Tires for aftermarket wheels

[Traumahawk]

I'm running Carrozzeria wheels on my 07 Vmax, so running a 120 tire up front, and a 180 tire on the rear.

What tires or tires combos are everyone running?

I'm running a Shinko Verge up front and a Shinko Stealth on the rear.

Thanks

 

[sdt354]

Metzler Z8- 120 up front, Z6 -180 for the back. Spec'd for an FJR. I've been through several sets of these Interact tires and can't find a reason to change. Super sticky and confident on wet roads, they give a comfortable ride too. I was pissed when I asked the MC Super Store for country of origin and they said Germany. When I got them they were from China. But, I used them and got much better thread life from the Chinese built tires than the German ones.

 

[[email protected]]

Metzeler Sportec M5. 120, 180x17.

Found them on sale at MC Superstore. No complaints on the grip. Mileage on the rear was marginal. Around 3500. I'm on my 2nd one. Still on 1st front. Will probably try something different next time.

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[one2dmax]

I think you should be able to run the 200/50-18 as well (we've tried it with stock arms which clear in most cases).

 

[Redbone]

I've run Shinko Verge's since 2012 (2 sets) and 1 set of Metztlers 880's which I thought would wear much better than Shinko's but a 5500 mile trip (albeit with a much heavier load that normal). The front acted sketchy at times but I'm going to try to get another season out of them; we'll see. Not many choices with the 18" tires but I do like the Verge's so that is what I'll go back to once the Metz's are done.
Front: 120/70ZR18
Rear: 200/50VR18

 

[Traumahawk]

I've run Shinko Verge's since 2012 (2 sets) and 1 set of Metztlers 880's which I thought would wear much better than Shinko's but a 5500 mile trip (albeit with a much heavier load that normal). The front acted sketchy at times but I'm going to try to get another season out of them; we'll see. Not many choices with the 18" tires but I do like the Verge's so that is what I'll go back to once the Metz's are done.
Front: 120/70ZR18
Rear: 200/50VR18

How did they handle? I know that the verge are on the gen 2.........but do they handle well on the gen 1.........is the tire pinched?

 

[Redbone]

How did they handle? I know that the verge are on the gen 2.........but do they handle well on the gen 1.........is the tire pinched?

The Metz's handled well wet or dry but at the end of the 5500 miles I had a 2" wide flat area down the middle of the tire and the front was cupping weirdly. I suppose I was running close to 900 lbs in full touring trim, I had my Progressive 440 with the HD springs (170 lb spring rate) and it rode fairly good but the springs we set at it's hardest setting. I stated out the trip with the spring set at a mid setting and it would bottom out on even medium bumps. Once I made it to Miles' place his wisdom rubbed off on me and I realized I hadn't cranked up spring rate enough. I was in too much of a rush to get on the road that it didn't even dawn on me that I should check that! I was overloaded for sure which is why the tire wore so quickly. I will run these until they are worn out but do it without all the weight and I'm sure they will work well for most of the summer. I may spoon on the Verge's I took off since the should have about 3 k left on them.
Edit: The Verge's are a great tire and with the Carro's front wheel being a little wider the 120 fits great. They have all the traction that I would ever need, I figured that part out @ Thunder in 2014 trying to keep up with Marcus and some Gen2's. I came into corners way too fast for my liking so I just leaned her over some more and it stuck to where I wanted to go, even with my heart in my throat a couple times. Redbone can easily handle everything I can give her thankfully!

 

[Barry barker]

Lets see here, I replace a lot of tires.
Vmax started with the Shinko's Verge 120/18 fnt and the Stealth 180/18 rear. No complaints. Actually got caught in the worst thunderstorm ever on the Vmax with the worn out Stealth on the rear and had traction. Go Figure. Got 2000 miles out of the rear stealth and 4000 miles out of the Verge front.
Avon Cobras are my go to tire, have a 130/18 up front and the 180/18 rear. The big front tire slowed the steering a little, maybe, but really nothing compared to a stock bike.(Stock bike is like steering a truck with manual steering) I had a good left over tire from my Victory Cross Rds (130/18) that would not make my planned 3500 mile Colorado trip, so instead of throwing it away. I spooned it onto the Vmax for grins. I got 2000 or so miles out of it. (Perfect tire management) I guess I like the 130 up front, I bought a new one for the bike. Warning it's H rated max 130!! These tires stick like glue wet or dry. I should get close to 8000 miles out of the front tire. The rear, I am lucky to get 3000 miles. Going to try a Bridgestone G 850 for grins this next time. The Bridgestone is $50 cheaper than the Cobra.
On the Victory i have had Avon Cobras(my favorite), Metzler 880(won't buy again), 888(pretty good tire), and Dunlop Elite 3's. Currently I run the Avon front with the Dunlop rear. Good wet and dry handling and the best mileage of all the tires. Should get about 8000 miles front and about 5000 miles rear.

