First Time Buying Rubber Shoes......no Idea Where To Start

Yeah...title says it all. New to Moto tires, sizes, brands and anything else rubber.

I am looked through the forums and was lost faster then Dorothy in OZ.

First Question: What brand or brands MUST I stay away from?

2: What am I looking for in a tire?

Thanks in advance!

What kind of riding are you planning on? Commuting, touring, railing the twisties, or what?

[image: 62694_union_jack_wellington_boots102.jpg]

Stay away from these ones ^

Even though they appear to be British, I'm sure they are made in China.

The guides at revzilla are pretty good, and they have decent reviews on their site. Their prices on some stuff is bonkers so make sure you shop around, but it is good info.

http://www.revzilla.com/common-tread/motorcycle-tires-101-guide

http://www.revzilla.com/2015-best-motorcycle-tires-buyers-guide

I went with Angel GT's in the stock sizes on my 96, haven't had a chance to try em out yet though. Seem like a great bang for the buck, but what do i know. I read a ton of reviews and asked some folks, nobody i could find had anything bad to say about em for the cash. The Pilot Road 4's are supposed to be the bees knees, but i wasn't willing to pay the premium... denniskirk.com was the cheapest i found em at, though still search around to be sure, tax/shipping/etc may differ for you.

tires are almost as bad of topic as oil. Everyone has their preference. what kind of riding do you do, what's your budget, etc... you have a 4th gen it looks like, so make sure the tires you're looking at have that slightly odd 170 rear available.. I've had Pilot Road/power combo on my 4th gen for a while now (like my 3rd set) and cant say enough good about them, FWIW.

Cant go wrong with Michelin PR3...or for more wet riding PR4's...have had both... superb handling

duccmann

Cant go wrong with Michelin PR3...or for more wet riding PR4's...have had both... superb handling

+1

Topic starter has a 95 so a 4th gen. You can of course fit a 3rd gen rear rim on a 4th gen.

RedRicer

duccmann

Cant go wrong with Michelin PR3...or for more wet riding PR4's...have had both... superb handling

+1

+2

Other tires that have received high praise around here are the Pirelli Angel GT, Bridgestone TC30 EVO, and Dunlop RoadSmart 2.

I've also run Dunlop Q2's, and Bridgestone BT16's, and while they provide OUTSTANDING grip, they just didn't last long enough for me. My bike sees primarily commuting duty with occasional weekend twisty riding. With the service my bike does the softer/stickier tires square off and start showing cords in the center before I can even use half of the edges.

Thats what happened to my last set of 4's....but I'm sure outside temp up to 106 through out summer commuting did help.....went back to the 3's

As mentioned, your riding style should be the deciding factor when looking for tires.

I have Bridgestone S-20's on my 97 , also on my 83 VF750F and VF1000R.

I ride my bikes hard sometimes and all I care about is sticking to the road. I'm OK if I get 4K out of a rear, but some people aren't.

Thanks for the info. My current riding style would be commuting. school work rain and shine. Thanks for pointing me at revzilla. Time to read.....

For the record, I have been running a Pilot Power 3 front with either a PR2 or a PR4 rear and have been able to go over 10k miles. I am currently running a PP3/PR4 combo again. I should also state that most of the miles are from commuting, but also includes a few long distance sport-touring trips. Grip was never an issue either. I know a few here can attest to the level of "sport" riding that was involved!

PP3/PR2 combo: 13,601 miles with two long distance sport-touring rides.

PP3/PR4 combo: 11,210 miles with three long distance sport-touring rides.

Regardless of brand, for general riding or sport-touring purposes keep an eye out for dual compound treads - where there is a hard compound down the center for longer wear life and a softer compound on the shoulders for more grip when cornering. Michelin offers them and I believe others do as well.

If your plans include a lot of wet weather riding, additional siping (thin slits or grooves in the tread for added traction and water dispersion) are beneficial. Michelin Pilot Road 3's and 4's are good examples.

ChiefGodzilla

Thanks for the info. My current riding style would be commuting. school work rain and shine. Thanks for pointing me at revzilla. Time to read.....

If you can afford them I would suggest the Bridgestone T30 for the riding that you say you will be doing.

They are (IMO) as good as the Michelin Pilot Road series and currently cost less than the PR4.

Jake Wilson is generally a very good place to purchase once you know what you want.

I would also suggest some Shinko's for commuting as they will last longer but I have not experienced them in the rain.

One further note, do not take the mileage of tires from members here as what you will get. Riding style, tire pressure and road quality all play a part in how long YOUR tires will last YOU. The most you can hope for when considering average mileage posted by other riders is to review how many miles they get from different brand tires to determine which tires wear more slowly than others.

