Best Street Oriented Tires?

[avc8130]

This is a good point. Unless you've done suspension upgrades, the S10's effective cornering limits are set by dragging footpegs long before tire grip. Any of the 90-10 dual sport tires (Battlewings, Tourances, etc.) should have plenty of cornering grip given the lean angle constraints.

- Mark

I don't get it. I keep up with sport bikes through the twisties and have never put my pegs down. Move your butt a bit.
ac

 

[markjenn]

I don't get it. I keep up with sport bikes through the twisties and have never put my pegs down. Move your butt a bit.

I instruct at the track. Didn't ask for a riding lesson, so don't give one.

- Mark

 

[Karson]

::020:: my vote for battlewings on the hardball roads. little sketchy when there's any type of moisture, but like most tires in that condition just gotta take it easy

 

[tomatocity]

I ran thru 3 rear Battlewings in 19,000 miles on my SuperTenere, I liked them for a good, inexpensive all around tire but I could slip the rear tire coming out of the paved corners, without trying very hard.
The PR3's rear stick much better.

Were the 2nd and 3rd rear Battle Wing's "E" load rated? Reason I ask is I got 8500 miles on the original tire and barely 5000 miles on the 2nd tire. Ended up that the 2nd tire was not "E" load rated.

 

[justbob]

I dont know if they were "E" rated or not. I may have an old take-off tire on the stack in the corner, I'll take a look.
I got around 6000 to 6500 miles from each of them.

 

[MotoPumps]

I do like the price of the BW, but am not pleased with how fast the rear squares off. I do appreciate all the feedback so far. Trying to gather the relative value of the Pirelli Trail Sync vs the Conti Trail Attack. Anybody try both of those?

Thanks!

Rob

 

[3putt]

I have the same warts on mine! What the hell is up with that?

I don't know, just wierd! Must be on the edge of the harder center rib rubber.

A new Anakee 3D is coming.

 

[tomatocity]

I dont know if they were "E" rated or not. I may have an old take-off tire on the stack in the corner, I'll take a look.
I got around 6000 to 6500 miles from each of them.

The "E" is after the word "Radial".

 

[avc8130]

I instruct at the track. Didn't ask for a riding lesson, so don't give one.

- Mark

Sorry, didn't realize we had a resident Casey Stoner.

 

[avc8130]

As I am shopping for a street tire for the Tenere, I had to define what a "good" street tire is TO ME:

1. Plenty of traction for the HP/capability of the bike.
2. Great traction (wet and dry)
3. Fast warm up time (want the tire ready for hammering ASAP)
4. Good wear (~7500 miles would be nice)
5. Smooth ride

Since this bike is an "ADV", it has an awkward tire size for "street" tires. This market is just starting to grow, and let's be realistic most guys want the image of a do anything bike so the tire manufacturers have followed suit.

I have ridden the Tenere with 2 tires:

1. Stock Battlewings. These lasted me 4800 miles until absolutely clapped out. They had done everything on the street I could ask. They were smooth. Had good traction in wet and dry. I was not happy with the short life I got.
2. Anakee 2. These tires are currently on the bike and are just about clapped. 7500 miles. The last ~1k miles has been terrible. The tires are wearing in all sorts of weird patterns and ride like crap. The dry traction was good. Wet was decent. The tire profile is very flat. There isn't much of a point or triangle shape to these tires. They handle slow and don't tip in well.

I have extensive experience with Pilot Road 3s on sport bikes. They were my favorite STREET tire of all time. Ready to rock straight from the garage, AWESOME wet traction and very good dry.

My Tenere will be getting a set of the old Tourances this weekend because I want a DS tire for winter roads. Next summer I will swap on a set of PR3s for a trip from NJ to TX. I will review both as I have experience.

ac

 

[MotoPumps]

This essentially mirrors my experience so far. I am leaning toward PR3s at the moment. Really tired of the worn Anakees.

Rob

As I am shopping for a street tire for the Tenere, I had to define what a "good" street tire is TO ME:

1. Plenty of traction for the HP/capability of the bike.
2. Great traction (wet and dry)
3. Fast warm up time (want the tire ready for hammering ASAP)
4. Good wear (~7500 miles would be nice)
5. Smooth ride

Since this bike is an "ADV", it has an awkward tire size for "street" tires. This market is just starting to grow, and let's be realistic most guys want the image of a do anything bike so the tire manufacturers have followed suit.

I have ridden the Tenere with 2 tires:

1. Stock Battlewings. These lasted me 4800 miles until absolutely clapped out. They had done everything on the street I could ask. They were smooth. Had good traction in wet and dry. I was not happy with the short life I got.
2. Anakee 2. These tires are currently on the bike and are just about clapped. 7500 miles. The last ~1k miles has been terrible. The tires are wearing in all sorts of weird patterns and ride like crap. The dry traction was good. Wet was decent. The tire profile is very flat. There isn't much of a point or triangle shape to these tires. They handle slow and don't tip in well.

I have extensive experience with Pilot Road 3s on sport bikes. They were my favorite STREET tire of all time. Ready to rock straight from the garage, AWESOME wet traction and very good dry.

My Tenere will be getting a set of the old Tourances this weekend because I want a DS tire for winter roads. Next summer I will swap on a set of PR3s for a trip from NJ to TX. I will review both as I have experience.

ac

 

[MNs10]

Interesting how there can be such a difference in the amount of wear we see as a group...I understand different road surfaces and riding style but still...

