tyre talk!

[2kwacks]

don't think me spouting on about tyres is going to make a popular debate due to this topic be stangled to death! but am just trying to understand why the standard tyres are not rated by most of us. my gtr1400 is 12 months old now and coverd 2,928 miles, not alot I know, but do have my other bike and car. the rear tyre on the gtr is very slightly starting to square of a bit, but a decent day around the twisties will soon sought that out! the front tyre is showing very little signs of wear, so I will be replacing the rear possible some time next year. the front will last till the next change, then will change as a pair when I do am not sure to try another tyre or stick to the standard. I mostly ride in decent weather and found the standard tyres to be excellent, have found the grip to be excellent in the dry, recently on a long weekend away it pissed down from llangollen to tenby. it was in the back of my mind what was said on the forum about the grip being crap so was a bit dubious how the bike would handel. took it easier than normal at first, but soon was back my normal riding in the wet because also found no problem with the handeling or grip. am not by any means a mad rider, "done all that in my yonger days" my excuse for ridng more sensible may be because am a old git now :) or may be it's because 3 mates of mine over the years have sadly lost there lives on bikes, all where very experience bikers and all have been riding since the mid seventies. which got me thinking! it dose'nt matter how skilled you think you are, unless your "god him self" and possess the gift of not being in a place at a pacific time, then eventually your time may run out. like I said am not balls out rider, but I don't hang around either. and find the standard tyres to be excellent. and up to now, have never given me any safety concearns. so just wondering where the standard tyre weeknesses are, I.E  is it when they get to a certain tyre depth or when it rains very heavy on certain road surfaces, or do you find them to be crap in all weathers! I not suggesting other tyres are not better! all of you can't be wrong, and will most likely try the most popular tyres which seem to be pr3's or angel st's when I replace as a pair, can't see the sense in replacing the standard front tyre untill its needs replacing!

[Rusty]

Mate ... you have it all wrong ! I think this will be a VERY popular thread ! As has already been pointed out by those who attended the NEC bike show ... the NGK stand, I mean spark plugs ( !!!!!!! ) was heaving ALL DAY .... Hell ! What is the interest in plugs ?
For me, the standard tyre was ok in the dry, and to be fair I had my bike new in March and there hasn't really been a lot of rain since then. The tyres were just " ok " .. ..nothing special, the bike handled like I thought it would and all was well .... mainly commuting miles on decent roads with decent tarmac .... I just found that when there were signs of rubbing down and squaring off the rear tyre it just didn't want to " fall " into the bend as I wanted and didn't give me that comforting feel of me feeling the road through the bike, if that makes sense, so in a way I was losing contact with the very bike I was sitting on and I didn't like it one bit and when it did rain it was like being on drugs ( one imagines ! ) ... just no feed back from underneath me at all and I wondered what the bike was going to do next. So, for me, an Ok tyre when newish ( under 4000 miles ? ) and dry but after that it was time to go .... when I did change them for PR 3's they still had a fair bit of mileage on them, just not for me though.
I looked very closely at the Angel ST's as they have a good name, and feedback has been good, but the feedback on the PR3's has been overwhelmingly top drawer, which makes it a hard choice for me next time ... do I stick with what I know and get another set or do I risk going to the dark side, spending £270 ish and potentially being disappointed ?? I shall let you know  ;D

[Andy]

Don't think there is any real issue with grip with the OE tyres it's just that the "feel" isn't brilliant after a few thousand miles. The front tyre gets a hard life on this bike and the dual compound tyre soon wears unevenly on the right (longer, faster bends, roundabouts?) giving an "edge" which is worrying :-( My rear tyre would follow / feel every crack, white line which was no fun. I kept mine for about 6k but replaced before doing about 1500 miles to N Spain. I'm glad I did otherwise I don't think I'd have enjoyed myself as much.

