[BarMatt80]

my roommate runs the shinko on his 1200 bandit. don't know what model, but i'll find out. he doesn't have a problem with them, but starting to flatten quicker than what he feels they should. It holds fine i guess since he doesnt have much of a chicken strip left. He has said he won't go with them again. Also just feel little less grippy sometimes in the turns. i guess if you are eating up the highway miles then wouldn't be a problem.

[loudnlow7484]

I've only ridden on the 003, so I cannot comment on the rest of the line. I will say it has a very strange profile. It is obviously geared towards the drag-racer, because the center is pretty flat. However, I've taken a good few "spirited" corners with it, and it doesn't let go. They do feel a little nervous going into a corner, though. I think it is the fault of the profile, as it's pretty flat in the middle, then curves down very quickly towards the outside. With the 208's (on a far more powerful bike, though), I could always get the back end loose leaving corners. This thing just sticks.
Um, it also wears, though. Very quickly. My last back tire had a whopping 300 or so miles on it when it picked up a big nail. The tire still had plenty of tread left, but it had obvioiusly worn a lot in that short time. It did have a lot of burnouts/hard launches on it, but still, 300 miles is a very short time. I would guess, with a normal balance of street riding, and a weekly trip to the strip, they would last maybe 1000-1500 miles.
Now, I've heard all kinds of huge mileage numbers from people riding the sport-touring tires, but I've never tried them, so I couldn't tell you for sure.
For $150 ish a set, to your door, I think they are a fantastic deal.
That said, because I plan a trip to Mid-Ohio this year, and hopefully a trip to the Gap as well, when my new back wheel shows up, I'll be switching to something more corner-oriented. Maybe some Metzeler M1's.

[The CyberPoet]

Look , you want cheap , it's more about WHERE you buy the tires than WHAT you get . I like americanmototire . Best prices I've ever seen . About HALF of what you'll pay at a dealer . You can get a "good" set of tires for less than $200 delivered through them . THat's not a bad deal .

I whole-heartedly support MD's advice. Up-front cost is more about which vendor you go to than about which tire you buy, unless you are talking about suicide tires (Chen Shing -- which I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy -- which are also sold under various "house brand" names such as JC Whitney).
Long term cost is more about how long the tire will last you before you have to replace it. Obviously a tire that lasts 3k miles for $220 a pair is *at least* four times as expensive as a tire that lasts you 12k miles for $220 a pair -- and that's not including tire mounting/dismounting/balancing costs.

What tire is "best" is a combination of which bike you have (need to meet all the requirements -- weight rating, speed rating, etc.), what kind of riding you (are you an all-weather commuter or only a dry-weather knee-down sort of guy?), and how much lifespan you want out of a set of tires. For virtually every stock Kat rider, a Metzeler Z6 or Pirelli Diablo Strada will be the "best" choice -- the general exceptions are if you shoe-horned a much more powerful engine into the bike (which means "non-stock"), or if you spend at least 50% of your time knee-down canyon carving.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[kwebbel]

+1 on that.

Like everybody else I'm allways looking for the cheapest_best_gripping_least_wearing_best_steering tyre
Having a non-stock bike and most off the time riding/railing through the twisties I'm gonna try the Michelin 2CT's as soon as the bike is ready, a little more expensive to buy but if they keep the promised lesser wear combined with excellent grip and feedback they could be cheaper in the end.