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54K views 256 replies 57 participants last post by  MaxxV4 
#1 ·
I have been waiting for these to make it to the US. Anyone seen an actual set?
Dunlop made a claim 2 years ago. Covid screwed up last year. I just want to know if anyone has used these or seen these. I think they would be awesome for Colorado!
 
#160 ·
The longest wearing rear is likely the RS3...... T32's are good by all reports, give one a shot. The Versys came with them as OEM, half worn out and squared off when I got them, so I can't tell you much. On the list to try though....
 
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#161 ·
A riding buddy uses the T31/32's and he likes them. And he can ride.
 
#163 ·
I just ordered a Bridgestone T32 GT for the back.
Today I received TWO front tires; both Shinko 009's... one in the standard 120/70-17 size.. the other in a 120/60-17.
I checked my Ebay purchases and it seems I only paid for the one. Maybe some Warehouse guy sent the wrong one first and then just sent out the correct one, who knows.
But cool that I was considering trying a "60" profile... now I've got that chance.. for free!
 
#164 ·
Hi. I have a 2010 FJR1300A and after 10,000 + miles on my Michelin Road 5 GT's it's time for new tires. I have been very happy with my Road 5 GT's and am considering replacing them with Road 6 GT's.

Over 75% of my riding is in a straight line, but when I am lucky enough to have curves in front of me, I am quite aggressive, consequently my front tire often wears out before my rear tire does.

I value your opinions on all brands / models of tires and look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you.

Brian C.

One other item that I forgot to mention is that I want to have 90 degree valve stems installed on both tires. Can anyone recommend a manufacturer / supplier? Thanks.
 
#166 ·
Hi. I have a 2010 FJR1300A and after 10,000 + miles on my Michelin Road 5 GT's it's time for new tires. I have been very happy with my Road 5 GT's and am considering replacing them with Road 6 GT's.

Over 75% of my riding is in a straight line, but when I am lucky enough to have curves in front of me, I am quite aggressive, consequently my front tire often wears out before my rear tire does.

I value your opinions on all brands / models of tires and look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you.

Brian C.
Wow, 10k miles out of Road 5 Gt's is great to hear. The FJR I bought a week ago has newish Road 5 GT's on it. I put 15k niles on a Road 5 front tire on my SV650, it probably should have been replaced a couple thousand miles sooner. The Road 6's supposedly last 15 percent longer.
 
#165 ·
In depth tire discussions here -> Tire Help Please. But I have to ask- if you're happy with the PR5 GT why change? Just buy more.

Angled valves:







 
#167 ·
I've run Pirelli, Metzler, Dunlop, Bridgestone, and Michelin tires on sportbikes, none of them were racing level tires or slicks as I'm not fast enough on track days to need them. lol. I've always had great results with Michelins and choose their brand whenever I need to replace the OEM tires, FWIW. I'm not a fan of cheaping out on tires but have talked with some guys that run Shinko's and they were pretty happy with the grip and lifespan they were getting. Maybe I could save some money with them but I'm fine with paying a little extra on the Michelin's and have the peace of mind versus worrying about grip. These are feelings and not facts. I DO read the tire shootout articles when I come across them and their results generally align with the above. With all that said, tire technology and quality have come a long way over the past few decades. Unless you're regularly exploring the limits of traction, going with any of the top brands should be a safe bet. Obviously, tire choice becomes much more important if you're an A group rider doing track days and hauling ass.
 
#168 · (Edited)
My philosophy is If you like what you have and they work well for you stick to them.

My OEM Battlax T31 were ok. I went with T32GT and slightly wider. Time will tell on how long they last. Sounds like we have similar roads/rides, lots of straight lines on highways, curves when I can find them, keep my bags on.
 
#169 ·
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This is the Road 5 on my little SV after riding across Wyoming last October in a windstorm. I had to lean over about 15 degrees to the left in order to go straight. As you likely know the Road 5’s and 6”s have a harder compound rubber in the center of the tire to prevent excessive tire wear when doing long distance straight line riding and softer more grippy rubber on the edges of the tire for cornering. I am showing this because you stated a majority (75%?) of your riding is straight roads. I figured this picture really shows the centers are made for long straights. Road 5’s definitely were not designed for an oval track. It was a weird feeling riding on this tire after the windstorm wear. It felt like I was falling off a tight rope when coming off the center, for left curves. The Road 5’s are fantastic in rain and sleet.
 
#170 ·
With the exception of a single Shinko 009 Raven front, the only tires I have ever manage to get 10,000 miles out of are in my dreams. If I'm really lucky I'll get 7,000-7,500 miles out of a rear tire. Shinko 009 Raven rears only last me about 3,500 miles.

I have read numerous tire threads where riders talk about getting 10,000-15,000 miles out of their tires. Don't know what I'm doing wrong.