[Mogster]

I'll be fitting the new Dunlops RoadSmart 2 next year sos I'll let ya know how they fair  ;D...... although they do list the Sportmax Q2 for the GTR as well, could fit them and see how the Bumblebee does on a track day.. lol  ::)

[2kwacks]

Mate ... you have it all wrong ! I think this will be a VERY popular thread ! As has already been pointed out by those who attended the NEC bike show ... the NGK stand, I mean spark plugs ( !!!!!!! ) was heaving ALL DAY .... Hell ! What is the interest in plugs ?
For me, the standard tyre was ok in the dry, and to be fair I had my bike new in March and there hasn't really been a lot of rain since then. The tyres were just " ok " .. ..nothing special, the bike handled like I thought it would and all was well .... mainly commuting miles on decent roads with decent tarmac .... I just found that when there were signs of rubbing down and squaring off the rear tyre it just didn't want to " fall " into the bend as I wanted and didn't give me that comforting feel of me feeling the road through the bike, if that makes sense, so in a way I was losing contact with the very bike I was sitting on and I didn't like it one bit and when it did rain it was like being on drugs ( one imagines ! ) ... just no feed back from underneath me at all and I wondered what the bike was going to do next. So, for me, an Ok tyre when newish ( under 4000 miles ? ) and dry but after that it was time to go .... when I did change them for PR 3's they still had a fair bit of mileage on them, just not for me though.
I looked very closely at the Angel ST's as they have a good name, and feedback has been good, but the feedback on the PR3's has been overwhelmingly top drawer, which makes it a hard choice for me next time ... do I stick with what I know and get another set or do I risk going to the dark side, spending £270 ish and potentially being disappointed ?? I shall let you know  ;D

To be honest the same is said about the standard bt14's on my zzr1400. I defo pushed the bt14 tyres on the zzr to there limits around the french and swiz alps I find them to be a excellent tyre, and have gone through 3 standard rears and under half way through the 4th at present, and on my second front in 8,800 miles, so it's possible am changing the tyre before it's reaches the point where it's not given it's best! it's possible you have just hit the nail on the head! when you say "up to 4,000 miles" have never had a rear tyre that as ever lasted more than 3,000 miles, but the gtr is the first tourer have had, it's not a supersport bike so don't ride it like one. having said that! during cornwall trip in july I had no problem in keeping up with my mates hayabusa and the zx10r when they thought they could leave me behind on acceleration, which most likely contributed to the squaring off on the rear tyre. the bikes have had, where the zx7r,zx6r,zx636,cbr600,and the 600 gsxr srad and more recent the zrx1200s just to name a few and tended to ride them alot harder, so 3,000 miles more or less seen the rear tyre off! the zzr1400 is just a beast, unless you take it easy most of the time you can expect alot less than 2,000 miles.  but like you, I do change the rear tyre before the markers are level with the rest of the thread. which means on the zzr1400 am getting approx 2,000 miles from the rear, and that his taking it reasonable most of the time, infact if my mate dose not get his hayabusa back that may rise to 3,000 miles wear! I only seem to open the zzr fully up! when he's trying to out accelerate me from lights e.t.c ;) but should imagine the standard tyre on the gtr will possible do another 2,000 miles before it reaches the point where I would normally replace the tyre. so it's possible when have reach 4,000 miles plus I will be eating a bit of humble pie ;)

[routemaster]

I think the general consensus is the OEM tyres which come with the bike are ok and fit for purpose. The thing people are finding with them is that the rear does last that long before squaring off, even being gentle with them. I mainly ride on twisties and mine had started to square off by 3000 miles by 4000 miles I replaced mine for PR3. The handling in the wet is okish but I think there is a lack of feel which probably leads to a lack of confidence abut riding in damp conditions.

By comparison the PR3's will last longer. The front now has 10,000 miles still with plenty of tread left on it and I have been through a couple of rears due to punctures. The greatest mileage I had a on a rear PR3 was 7000 miles before it had a puncture and it still had plenty of tread left and it had the very early signs of squaring off. If it wasn't for the puncture I would have expected another 2-3000 miles before needing to replace it.

