Tyres?

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Soldato
Joined
29 Dec 2009
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After some new tyres for my Kawasaki ER-6F. Any brands/models I should stay away from?

What's a reasonable price for a set of tyres?

Any suggestions?


Also is there any problem with mixing tyres? e.g. Could I get away with just replacing rear at the moment as I'd say the front still has life left!
 
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Avoid any budget Chinese/no name crap, they are bad enough on cars but terrible on two wheels.

The big names all make good tyres: Dunlop Roadsmart, Mitchelin Pilot Road 3 (extremely good in the wet), Pirelli Diablo etc. amongst many others are all very capable tyres and good for a sport/touring bike. In particular the Pirelli Diablo Strada is excellent value.

Avoid full on sports tyres, especially for winter riding, as they don't offer a lot of grip when cold, don't tend to be great in the wet and take a long time to warm up in cold ambient temperatures.

You can mix tyres, though this can sometimes cause handling oddities.
 
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BT023's are great, I have them, as would be the Michelin Road Pilot 3's which are the current raved about tyre and the ones I will get next if I need to replace the tyres before I replace the bike.
 
I couldn't tell much difference in wet/dry grip between the pilot 3 & The old BT-016 I had on my old bike, the main point I didn't personally like was the profile of the Michelin & how they felt as you leant the bike - almost like they were slightly squared off right from the get-go.

A point to note is that Ron Haslam uses BT-023 tyres at his race school. AFAICS using google-foo, no track day firm uses the Michelins. Neither should be used for consistent track use really considering they are both meant to be sports-touring tyres!

I think that point alone shows how good the Bt-023 tyre is in terms of grip & the ability to take a bit of ham-fisted punishment.
 
MatteH Oxford said:
I couldn't tell much difference in wet/dry grip between the pilot 3 & The old BT-016 I had on my old bike, the main point I didn't personally like was the profile of the Michelin & how they felt as you leant the bike - almost like they were slightly squared off right from the get-go.

A point to note is that Ron Haslam uses BT-023 tyres at his race school. AFAICS using google-foo, no track day firm uses the Michelins. Neither should be used for consistent track use really considering they are both meant to be sports-touring tyres!

I think that point alone shows how good the Bt-023 tyre is in terms of grip & the ability to take a bit of ham-fisted punishment.
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I suspect cost will play a big part of their tyre choice, they no doubt get through tyres at a fair rate.
 
Won't be riding throughout winter, it'll next be on the road in February.

How much are BT023's for a pair? And what's a reasonable price to get them fitted?
 
I'd typically budget around £250 for decent tyres fitted, give/take £25. If I could only say one thing about bikes it would be "don't ever scrimp on tyres", decent ones make a huge difference on a bike with regards to safety & performance. I find they make riding a lot more enjoyable too, which is always a bonus!
Dogbreath said:
I suspect cost will play a big part of their tyre choice, they no doubt get through tyres at a fair rate.
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Sure, plus to be fair it's not really that great a comparison with how a tyre will be treated during road use or other factors like how long it will last under 'normal' conditions.
Impressive though!
 
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ive always stuck to dunlop qualifier and d207e

currently running some continental conti sport i think there called,not bad either
 
I've just had some Metzeler Z8's fitted, ready for the wet winter. They've just replaced BT045 front and B020 rear so we'll see how it fares.
 
I use my Thundercat all year round and have just had the normal Michelin Pilot Road fitted. No complaints so far.
 
Another question; how much should a 12k mile service be? My local Yamaha dealer have £250 advertised on their site. Whereas I got a quote from a Honda garage and it's £130.. (I don't have a kwaki garage nearby).
 
Dunno tbh, not sure what gets done at 12k miles? Drive chain is slack by 2.5" to 3"ish, and was going to get tyres replaced at the same time.
 
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