Haynes
 
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#171 ·
It's easy. You probably don't run 'em until the belts are showing.
 
#176 ·
#177 ·
Ahhhh! Nothing like a fresh set of skins!

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A full day's work... I still do things the hard way - use a beat-up old Harbor Freight bead-breaker lever thing... big old spoons to crank the rubber off ... clean the rims, check for the heavy spot.. mount the new ones... lots of grunting and old-man sweating... dishsoapy water everywhere.... THEN run them 20 minutes away in my Jeep to the nearest friendly shop where they'll balance 'em for me for free.. (good pals!) ... haul 'em home, mount everything back on the bike and tidy up. Whew! done!

I opted for the Shinko 009 up front .. as per RayZ suggestion (it made sense.. we'll see!).. and a T-32 GT out back. I THOUGHT I'd ordered an "A Spec"... but nothing I see anywhere on the tire or paperwork mentions this. Hmm.. oh well. It's ON, and I'm not about to pull it off and send it back.

OLD ROADSMART III's
I took them off a little early; these only have 5K on them and were still handling ...okay...
But I've become over-sensitive to the Roadsmart Rumble .. the "S Squirm".. from the front as the it wear. I may be going out on the road suddenly (as the weather is now a lot nicer in the Northeast), and I've made the mistake in the past of heading out with tires that "looked okay"... only to be miserable on the way home with sketchy / mushy or even dangerous handing.

So you can see here how that RS front wears so weirdly, and this is only 5000 miles. Funny that it doesn't do it to this extreme on my Bandit... might be related to the extra weight or longer wheelbase.. don't know.

Rear:

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Front:

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#178 ·
OKAY
....so after 300 miles, I have concluded that this is not a good combination... the 180 T-32 and a 120 Shinko 009.

I've tried the 009 Ravens a few times before, on my Bandit 1200, and once on the FJR. My inescapable conclusion is that the 009 is not... Premium.

I knew this in advance, but I did an experiment this time, trying a Bridgestone T-32 in rear and a Shinko 009 up front.

After 300 miles today, I must say that the Shinko has not been ....the best. It's fine in a straight line, and I would recommend it for those needing to burn-down a set of tires on a long, flat run... Florida to Phoenix or something.

But in the CORNERS.... Nahhh. There is SO much resistance to turning more than 15 degrees over... when suddenly the front feels like it wants to TIP IN suddenly
It's very unstable leaned over.... and I basically remember this from past experience with the 009. After 250 miles I can even get the bars to WIGGLE over slightly rough surfaces if I try... The previous RS 3's showed NO sign of this, even when worn.

SO... I'm surrendering on the Shinko 009's (PS- I used the 005 Advances on my B-12 numbers of times... far better... but not sure how they would be on an FJR) ...
and I'm going to buy a matching T-32 for the front, before I cause more wear.
 
#179 ·
I just pulled the trigger on a T-32 GT front; the cheapest I could find anywhere (Ebay/Amazon/etc) was from Chapparal, who often have the lowest prices on tires. $178 delivered... might take a while to get here from California, though. I hated to spend the extra money.. things are tight all over these days, eh?..... But since the rear is a ($) new T-32 I want to give it a good chance to shine, and match it with a mating front. It's got 300 miles on it, and I don't intend to go far until the front comes in.

Speaking of wearing a tire down to the chords... this was a Contimotion I had on the Bandit 12 some years back. I'd ridden out into Pennsylvania so to stock up on fireworks for the 4th... LOADED the bike with a giant duffel bag and a big tank bag full... like, 40 pounds worth, many bungee chords... While I was putting my helmet on I glanced at the rear tire... and FREAKED. Steel chords were starting to pop through.. and I still had 100 miles to go (on a Sunday!).
All I could think of was news reports the next day: "Motorcycle Explodes on I-80, Rider Evaporated"

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#180 ·
Report on the T-32 GT's-
I've just finished an 800-mile over-nighter... a wide variety of rural and highway roads across NY State. So far I have been very impressed with the exceptional handling of the T-32's. They are stable and contoured very nicely for every situation I've ridden in up to this point. They roll over beautifully and feel secure when leaned hard. Previously I've been a fan of the RoadSmart III's... I think these might be better.

NOW- Let's see how long they LAST.
 
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#181 ·
Just returned from a dandy over-nighter, 800 miles... out to the border of W Virginia and back, great warm/clear weather before the Chill hits.
Report on the T32 GT's:
So far I really like them. I feel the handling and grip exceed any other tire I've tried yet on the FJR.
I'm a terrible Worrier... and I left from New York with about 3500 miles on the tires, obviously some visible wear by now.. and all along the trip I kept freaking-out that somehow these tires would burn-down during the trip and leave me.. well, flat.
But at the end they did very well. Bothe front and rear are a bit squared of course, and there was a very slight mushiness in straight line on the highway. But overall they came through fine, and there's still a bit of life left in them.
I don't think these are going to be high-mileage skins... but I sure like them anyway.
This is 4300 miles worth-

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#183 ·
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I'm always amazed at the mileage of some riders and tires, here is the set of T32 I took off my 1290 SDR recently, 2898 miles and it was running slick in a few sports. The variation between wear on the left and right seems more pronounced than what most tires produce.
 
