New tyre decision

Hi,

Time to change the tyres on my Bandit 1250S after 12,000 Kms so looking for some advice as to the best choice. Happy with the items that came with the machine new which are Dunlop Sportmaxs. Front D218FT 120/70 ZR17 and Rear D218N 180/55 ZR17 as they've lasted a long time and handle reasonably well.

Currently looking at Michelin Pilot Road 3s and trying to decide btween a standard 180 or a wider 190 for the back, been told that the wider could affect handling.

Any advice will be appreciated, thanks.

Mate welcome.
If you got 12,000 out of the 218's you'll get 100,000 out of PR3's Most of us wore the 218's out in 4,000 - 5,000.
I liked them too but needed longer lasting tyres. I am on my second set of PR2's now. Others run Bridgstones and a few others as well.
Search this and any other forums and you'll get an idea of what will work for you.

2wheelsagain wrote:Mate welcome.
If you got 12,000 out of the 218's you'll get 100,000 out of PR3's Most of us wore the 218's out in 4,000 - 5,000.
I liked them too but needed longer lasting tyres. I am on my second set of PR2's now. Others run Bridgstones and a few others as well.
Search this and any other forums and you'll get an idea of what will work for you.

Hey thanks for your response, think I've made up my mind on a set of Michelins but the question remains, 180 or 190 for the rear?

Suu Kyi wrote:

2wheelsagain wrote:Mate welcome.
If you got 12,000 out of the 218's you'll get 100,000 out of PR3's Most of us wore the 218's out in 4,000 - 5,000.
I liked them too but needed longer lasting tyres. I am on my second set of PR2's now. Others run Bridgstones and a few others as well.
Search this and any other forums and you'll get an idea of what will work for you.

Hey thanks for your response, think I've made up my mind on a set of Michelins but the question remains, 180 or 190 for the rear?

180 unless you have feelings of "inadequacy"!

EDIT: The wider the tyre the bigger distance edge to edge so (assuming the same profile) so it takes more effort and longer to get from max lean on one side to the other or even mid lean angle. Having said that if you got 12,000 out of the originals you might know a secret that no one else knows.
You bay be thinking its only 10mm but its a lot more than that across the tread.
Having an unnecessarily large tyre on a bike is for looks only and is the same as a school yard pissing contest IMHO

190's should be used with a 6 inch rim, bandiit run a 5.5 which is suited to a 180.

190 will run pretty close to the chain too.

Yeah 190s are just for show. No need for them and they will make the bike more awkward to steer and chain clearance might be an issue as reddog metioned. I'm using Bridgestone BT021s and they are a great tyre. The grip is fantastic and so far I've done about 6000km on them and they have heaps of tread left.

Cheers mate

Thanks to all for responding, now it leaves no doubt, Michelin Pilot Road 3s - 120/70 front & 180/55 rear.

Cheers..............

That would be my choice, let us know what you think after you scrub them in.

I just changed my rear tyre to a Michelin Pilot 2 after getting only 4100ks out of the original Sportmax. And that was after being gentle! The pilot 2 was just put on a week ago and I went out in the wet on a 240 kilometre run. I had just left Albury heading for Corowa when I rode over a shiny patch on the road at 100kph and without warning the back end was fishtailing at 45 degrees and put my heart in my mouth. I s'pose I hadn't worn the skin off the tyre yet. (I hope). Luckily I stayed upright and continued on for about 50 metres and then pulled over to put my heart back in my chest.

Kaupy1962 wrote:I just changed my rear tyre to a Michelin Pilot 2 after getting only 4100ks out of the original Sportmax. And that was after being gentle! The pilot 2 was just put on a week ago and I went out in the wet on a 240 kilometre run. I had just left Albury heading for Corowa when I rode over a shiny patch on the road at 100kph and without warning the back end was fishtailing at 45 degrees and put my heart in my mouth. I s'pose I hadn't worn the skin off the tyre yet. (I hope). Luckily I stayed upright and continued on for about 50 metres and then pulled over to put my heart back in my chest.

Yes PR2's do not like painted lines at an angle until they warm up. I liked the 218's because they gripped almost straight away. 1km from my work O have to turn left and the council put the arrow in exactly the wrong spot. Works out about mid lean if I'm riding normal which I cant do at this corner. The PR2 needs about 5km on it to work. The tyre mold would be worn off. Its a PR2 "feature". You ride for excitment dont you? Sometimes we ride for excrement too

I've recently put a pirelli angel st on my baby bandit and its been a big change, I had a bridgestone battlax on it and got a puncture and the angel was the only sport touring tire available, it was a major improvement on the bike and is a lot more refined when cornering, when the rear wears a bit more il put one on it too

Yeah but the trouble was, I was going in a straight line when hit a wet shiny patch on the road. Looked like an old roadwork patch. When I went back to have a look there was a nice big dollop of oil right in the middle. I might have a bit too much air in as well. the manual says 36 front 42 rear is that about right?

