[The CyberPoet]

Re: Is it worth it?

That's something you have to decide for yourself.
I have no clue what their fulfillment time-frame normally is on these, or on how fast you need tires, and/or how strongly you feel about the difference between 160's and 150's (I'm a stickler about it, because I don't like the change of feeling it causes me -- but most people without integrated butt-syncros can't tell a serious difference, especially if they're coming out of another brand).

I think it's a good enough price that I'm thinking about going the route just to resell them on eBay for the profit.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[JohnE1000]

CP, can you explain briefly what could be the effect going from 150 to 160 front and rear 2003 600 kat? Is it mountable on the stock rimms? This will be my first tire change, so I don't know jack about differnt brands or what should I expect.

[Crackshot]

I have a 160 on the rear, and I didnt really notice a difference. Then again, I only put about 200 miles on the stock tires when I first got the bike. But yeah, 160 should fit on the 98+ kATS

[meanstrk]

I shoulda posted this before. I have my new rear on the way and paperwork for my free front in the mail.

I always try to take advantage of these deals. Even if it means I am stocking up tires like I am now. This will make 1 Metzler M1 rears, and a front, along with a spare set of Stradas in the shed.

Cool!

[The CyberPoet]

CP, can you explain briefly what could be the effect going from 150 to 160 front and rear 2003 600 kat? Is it mountable on the stock rimms? This will be my first tire change, so I don't know jack about differnt brands or what should I expect.

(A) Brand and type of tire is more important than whether it's a 150 or a 160. A crappy 150 will easily be triumphed by a good 160.

(B) 150 or 160 only in the rear. The front is 120/70ZR17.

That said, the rest of your answers and some additional questions the answers might raise can be found in a combined post I placed in this thread:
http://www.katriders.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7909

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[WildKat]

Is there anything i would have to do to my bike to get a 160 on there? I mean, its only a half centimeter on either side from a 150 right? Seems like it would still fit, but i don't know how these things really work. Also, if I did switch to a 160 or bigger, what effect would that have on handling and performance?

Many of us use a 160 rear tire on our 98+ kats. It will fit with no problem at all..you will notice a handling difference in the size of the tire and of course the Pirelli's are top notch tires so you'll notice a quality difference in your handling as well.

[JohnE1000]

The term and conditions states " You must purchase your tire from a Parts Unlimited dealer. "

I couldn't find any online dealers using thier dealer locator. Does it mean that I have to buy from a local dealer? Then there will be no deal after buy close to MSRP..!

[The CyberPoet]

The term and conditions states " You must purchase your tire from a Parts Unlimited dealer. "

Virtually every motorcycle tire seller in the US will be using PartsUnlimited to stock their shelves. Easiest way to find out is to simply ask -- "do you get your tires via PartsUnlimited?". Even the mail order dealers will be supplying from there.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[My2K]

Maybe I should upgrade from the stock tires. Does anyone have these tires on their bike? How are they? Would you highly recommend them as compared to regular Diablos?

[The CyberPoet]

Maybe I should upgrade from the stock tires. Does anyone have these tires on their bike? How are they? Would you highly recommend them as compared to regular Diablos?

IMHO:
Virtually every tire on the market is better than the stock Macadam 90x, 100x or Dunlops that ship as OEM tires on the Katana. The only exceptions to this rule are Chen Shing tires and Tomahawk retreads.

The single most important upgrade for the Kat is tires. It should be done before you sink money into ANYTHING else. So what if the tires that are on there are new -- sell 'em on eBay! Someone, somewhere will want them and pay you a fair price for them. Matter of fact, to make the process as streamlined as possible, I already have a template for OEM tires to resell them -- just email me if you want the template.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[My2K]

I called one dealership here (parts unlimited authorized dealer) and they quoted me $176 for the Strada rear tire 160/60Z17. That'll be $200 with the shipping for the front tire. I'm sure that's a little steep. I've seen tire sets in ebay stores for about $225. The free tire deal may not be worthwhile to me unless another dealer sold the rear a lot cheaper. I'll continue checking the ebay stores and see if there are any tire sets in my size.

[Kat-A-Tonic]

I've picked up a set of Bridgestone BT-020 tires from a retalier for less than the price of a single Strada from Part Unlimited. Are the Strada's worth the additional dollars over the BT-020?

[The CyberPoet]

I called one dealership here (parts unlimited authorized dealer) and they quoted me $176 for the Strada rear tire 160/60Z17....

Call AmericanMotoTire.com and ask them. They get something like $120 for the tire and will inevitably be a PartsUnlimited client.

I've picked up a set of Bridgestone BT-020 tires from a retalier for less than the price of a single Strada from Part Unlimited. Are the Strada's worth the additional dollars over the BT-020?

Depends on where and how you ride. If you are in cold weather and doing lots of highway miles, it probably won't make much appreciable difference. As the weather heats up, and/or as you do more twisty-carving, the differences pay off. The place I see them (& the Z6's) as being most valuable is in braking and turning, plus serious benefit in wet-weather riding.

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

[JohnE1000]

I called one dealership here (parts unlimited authorized dealer) and they quoted me $176 for the Strada rear tire 160/60Z17. That'll be $200 with the shipping for the front tire. I'm sure that's a little steep. I've seen tire sets in ebay stores for about $225. The free tire deal may not be worthwhile to me unless another dealer sold the rear a lot cheaper. I'll continue checking the ebay stores and see if there are any tire sets in my size.

I called www.motorcycle-superstore.com and they told me that they are a partsUnlimited client. I get the Starda rear 160/60/17 from $120 shipped.
I sent the form to Pirelli and I will report whether I get the tire or not.

[My2K]

I just ordered a rear tire from motorcycle superstore. Is the order confirmation that was generated when I ordered the tire sufficient enough to prove purchase? Or should I wait for the tire to come in and use the receipt then? I'm assuming I'm good to go but I wanna make sure just because of the two week time constraints.