The handling in the damp and wet conditions just inspires confidence - it takes a while to build up the confidence but once you have I find there is no real difference between riding in the dry or the wet through the twisties - apart from the need to still avoid manhole covers of course

Kind regards

Steve

[Lonewolf]

When I first got the GTR a year last June I didnt know any better so I just tolerated the standard tyres, but we have a roundabout by us which is very tight and I couldn't get the GTR to follow a tight line around it, the bike just drifted out each and every time I went by the roundabout. When I got the PR3's fitted it was genuinely like I was on a different bike. So for me it became a confidence issue with the standard tyres and that was way before we started discussing the pro's and con's of each tyre on here.

PR3's again for me next time without a doubt. They'll last me a while yet though, I'm anticipating easily 8-10k from them.

[2kwacks]

When I first got the GTR a year last June I didnt know any better so I just tolerated the standard tyres, but we have a roundabout by us which is very tight and I couldn't get the GTR to follow a tight line around it, the bike just drifted out each and every time I went by the roundabout. When I got the PR3's fitted it was genuinely like I was on a different bike. So for me it became a confidence issue with the standard tyres and that was way before we started discussing the pro's and con's of each tyre on here.

PR3's again for me next time without a doubt. They'll last me a while yet though, I'm anticipating easily 8-10k from them.

I think the gtr1400 for it's size and weight is a excellent handeling machine and that's on the standard tyres under 4,000 miles I must had!! so am expecting this bike to be phenomenal on recommended better tyres such as the much acclaimed pr3's. can't wait ;) but l'm a tight arse :) will not change the front till have had my monies worth out of it, so it's looks like one more standard rear for me ;D

[Kwikasfuki]

The first GTR I test rode had the original tyres and 4k on the clock. The steering felt forced and the turn in was terrible. If I hadn't read up on the tyre issue previously, I would have blamed the bike and probably gone for a FJR.

When I did purchase, the previous owner had put on a new pair of Bridgestones and they weren't too bad initially. Dry conditions OK, squirmed at speed, and in the wet I didn't rate them at all. I got rid of them long before the rubber went.

[routemaster]

but l'm a tight arse :) will not change the front till have had my monies worth out of it, so it's looks like one more standard rear for me ;D

What happens if the OEM front wears out before the new rear ??
I would take the plunge and change both - I don't think you would regret it

Steve

[2kwacks]

What happens if the OEM front wears out before the new rear ??
I would take the plunge and change both - I don't think you would regret it

Steve

I normally get 2 fronts to one rear, but most likely will change as a pair due to what's been said on here! let's face it, not much point seeking advice if your not going to take it ;) most likely will go for the pr3's they seem to have the best feed back for dry and wet conditions, excellent grip is more important to me than mileage, providing I get at least 3,000 miles from the the rear which seem's to be my approx mileage for year, I tend to use my other bike and car just as much on average. I asume the pr3's have been officially recommended for the gtr due to it's weight? am sure I heard some where, that kawasaki upgraded the standard tyre's on the 2010 model dose any one know if this is correct!

[routemaster]

am sure I heard some where, that kawasaki upgraded the standard tyre's on the 2010 model dose any one know if this is correct!

Kawasaki state the tyre size (diameter/profile) and the speed/weight rating of the tyres to be used.
I have the 2010 model and no issues with finding tyres

Steve

[Kwikasfuki]

2010 models have the upgraded BT021U tyre (same profile as older model). From what I hear its better than the BT021 but still can't compete with other brands

[Mogster]

The bridgestones on my 2011 bike still feel very 'wooden' 'specialy when the buggers laid over and driving out of a bend.  ???

[zedmeister]

I have had Maxxiss fitted for the last 22,000 miles, brilliant tyres as good as if not better than other makes, utter confidence wet or dry. I get between 5 - 6.5k per rear the front i get 10,000, so far i have had 3 pair and 1 rear, the most recent 1000 miles ago, i cant praise them enough, best of all £165 fitted for the pair, dont be put off by the price / make all my friends are fitting them to their bikes and more and more race teams are fitting them. I was sceptical at first and if they no good within the first week or so they would have come straight off!!!.