I'm perfectly happy with the BW's that came on the bike. Over 10,000 miles and I'm not on the wear bars yet. The rear is squaring off but I make a point to be on the gas pretty hard with moderate lean angles very often and I'm sure this helps the 'transition' from square to the rest of the tire. The front is just starting to cup. I'm sure I could get another 1k without even pushing it but I will replace them before Spring.

On the load rating for the BW. I had a set on the wee that were not 'E' rated...they had better wet grip when leaned over IMO and they wore faster (I don't remember the miles). If I lived somewhere that had a significant rainy season, I would probably use them instead.

I will be putting on the BW's again.

 

[avc8130]

Interesting how there can be such a difference in the amount of wear we see as a group...I understand different road surfaces and riding style but still...

I'm perfectly happy with the BW's that came on the bike. Over 10,000 miles and I'm not on the wear bars yet. The rear is squaring off but I make a point to be on the gas pretty hard with moderate lean angles very often and I'm sure this helps the 'transition' from square to the rest of the tire. The front is just starting to cup. I'm sure I could get another 1k without even pushing it but I will replace them before Spring.

On the load rating for the BW. I had a set on the wee that were not 'E' rated...they had better wet grip when leaned over IMO and they wore faster (I don't remember the miles). If I lived somewhere that had a significant rainy season, I would probably use them instead.

I will be putting on the BW's again.

It's all in how hard you ride the bike. I've shagged a rear sport touring tire in 1 day on Tail of the Dragon.

I consistently ride my bike hard through twisties. Trail braking into turns and ragging hard on the throttle on the way out.

Some guys get 50+ mpg. I have NEVER seen over 40mpg and my 12.5k average is 36mpg.

ac

 

[markjenn]

It's all in how hard you ride the bike.

And pavement. Pavement is mostly local gravels which vary tremendously in abrasiveness. Some of the grippiest pavement in the country is areas of the west where the pavements are made from volcanic gravels but they're absolute hell on tires.

And tire pressures. A lot of folks think the book pressures are too high and run lower. Some run over book. At high speeds, 44 psi vs. 38 psi can double rear tire life.

And loads. A stock, unaccessorized bike ridden solo can see double the mileage of a fully-farkled and loaded bike ridden two-up.

Lots and lots of reasons why tire mileage is all over the map. It's a wonder there is any consistency at all. My take is that there is a lot less variation in tire mileage between brands/models than most think. Put all the 90-10 tires on the same bike and ride them exactly the same way on the same roads and I bet the variation is +/- 20%, not the 2x, 3x, and more variation that we actually see.

- Mark

 

[tomatocity]

Interesting how there can be such a difference in the amount of wear we see as a group...I understand different road surfaces and riding style but still...

I'm perfectly happy with the BW's that came on the bike. Over 10,000 miles and I'm not on the wear bars yet. The rear is squaring off but I make a point to be on the gas pretty hard with moderate lean angles very often and I'm sure this helps the 'transition' from square to the rest of the tire. The front is just starting to cup. I'm sure I could get another 1k without even pushing it but I will replace them before Spring.

On the load rating for the BW. I had a set on the wee that were not 'E' rated...they had better wet grip when leaned over IMO and they wore faster (I don't remember the miles). If I lived somewhere that had a significant rainy season, I would probably use them instead.

I will be putting on the BW's again.

My Tenere experience is...
...Non E rated = 5,000 miles
...E rated = 9,000 miles

Good to know about the wet traction.

 

[creggur]

I don't honestly think the S10 needs stickier tires as it drags hard before it reaches anywhere near the limit of the grip of decent ST tires.

Likely true - I've had the pegs down with my Trail Attacks without feeling the least bit squirrelly.

 

[OX-34]

Late entry in the tire thread here..........

I removed the stock set of Battlewings (I think :-\) at 1200miles. I'm a bitumen rider and rarely ride my S10 less than 1000miles per day, so opted for a sport touring tire.

I'm about to fit my third set of Michelin PR3s. The first 2 sets lasted about 7500miles each. I never run them until completely worn out simply because the next time I get on the bike I may be way out in the sticks and regret not having changed earlier.

I'm very satisfied with the grip, feel and long life of these tires. ::008::

 

[kballowe]

So I went to look at the Michelen Pilot Road 3's (PR3's) and noticed that they offered the PR3" Street" and the PR3 "Trail".
The tread design looks identical.

The FRONT tire composition is "soft" in the 50% center area and even softer in each of the 25% side quadrants.
This is the same for the "street" and for the "trail" versions.


On The PR3 REAR tire, the "trail" version has 20% "meduim" softness in the center section and the "street" version has 50% "medium" softness in the center area.

All are ZR rated.
Front "street" = 54W
Front "trail" = 59V
Rear "street" = 69W
Rear "trail" = 69V

Hope this makes sense (see link, below)

Which version of these tires is everyone using?

http://www.michelinmotorcycle.com/index.cfm?event=sport_touring

 

[MikeBear]

I'm using pr3 trails. These things are great. Pure street tire. Can't tell you anything about longevity, but grip is the best. My mpg dropped 6 miles coming off of EXPs.

 

[RandyJ]

Just for clarification, the front tires are the same for the PR3 and the Trail, but the rear is 20% Medium center for the PR3 and 80% Medium center for the Trails. I plan on running the PR3 or PR3 Trail. I have good results on the PR2 on other bikes. PR3 are supposed to be good as well. Not sure what major benefits you get from the PR3 over the Trail version.