Kaupy1962 wrote:Yeah but the trouble was, I was going in a straight line when hit a wet shiny patch on the road. Looked like an old roadwork patch. When I went back to have a look there was a nice big dollop of oil right in the middle. I might have a bit too much air in as well. the manual says 36 front 42 rear is that about right?

I run 40 in the rear and 36 front.
42 would be ok if fully loaded.
Check the pressures before leaving home.

Update:

Got the Michelin Pilot Road 3s fitted just over a week ago. Picked the bike up and did a loop to Mundijong via the freeway, nothing too brave, just to scrub them in a bit. Had the original 120/70 & 180/55s fitted.

Initial observations; very sticky with a smooth ride in the dry, instills more confidence. Don't know about wet performance as I stay away from that stuff, but judging from what I've experiencesd so far I would not hesitate to sue it if I had to.

Pressures put in by the dealer were a bit low 32 & 36, bumped it up to the recommended 36 & 42, seems to handle better.

Just make sure they're cold pressures

2wheelsagain wrote:Just make sure they're cold pressures

Yep, they're checked and pumped up in my garage after sitting overnight and the pressure is tested with two gauges, one on the pump and an independant Stetho Gauge (just to be sure)..................

Suu Kyi wrote:

2wheelsagain wrote:Just make sure they're cold pressures

Yep, they're checked and pumped up in my garage after sitting overnight and the pressure is tested with two gauges, one on the pump and an independant Stetho Gauge (just to be sure)..................

Cool mate. Maybe the 2 gauges is overkill I know my compessor gauge reads 3psi more than my faithful pencil gauge so I compensate and inflate using the comp one.
If it works for you, great.

Well the OEM Bridgestones must be different to what you buy off the shelf. I have worn through many sets of Bridgestone 021's and now onto 023's. Very happy with cornering ability and able to handle high speeds no probseither.

Hoping to get a set of PR 3's fitted on my Bandit 1250s tomorrow... had the plain old 'Pilot Roads' on since the original Dunlops wore out at about 5000k. The bike's now done a little over 25000km so the PR's have lasted somewhere in the vicinity of 20000km... didn't think I treated them that gently but most of my riding is out the back of the Blue Mountains and away from the 'stop-=start' traffic of the city, so perhaps that has something to do with it. If the PR3's live up to their reputation of being better on wear and general performance than the previous 'Pilot Roads' then I'll be very happy!

When they're on and I've had a chance to test them a little I'll let you all know what I think...

Bhoffo wrote:Hoping to get a set of PR 3's fitted on my Bandit 1250s tomorrow... had the plain old 'Pilot Roads' on since the original Dunlops wore out at about 5000k. The bike's now done a little over 25000km so the PR's have lasted somewhere in the vicinity of 20000km... didn't think I treated them that gently but most of my riding is out the back of the Blue Mountains and away from the 'stop-=start' traffic of the city, so perhaps that has something to do with it. If the PR3's live up to their reputation of being better on wear and general performance than the previous 'Pilot Roads' then I'll be very happy!

When they're on and I've had a chance to test them a little I'll let you all know what I think...

Not disputing what you're saying but can we have a pic of these 20,000km old tyres please? I want to look forward to that sort of tyre life

[/quote]
Not disputing what you're saying but can we have a pic of these 20,000km old tyres please? I want to look forward to that sort of tyre life [/quote]

I'll try to upload these photos.. took them in the garage this morning - mainly artificial light so the tint of the silver colour of the bike isn't quite correct... (it seems you have to click on the caption to see them if I did it right!)On the front tyre you can see in the centre the tread wearing 'flat', both the tyres are pretty well down to the wear markers. Checked my dockets - they were fitted at 6000km and the odometer now reads 25650km - so close enough to a 20000km ride on them!

Rear tyre after 20000k's

Rear tyre

front tyre

2008 Bandit 1250s

Bhoffo wrote:

Not disputing what you're saying but can we have a pic of these 20,000km old tyres please? I want to look forward to that sort of tyre life

I'll try to upload these photos.. took them in the garage this morning - mainly artificial light so the tint of the silver colour of the bike isn't quite correct... (it seems you have to click on the caption to see them if I did it right!)On the front tyre you can see in the centre the tread wearing 'flat', both the tyres are pretty well down to the wear markers. Checked my dockets - they were fitted at 6000km and the odometer now reads 25650km - so close enough to a 20000km ride on them!

Rear tyre after 20000k's

Rear tyre

front tyre

2008 Bandit 1250s

Thats a lot of K's. you must be very smooth with the right hand.

I didn't think I was 'that' smooth... often have two up - I'm unfortunately not a light weight any longer.. so the bike's carrying riders in excess of 170ks + some baggage.. Dunlops certainly didn't last and that was when I first had the bike.. was probably alot more tentative on it back then.

Incredable! Thanks.