For example post #12 in this thread is a guy from Maine who gets 4,000 miles from the Bridgestone S20. I would love that tire even more if I could get more than 2,200 miles from it on the abrasive roads prevalent here in the mountains of the southeast. He is right, it is a very good tire.

Pirelli angel GTs. 2nd set on the bike now...2 track days, lots of twistys, commuter ride, can't go wrong.

CornerCarver

ChiefGodzilla

Thanks for the info. My current riding style would be commuting. school work rain and shine. Thanks for pointing me at revzilla. Time to read.....

I would also suggest some Shinko's for commuting as they will last longer but I have not experienced them in the rain.

Nup. Not Shinkos, nor Avons. Both priced well, but for a reason.

I'll swear by Metzelers. Germans know a thing about wet weather, and how to build quality.

You would find it hard to go past a set of Z8's, currently rated as one, if not the, best wet weather tire.

Duc2V4

For the record, I have been running a Pilot Power 3 front with either a PR2 or a PR4 rear and have been able to go over 10k miles. I am currently running a PP3/PR4 combo again. I should also state that most of the miles are from commuting, but also includes a few long distance sport-touring trips. Grip was never an issue either. I know a few here can attest to the level of "sport" riding that was involved!

PP3/PR2 combo: 13,601 miles with two long distance sport-touring rides.

PP3/PR4 combo: 11,210 miles with three long distance sport-touring rides.

This is the exact setup I'm running. Plenty of front end and rear end grip, and both tires seem to last about the same mileage. I would recommend the power up front and road in the rear.

I'm a cheap guy. I really like the Pilot Road 2. Nearly as good as the PR3/4 but cheaper. I do all sorts of riding but my main use is touring the twisties in the USA. Usually get 8,000 to 10,000 miles. I'm an all-weather rider. They have done well for me in the rain.

dadofseven

Pirelli angel GTs. 2nd set on the bike now...2 track days, lots of twistys, commuter ride, can't go wrong.

+1 ^ Second set. All of above plus lots of touring.Personal choice i think, most tyres these days are pretty good but everybody rides different.

paulmeisterpk

Duc2V4

For the record, I have been running a Pilot Power 3 front with either a PR2 or a PR4 rear and have been able to go over 10k miles. I am currently running a PP3/PR4 combo again. I should also state that most of the miles are from commuting, but also includes a few long distance sport-touring trips. Grip was never an issue either. I know a few here can attest to the level of "sport" riding that was involved!

PP3/PR2 combo: 13,601 miles with two long distance sport-touring rides.

PP3/PR4 combo: 11,210 miles with three long distance sport-touring rides.

This is the exact setup I'm running. Plenty of front end and rear end grip, and both tires seem to last about the same mileage. I would recommend the power up front and road in the rear.

I like that setup but not for wet weather. The PP3 front has no siping from about 3/4" to the edge of the tire and you can bust your bottom if you need that margin in the wet. Don't ask how my son knows this. ;-)

Alright I have narrowed down what I want to what is avaliable and I can get my hands on. I'll update yall when I finally make up my mind.

CornerCarver

paulmeisterpk

Duc2V4

For the record, I have been running a Pilot Power 3 front with either a PR2 or a PR4 rear and have been able to go over 10k miles. I am currently running a PP3/PR4 combo again. I should also state that most of the miles are from commuting, but also includes a few long distance sport-touring trips. Grip was never an issue either. I know a few here can attest to the level of "sport" riding that was involved!

PP3/PR2 combo: 13,601 miles with two long distance sport-touring rides.

PP3/PR4 combo: 11,210 miles with three long distance sport-touring rides.

This is the exact setup I'm running. Plenty of front end and rear end grip, and both tires seem to last about the same mileage. I would recommend the power up front and road in the rear.

I like that setup but not for wet weather. The PP3 front has no siping from about 3/4" to the edge of the tire and you can bust your bottom if you need that margin in the wet. Don't ask how my son knows this. ;-)

I like this setup too and has been great here in So Cal read: not a lot of rain. However I was really surprised on how well the bike handled when I spent 2.5 hours in the rain on the twisty roads in Yosemite. I usually tone it down quite a bit when the roads get wet so as long as I live by that, I'm not overly worried. I hope your son is doing well.

Cheers

oh boy...... you couldn't pay me to put a used tire on my bike.... a track tire is also going to be incredibly soft and you'll burn through it commuting in no time.

oh boy...... you couldn't pay me to put a used tire on my bike.... a track tire is also going to be incredibly soft and you'll burn through it computing in no time.

+1 Tires and chains = too important to try to save a buck on.

TYres are so important, never use seconds!!

As with may thinks it's down to personal preference.

I really dislike Pirelli, but love the Michelin PR 2's 3's and 4's

The Pilot Powers are goo to but not so much in the wet or for legevity