[BareKat]

Flounder, have you considered the Michelin Pilot Road 2? They are suppost to be the best of both worlds. (handling and straightline durability)

[Flounder]

Maybe next time, I'm a bit short of cash for the moment and am trying to just get a cheap set that will last 6000 miles. I had a brand new Pilot Road on the back when I first got the bike and it was trash in 4000 miles. I know the Pilot Road 2's are different but still.

[iceman]

I've got Conti-Motions.... wears well, handles well, too much vibration @ high speed.... get Michelins Road2 or 3

[dblj033]

ive got a 160-60/17 rear and 120-70/17front ,shinko apex 010's....pretty happy with the feel of the bike and aesthetically not a huge difference but i can def notice the wider rear(looks good) had two people comment on them already.


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^^^^^^i had battleax bt-45's on it when i got the bike but they were badly cupped and had very low tread so these are a huge difference both in tread design and condition.

[Flounder]

Just an update. Went with 160/60 Conti Motion for the rear. I have almost 1000 miles on it already. Feels great. I don't really know what people meant about it not feeling quite right on turn-in. It feels more responsive and likes to stay in position in a hard corner. I barely require any input at all to keep the bike sideways. Twist of the Throttle II says this is correct for a sportbike. The 150/70 NEVER felt anything like this!

I have broken them loose a few times after scrub in but they were all PEBSAH errors.[Problem Exists Between Seat And Handlebars] First of all I went for a ride right after I bolted the wheels on and after 20 minutes of warm up I tried leaning a bit, but nothing too major. The rear tire slipped after 3 or 4 turns. Got home and found out that on 42 psi/42 psi tires, by bike shop left the rear at 35. "Well that will do it!" I thought. Checked the front. 30 psi. Wow. I should just say now that when you get tires on, don't trust the bike shop on tired pressure!

The other two skids in corners were simply me being too rowdy out of the turns and getting on the throttle too early. One of them the tires were definitely not warm enough for what I did. I did discover something very nice in those skids though... These tires and or the 160/60 profile is VERY predictable! My friend said the one on cold tires looked so smooth and well executed that he thought it was on purpose until I told him otherwise.

[05RedKat600]

Typically you don't run the tires at the MAX pressure of 42 PSI....you need to watch some more Twist of the Wrist. Typically it's around 36 rear, 32-33 front. Maybe a smidge more. The reason is, when you heat the tires up, the air pressure goes up too. So by maxing the pressure COLD, the tires are overinflated when you heat them up.

[Flounder]

I've got Conti-Motions.... wears well, handles well, too much vibration @ high speed.... get Michelins Road2 or 3

Have not noticed this at all up to 100 mph. They feel just like my PR1's in terms of vibration. 8/10 for smoothness on good tarmac. Past 100 mph I expect vibration and I don't really do that much anyway.

I even lived on a mountain when I first got them with some ROUGH roads, and with the damping adjusted 3 clicks down from hardest setting on front and rear they were a dream to ride with on gravel.

Typically you don't run the tires at the MAX pressure of 42 PSI....you need to watch some more Twist of the Wrist. Typically it's around 36 rear, 32-33 front. Maybe a smidge more. The reason is, when you heat the tires up, the air pressure goes up too. So by maxing the pressure COLD, the tires are overinflated when you heat them up.

35 front, 39 rear feels about right to me. That's what I have them at now. losing 5 psi on the front made the tire flex far too much and made the bike's turn in feel sluggish and made the back tire feel unsafe. I never even got to get the back tire hot, I wasn't comfortable riding on them longer than necessary.

With pressure set properly it does feel better than before and I don't think anything more needs to be adjusted. I could nitpick here and there like I usually do... or I could leave it the hell alone and work on my form.

I should also add that I ride for about 23 minutes every day to work and it's 5 minutes of back roads with curves, then interstate. The higher pressure helps them feel correct when cold on the back roads, and on the interstate I'm losing less power from tire sag. When I go pleasure riding I will almost certainly drop it down beforehand. I love owning a nice air compressor.

[steves]

High tire pressure = low grip = high milage
low tire pressure = high grip = low milage

[hardlydangerous]

if u have vibration you have a balancing or suspension issue.

ive run 150/70-17 , 160/60-17 and 170/60-17.
its a bunch of bs about turn in and etc on a wider tire the tire profile, compound and design play a much larger role in handling then a tire 10mm wider.
for instance a pilot pure and pilot road 2ct handle 100% completely different.

I have no issues running my 160 or 170 tires to the edge and no handling issues. they all handle differently but i prefer the wider taller 170/60 over the 160/60.
fwiw if you are not breaking a conti motion loose... your not riding it very hard. at 34psi i drifted my 750 around turns.

[Wild-Bill]

1. The tire pressure listed on the side of the tire is the max pressure.
2. Tire pressure typically increases about 10% between cold and hot conditions.

With those facts in mind, if your sidewall is marked 40psi max then running 39 psi cold will result in a 3.9psi increase as the tires heat up. That puts you at 42.9 psi hot which exceeds the manufacturer's recommended limit. 36 psi will give you a high-heat pressure of 39.6 psi which keeps you (just barely) under the limit.

For the math, max pressure/1.1 = max cold pressure.

[TRPUT]

Just wondering ...do tyre manufacturers allow for the 10% increase with temperature so list their max pressures as cold pressures - like their other recommended operating pressures??? It would make sense since they expect pressures to be checked and adjusted when cold. If so, 40PSI max cold might mean 44PSI hot is OK??? (But, I readily admit that not everything in this world makes sense.)

Actually, just checked. My Shinko front states on the sidewall: "Max Pressure - 42 PSI (COLD)"

[djcocanougher]

I just went to nitrogen in my tires. Makes for nor having to check as much because it doesnt expand and contract as compressed air does. I ride with Metzeler Z8's and have had no problems.

[cintidude04]

As much as I like Nitrogen for tires, I only use it in my car and truck due to the fact that I change the psi I run in my tires of my bikes much more often. Only shops I know of around here that offer nitrogen are tire discounters, and I dont feel like having to go out of my way to find one if I decide to bump up my rear tire psi by 2 psi for the day.

[Squisher]

1. The tire pressure listed on the side of the tire is the max pressure.
2. Tire pressure typically increases about 10% between cold and hot conditions.

With those facts in mind, if your sidewall is marked 40psi max then running 39 psi cold will result in a 3.9psi increase as the tires heat up. That puts you at 42.9 psi hot which exceeds the manufacturer's recommended limit. 36 psi will give you a high-heat pressure of 39.6 psi which keeps you (just barely) under the limit.

For the math, max pressure/1.1 = max cold pressure.

The listed max pressure is a COLD pressure - the actual max pressure the tire can handle is higher, that's why it's a COLD max pressure. You won't be exceeding the tire's limits. It might not handle as nice if it's that high, but you won't hurt it.

[TS7X]

whats a good brand tire for the kat?(good dry grip but won't slip all over the place in the rain) lookin to step up my back tire to a 170/60 and raplace my front tire along with it.