Gen 2 --- Asking for tires recommendations

[davfuzzell]

What tires are recommended for Gen 2 (has 240 rear). Thanks.
fuzzy in Okla City

 

[Jim Bitolas]

For my 200 wheel i use Shinko Verge 011 and on my 240 im very satisfied using Metzeler Marathon 880 .

 

[Pighuntingpuppy]

I dont think no one has gone through as many tires on the Gen 2 as I have. Granted, I have a stock tire on the back of mine.

I have ran Metzlers, Shinkos, Dunlops, and Bridgestones. By and large, Shinkos were the worst, especially the front. Metzler seemed to be the best in terms of longevity. Dunlops best in grip though they lasted the shortest. I have yet to try Avon tires as no one appears to ever stock them when I am ordering. Currently, I am back to the Bridgestones on mine.

 

[crynool]

I dont think no one has gone through as many tires on the Gen 2 as I have. Granted, I have a stock tire on the back of mine.

I have ran Metzlers, Shinkos, Dunlops, and Bridgestones. By and large, Shinkos were the worst, especially the front. Metzler seemed to be the best in terms of longevity. Dunlops best in grip though they lasted the shortest. I have yet to try Avon tires as no one appears to ever stock them when I am ordering. Currently, I am back to the Bridgestones on mine.

Whats wrong with the Shinko?

 

[Pighuntingpuppy]

Let me clarify that the problem is with the front tire, not the rear. I had 2 back to back front tires have very dangerous wobbles. The first one anything above 40, started with a vibration. Into 70mph territory, handlebars had a tank slap motion to them. After 500 miles, I contacted the company that sold me the tire and they sent me another one. The 2cd one was better, but not by much, I grunted that tire out for almost 1500 miles. The second time, the company told me that it must be installation error or improperly balanced. A Dunlop immediately after that cured every front end wobble and vibration that bike had.

For me, I should have known better. Cheap tires are cheap for a reason. And its one thing to be cheap on a car. Cheap on a bike was downright dangerous. I will never recommend a cheap chinko tire. There is no quality control to them. Dunlops are a few bucks more, sticky, not really a good touring tire but overall a good tire. Metzlers are good but pricey. I am back to the OEM tires of Bridgestone.

Now....I will also state.....my bike....loves eating front tires. I never had a bike with an appetite for front tires before. I will burn a front tire and the back will be halfway gone. With this revelation, any defect in the front tire, the front end of my bike will let me know. Some people will swear by those cheap tires. I do not. This is my 2 cents and you can do with it what you will.

I will also put an edit in.....When I first got the bike, the bikes suspension adjustments were all cranked full hard. I backed everything off to factory settings with the exception of the rear spring damping....I clicked it one more toward hard for 2 up riding.

 

[crynool]

I was just wondering. My experiences with Shinko, especially the front tire are not so bad. I can't feel wobble or something similar. They don't last long, this is the only thing, but I mainly ride highways, less twists and turns.

 

[Pighuntingpuppy]

I was just wondering. My experiences with Shinko, especially the front tire are not so bad. I can't feel wobble or something similar. They don't last long, this is the only thing, but I mainly ride highways, less twists and turns.

My bike spends about 80% of the time on the interstates in my state. Thats also why I am over 50,000 miles on my bike. I am 40 miles from any which way to civilization and its all 70mph plus. Thats why I dont trust those Shinkos at all. It was the only time I ever hated the bike because of those tires. The bike was almost unrideable. For a few miles it was.

 

[88bradb]

What tires are recommended for Gen 2 (has 240 rear). Thanks.
fuzzy in Okla City

Not familiar with the Gen2 but with my gen 1 I have good luck out of the Metzlers 888. I can get around 7,000 on a rear and 15.000 out of the front.

 

[Coastal Grey]

I’ve been running stock battle axes on both Gen2s I’ve had and have I see no issues with them whatsoever no reason to change they stick like **** to a blanket I don’t do burnouts but I do make attempts to change planetary rotation
Just my 2 cents
Peter

 

[dannymax]

Hard to beat Metzler.

