Corsa III are the same as the "old" tires (PP and DC). BUT the very edges are stickier. so the only difference you'll find on the new dual compound tires is that you have more grip at the outer edge. the center will still wear out just as quickly.

Jeff Adams
aka SpeedyR

[raul507]

Re: 2ct

I run the 110/70 in the front and the 160/60 in the rear. I've tried Pirelli, Dunlop but finally stuck with Michelin Pilot Powers 2CTs. If you want grip but worry about running down the center tread before the sides this is the tire for you. In my humble opinion.

as far as I know (actually I'm positive) in the US there Pilot Power 2CT tires are not available in the 110 or 160 sizes. they only have them in the 120/70 front and 180 rears. they will have 190 available soon.

BTW the Pirelli diablo corsa III (the dual compound Pirelli tire) isn't available in these sizes either. the market for a hard core sport tire in the "SV sizes" just isnt' there.

so your options are to either run the standard sport tires like the diablo, M3, PP, qualifier, etc. or go to a full on DOT race tire.
but if you are looking for better mileage but still plenty of stick, the Diablo Strada is your best bet.

As for the Pilot Power 2CT lasting longer, it won't. The center of both the Pilot Power 2CT and the Pirelli Diablo Corsa III are the same as the "old" tires (PP and DC). BUT the very edges are stickier. so the only difference you'll find on the new dual compound tires is that you have more grip at the outer edge. the center will still wear out just as quickly.

Jeff Adams
aka SpeedyR

Well my jolly ole friend

When you come visit me here in Japan I'll show you my 2CT's.

[Soul]

I had to make the choice between pilot powers and the dunlop qualifiers on the 900. Which was an easy choice, since the PP's dont fit my front wheel. Anyway, i absolutely LOVE my quali's and will probably pick up another set when i wear thru this set.
From my research I recommend the Quali's, The PP's (which are spose to be better than the qualis in the rain..) or the diablos.
As far as the 2ct's..You can buy them in the states currently. You can definately order them online from places like motorcycle-superstore.com or here..i hate these guys for their sales people or whatever i have talked to, but they generally have great deals on tires..here is a direct link to order 2cts.
http://arizonamoto.com/Merchant2/mer...=PilotPower2CT

[SpeedyR]

Re: 2ct

Well my jolly ole friend

When you come visit me here in Japan I'll show you my 2CT's.

So you have the Pilot Power 2CT (dual compound) in a 110/70-17 and 160/60-17 rear in Japan????

hmmm... why don't we get the good stuff over here. I've been bugging the guys in Italy to make the Diablo Corsa III (dual compound) in a 160/60 but no dice so far. one of these days they'll see the light.

in the US we get most of the good street tires (diablo, M3, pilot power, qualifier) in the full size run, and the full on DOT race tires (super corsa, Pilot race, etc.) in full size run but the "super street" tires like the diablo corsa III, Pilot Power 2CT) only come in the 120 front and 180/190 rear sizes...

I just looked at the michelin website as well as their US distributors and still didn't see the 160 sizes for the 2CT but maybe you get the good stuff over there..

much be nice to have smaller bikes be "the norm" like in Japan.

I stand corrected...

jeff

[dagus]

If you hurry, you can might be able to get a set of Avon 45/46 in stock size. They're discontinuing that line.

I'm just scanning this tire thread...

I run Avons and fjnorking love them. There are three kinds IIRC...
long-lasting Avons, sticky Avons, and Avons that are a kind of middle-of-the-road compound. I run the Avons with the long-lasting compound.
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away Ian Baille recommended them and told me about the three types... anybody know what they are? Like, who can tell me a part # for those three, and what size? And are these the Avons that are going away? I freaking hope not.

[SpeedyR]

Avon

Avon makes a few versions of it's tires:

AV59/60 is the Viper high performance tires.
AV45/46 is the Azaro? sport touring tires. popular with the FJR crowd.

I just looked over their website and it's not much help. I can't tell if the Storm is the new ST tire or what...

not much help but maybe a little.

[dagus]

Crap. I looked and the AV 45/46 ST is what I run. They're the long-lasting compound.

AV 45/46 ST (long lasting)
AV 49/50 SP
AV 45/50 PRO (sticky)

The 49/50 SP's are the middle of the two, from what I understand -- stickier than the 45/46 ST's, but last longer than the 45/50 PRO's. My next set of tires will probably be those then.

As long as Avon keeps making 110/70-17 or 160/60-17 in something, I'm okay. It's frustrating to know we have such limited choices when it comes to rubber (hey, I thought the condom thread was yesterday? )