 

[Traumahawk]

Lets see here, I replace a lot of tires.
Vmax started with the Shinko's Verge 120/18 fnt and the Stealth 180/18 rear. No complaints. Actually got caught in the worst thunderstorm ever on the Vmax with the worn out Stealth on the rear and had traction. Go Figure. Got 2000 miles out of the rear stealth and 4000 miles out of the Verge front.
Avon Cobras are my go to tire, have a 130/18 up front and the 180/18 rear. The big front tire slowed the steering a little, maybe, but really nothing compared to a stock bike.(Stock bike is like steering a truck with manual steering) I had a good left over tire from my Victory Cross Rds (130/18) that would not make my planned 3500 mile Colorado trip, so instead of throwing it away. I spooned it onto the Vmax for grins. I got 2000 or so miles out of it. (Perfect tire management) I guess I like the 130 up front, I bought a new one for the bike. Warning it's H rated max 130!! These tires stick like glue wet or dry. I should get close to 8000 miles out of the front tire. The rear, I am lucky to get 3000 miles. Going to try a Bridgestone G 850 for grins this next time. The Bridgestone is $50 cheaper that the Cobra.
On the Victory i have had Avon Cobras(my favorite), Metzler 880(won't buy again), 888(pretty good tire), and Dunlop Elite 3's. Currently I run the Avon front with the Dunlop rear. Good wet and dry handling and the best mileage of all the tires. Should get about 8000 miles front and about 5000 miles rear.

Thanks Barry......that is some good info.

 

[adambweird]

Im running Bridgestone Exedras, 180/55-ZR18 and 120/70-ZR18. So far ive been pretty happy with em. Cant comment on wet performance as i dont do any wet riding (not exactly true, but thats a different subject alltogether, lol). The dry grip has felt much better than the Metzlers i had on the stock rims, but thats not really a fair comparison either. I will say this much though, my chicken strips are smaller than what my buddies R1 has, lol. And hes not afraid to lean way over either.

 

[V4Fan]

Im running Bridgestone Exedras, 180/55-ZR18 and 120/70-ZR18. So far ive been pretty happy with em. Cant comment on wet performance as i dont do any wet riding (not exactly true, but thats a different subject alltogether, lol). The dry grip has felt much better than the Metzlers i had on the stock rims, but thats not really a fair comparison either. I will say this much though, my chicken strips are smaller than what my buddies R1 has, lol. And hes not afraid to lean way over either.

I run the same. Ride with sport bikes all the time. Only ones I can's hang with are the liter bikes. Not because of the tires. Not enough power, not enough balls.

 

[davesax36]

Pilot road 3/4 here. Silly grip in all conditions. They're way better than I am bold, so I feel safe. I have a 17" rear running 190/50 and a 110/80 on the stock front.

 

[Rollie]

Michelin. The Pilot Power has mono-compound with lean angles at 50.6 Dry and 41.9 Wet. Well made and dependable. The curves are acceptable and used on the '90 but mainly because of it's forward controls.

Michelin Pilot Power 2CT on the '98 Dark Vader CF Max. Excellent in all aspects a tire needs to have. Dual compound with intermediate compound in the middle for durability and soft on the sides for the curves. Same lean angles as the Pilot Powers.

A good mechanic and racer was a tire tester for Maxxis , now Dunlop . As a tester he has a Suzuki GSXR with about $ 70k invested in the bike. He also tests other competitors tires when testing for his current employer. He had some race Shinkos put on and only did about 5 laps and had them taken off. He said they were inconsistet and squirrelly , and had no trust in them. Mind you , he races / tests at 9/10s , and way ahead of most of us , but lesson learned for me. No Shinkos for me as long as I can afford Michelins.

 

[Barry barker]

I run the same. Ride with sport bikes all the time. Only ones I can's hang with are the liter bikes. Not because of the tires. Not enough power, not enough balls.

Glad to hear this about the Bridgestones, it will be a few weeks before I can test out the rear tire. The new tire will go on after the new tranny goes in.