Had a panic stop situation with Avons...locked up the rear and slid for a long ways. The tire made a strange high pitched squeal. Went back to see how far I slid...and there were no marks on the road...none!
Tires came off the next day...too hard IMO.

 

[John Henderson]

I have had good traction with battleaxe from Bridgestone but they don’t last as long so I hear…
I am going to try the Metzler ME888 marathon tires. I hope they stick as good but last longer

 

[88bradb]

I have had good luck with the Metzlers. I usually get about 6-7000 miles on the rear and usually around 15,000 on the front.

 

[one2dmax]

How do you guys get so many miles on your tires lol? I'm not even at 1000 miles and quit trying to count the number of rears on it.

 

[TheFleshRocket]

Let me clarify that the problem is with the front tire, not the rear. I had 2 back to back front tires have very dangerous wobbles. The first one anything above 40, started with a vibration. Into 70mph territory, handlebars had a tank slap motion to them. After 500 miles, I contacted the company that sold me the tire and they sent me another one. The 2cd one was better, but not by much, I grunted that tire out for almost 1500 miles. The second time, the company told me that it must be installation error or improperly balanced. A Dunlop immediately after that cured every front end wobble and vibration that bike had.

Now....I will also state.....my bike....loves eating front tires. I never had a bike with an appetite for front tires before. I will burn a front tire and the back will be halfway gone. With this revelation, any defect in the front tire, the front end of my bike will let me know. Some people will swear by those cheap tires. I do not. This is my 2 cents and you can do with it what you will.

Your experiences with Shinkos run contrary to mine, and contrary to conventional wisdom with motorcycles in that front tires typically last about twice as long as rears. I've had my Shinko-shod Gen2 to Deals Gap and the surrounding areas, scraping pegs with no traction issues, and I've had it to 160+ with no handling weirdness.



I submit that you maybe got two bad front Shinkos (since you got them from the same vendor, maybe they were part of the same batch) or perhaps that there's something amiss with your bike.

That said, I too was an anti-Shinko person until I tried them on my Gen2. But, I'm always open to other tire options, if there are now stickier tires available in Gen2 sizes.

 

[John Henderson]

How do you guys get so many miles on your tires lol? I'm not even at 1000 miles and quit trying to count the number of rears on it.

Constantly spinning tires and burning out?
I will hit 7k on my battleax rear since I started riding my vmax before changing to a Metzler on 13July2024.
I have no idea how many miles previous owner put on them but they looked half way gone and installed a few years earlier based on tire dates

 

[Pighuntingpuppy]

Your experiences with Shinkos run contrary to mine, and contrary to conventional wisdom with motorcycles in that front tires typically last about twice as long as rears. I've had my Shinko-shod Gen2 to Deals Gap and the surrounding areas, scraping pegs with no traction issues, and I've had it to 160+ with no handling weirdness.



I submit that you maybe got two bad front Shinkos (since you got them from the same vendor, maybe they were part of the same batch) or perhaps that there's something amiss with your bike.

That said, I too was an anti-Shinko person until I tried them on my Gen2. But, I'm always open to other tire options, if there are now stickier tires available in Gen2 sizes.

Everyone's opinions are different due to the experiences they have had. My experiences with Shinkos are bad therefore I will never speak highly of them. Dunlops were a stickier tire for me on my bike based on my experience. Someone else's experience will differ from mine and will never speak highly of Dunlop. Metzlers appeared to last the longest for me. Someone else will say they didnt last long for them at all. The Bridgestones that originally were equipped on the bike are back on the bike. So far, they appear to be handling the job very well. So many here look down on Bridgestone. I have yet to try Avon tires. But if I look, there will be people with good experiences and people with bad experiences.

All I can tell you is that 2 front tires in 2000 miles with the bike being downright unrideable in the end was in fact due to the tires. Yes, could have been a bad batch. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. In the end, I did give Shinko a chance on my bike. Twice. Both experiences were awful. Its a tire that will never sit under the bike again.