#186 ·
How in the HELL do you still have casting nubs after 4300 miles? You paid for that whole tire, use the whole tire. :p

That odd wear is gotta be due to the tread pattern. The middle of that tread pattern is basically 1 large block that wraps around the tire like a slithering snake. That's why it squirms.
 
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#190 · (Edited)
REVIEW of the Bridgestone T32 GT's

I took them off at about 5500 miles. There was a little bit left, but there was a week of warm weather approaching and I had a fresh set waiting in the garage.

In all I found theses skins to be excellent, maybe except for the "limited wear".. (as I know some of you guys can get higher mileage on some other brands). Personally I don't see 5500-6000 miles as being short-lived for Sporty tires.
I found them to be superb in all conditions. They were sticky in the corners, "rolled over" beautifully and tracked straight on the highways. Very stable and predictable in the rain.

The wear pattern was far superior to the Dunlop Roadsmarts I had previously been fond of; the T32's had a very predictable and "traditional" sort of decline... the RS's get really "lumpy" and squiggly-feeling as they wear down.

At around 5000 miles the tires had gotten fairly squared, as I'd done three 800-mile trips plus assorted, other, long highway day trips. So as an experiment, I took a power drill with a stiff wire wheel and buffed-down the squared edges. There was still some meat in the centers, and I wanted to round things off a bit. I'd done this before once, in Houston, during a cross-country run on my Bandit a few years back to good effect; it does change the profile some (flatter), but it improved the roll-in handling significantly... eliminating that ledge.
Before and After buffing on the front..

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This worked well, and significantly improved the End Times handling. Of course it meant that the tires were on their way out, but it really did make a difference at the end of the tires' life span.
-----
Here's the pair at the 5500 miles when I finally pulled them. The handling had gotten a bit squirmy; still respectable for this level of wear, but I got to feeling industrious and what the hell, yanked 'em.

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Overall I think these are the best tires I've found for the FJR, personally. I've tried the Pilot Road 4's... Roadsmart III's and IV's... Shino 009 Ravens; the T32 GT currently gets my vote and I'll probably stick with them for a while. They're not as cheap as the Roadsmarts... a fresh set of the Bridgestones ran me $370 all-in, from Chaparral, I think it was (about 100 bucks more than the Dunlops)... the cheapest price I could find, (on Fleabay).

But the handling is superb for my use.
Nothing like fresh rubbers!

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#191 ·
Hi. new here and getting acclimatised.

Seems a lot of tyre threads get pushed together and it's difficult to pick out if there is any community consensus on any particular recommendations in this thread.

Is there a way to create a thread that is a repository for how many miles tyres do, photos of the wear, and a comment on grip and handling?

Just an objective set of photos and data?

I'm currently looking to change my tyres out because they are 2nd hand (the bike is 2nd hand), seem 'odd shapes' and the bike does not handle at low speeds quite as I'd expect.

Rear (both, Michelin Pilot Road 2, unknown mileage)
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Front
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Are these profile shapes within norm for a leggy set of FJR tyres, or responsible for what I think is odd slow speed handling?

I am thinking that perhaps tyres that are known to keep their shape may fare better for an FJR, which is weighty enough to push tyres into odd shapes and I guess some odd handling.

I was looking at Metzeler Z6 as they are available here in UK for reasonable prices, but note for a handful of extra change I could get Z8's which have many reviews around that they keep their shape much better than other tyres and brands.

I'd suggest it could be useful if there could be some sort of poll set up, logging people's actual tyre experience. What do you think?

Happy to take advice on those tyres above (pump 'em up and keep riding? Or replace?) and whether Z6 is an OK tyre for FJR, is Z8 better. Also considering ContiMotion.
 
#192 ·
You'll find no real consensus on tires. Most guys think the ones they use are the best. Some guys are brand loyal while some feel the need to have the latest and greatest, which is not always best. There are too many variables involved to determine which last longer, which stick best, which ride the softest, etc.

What tires on what bikes do you have experience with?
 
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#197 ·
Exactly. That's why I am suggesting perhaps a thread dedicated to photos of tyres with mileages? Because this thread does not seem to help deduce a consensus opinion, so maybe just post 'objective facts' instead?

Just a suggestion. A new thread, no discussion content, just photos and miles, and occasional comments on mishaps and problems, perhaps?
 
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