A few points to ponder though....Not many folks have miles on their bike. Therefore those experiences with tires are limited. I dont think anyone has replaced more tires on a Gen 2 and ridden them to the end than me. 50K on the bike and about 6 sets of tires. Two, where are folks riding compared to me and what is the bike doing? Is it leisure cruised? Smoke show bike? Drag raced? Is it on the highway at high speeds for extended lengths of time? The way the bike is ridden factors into the tires performance. My bike...yes....ridden at a high rate of speed. 100 regularly with bouts exceeding that. But its mainly extended interstate riding. No stop and go. No real turns. Shinkos did not like that type of riding on my bike.

 

[Static4orce]

Everyone's opinions are different due to the experiences they have had. My experiences with Shinkos are bad therefore I will never speak highly of them. Dunlops were a stickier tire for me on my bike based on my experience. Someone else's experience will differ from mine and will never speak highly of Dunlop. Metzlers appeared to last the longest for me. Someone else will say they didnt last long for them at all. The Bridgestones that originally were equipped on the bike are back on the bike. So far, they appear to be handling the job very well. So many here look down on Bridgestone. I have yet to try Avon tires. But if I look, there will be people with good experiences and people with bad experiences.

All I can tell you is that 2 front tires in 2000 miles with the bike being downright unrideable in the end was in fact due to the tires. Yes, could have been a bad batch. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. In the end, I did give Shinko a chance on my bike. Twice. Both experiences were awful. Its a tire that will never sit under the bike again.

A few points to ponder though....Not many folks have miles on their bike. Therefore those experiences with tires are limited. I dont think anyone has replaced more tires on a Gen 2 and ridden them to the end than me. 50K on the bike and about 6 sets of tires. Two, where are folks riding compared to me and what is the bike doing? Is it leisure cruised? Smoke show bike? Drag raced? Is it on the highway at high speeds for extended lengths of time? The way the bike is ridden factors into the tires performance. My bike...yes....ridden at a high rate of speed. 100 regularly with bouts exceeding that. But its mainly extended interstate riding. No stop and go. No real turns. Shinkos did not like that type of riding on my bike.

Your riding style sounds the same as mine. After the OE battleax wore out I tried a Metzler and it is lasting but the loss in traction is driving me nuts. Does no one else get wheel spin through the first 3 gears with the Metzler? I'm considering trying shinkos just for the hell of it then a battleax again.

 

[Skycopper]

Hola! New member as of yesterday. I am the original owner of an early 09 I pre-ordered and have had 3 different brands of tires on the rear so far. 2 sets of original Battleaxes were OK but never great. First rear lasted just 3500 miles. Next I installed Michelin Pilot Road3 up front with the Dunlop Elite3 out back. This setup felt better as far turn in but as the Dunlop aged it got really hard and was easy to lite-up in third gear. Lasted many more miles though. Elite3 is no longer available in stock size so I now have the new AVON Cobra Chrome 200/55R18. Just a couple hundred miles so far but it feels really good. Ride is a little softer, maybe due to taller sidewall. Dips into corners willingly, and so far hooks up nice once warmed. I'm thinking the Pilot Road3/AVON Cobra Chrome is my new goto combo. Yeah, someones going to tell me not to mix brands of tires front/rear, but I like the Michelin tread for the So Florida wet roads I almost always seem to find.

 

[Coastal Grey]

stick with the battle axes if you can get them

 

[russ731]

The Bridgestone Battle axe BT028 which is the tire that comes on the bike from the factory is no longer made.
Pighuntingpuppy is right, front tire on a Gen2 takes lots of weight and punishment and should NEVER be skimped on.
I once rode the dragon with front tire pressure a bit low and it only took about 40 miles to ruin the tire.
Look for cracks in the troughs of the treads or a "V" shape to the tire.
Either one of these is a statistic waiting to happen.
Engaging the antilock brakes (on front) will also beat up a tire in a hurry.
IMHO touring tires don't really belong on a Gen2 Vmax, they are too slippery.