Tyre choices

I guess there is no such thing as a best tyre overall and everyone gets different km's from a given tire but I had a Triumph Sprint sports and I did 42000 km's on that including 2 trips east and don't remember ever getting more than about 8000 max on a rear tyre,mainly Bridgestones of the era I think.Looking at Jake Wilsons site there is a baffling variety available.What to chose for everyday riding????Anybody have any thoughts on those Denali driving lights available from Twisted Throttle USA.

General consensus is that the Michelin Pilot Road 2 (PR2) is the all around choice (about 50 - 60% of guys polled at one of the US bandit sites were using them). Guys in the states report up to 15000 miles (exceptional) and many see 10000 miles. Mine are about 6000 kms old and have about 4.5 mm of tread (rear), (not sure what I started with, probably about 6mm), so I reckon on at least 12000 kms which I think is brilliant!

Now the PR2 has just been replaced by the PR3 which according to Michelin's benchmarking lasts a little longer and grips a whole lot better in the wet. If they are not listed on Jake Wilson's, drop them a query.... some of the yanks (apologies to our American buddies) say they are a bit slow to load new models onto their site.

The thing with the Michelin's is their balance of dry grip, wet grip, feel and wear, while the subject of tyres will start an argument almost as quick as oil (please for the love of God don't go there), and while I have heard others express preferences for other makes/models...no-one has ever rubbished the PR2's.

Personally, I run a Pilot Power front, (now replaced by the Pilot Pure) and a PR2 rear, this is a great compromise between grip and wear; at a recent wet track day I had no trouble with damp track and only spun the rear up on standing water.

Cheers Peter

I recon you need to start posting in other parts of the forum bandit46. will save cloggin up the intro section and a few more of the members might look there and add thier comments.

@Dekenai: I'll rubbish the PR2's. Nearly ended myself, my wife and the Bandit early on in the ownershipof the bike. The cold/wet grip is pretty sketchy to say the least. If you want a tyre that lasts quite a distance go for a set. I'll keep with the Bridgestone's which don't last as long but provide very good grip wet or dry.

Mmm..... can't say I have experienced it, maybe 'cos I use the Pilot Power front. Which end let go, or was it both?

Here we go again.............

I am finding the Bridgestone BT023 a good all rounder. Good value for $$$, they work out about $90 a set cheaper than PR3 at present.

JW has PR3 in stock.

I could never get the hang of Michelins. Hate the bastards...they are too French for my liking. It always felt like the front end was gonna fold on me. I have no idea why....once bitten twice shy. Have been a Bridgestone and Dunlop man for the last 15 years. Using Bridgestone BT021s; nice and predictable.

Dekenai wrote:General consensus is that the Michelin Pilot Road 2 (PR2) is the all around choice (about 50 - 60% of guys polled at one of the US bandit sites were using them). Guys in the states report up to 15000 miles (exceptional) and many see 10000 miles. Mine are about 6000 kms old and have about 4.5 mm of tread (rear), (not sure what I started with, probably about 6mm), so I reckon on at least 12000 kms which I think is brilliant!

Now the PR2 has just been replaced by the PR3 which according to Michelin's benchmarking lasts a little longer and grips a whole lot better in the wet. If they are not listed on Jake Wilson's, drop them a query.... some of the yanks (apologies to our American buddies) say they are a bit slow to load new models onto their site.

The thing with the Michelin's is their balance of dry grip, wet grip, feel and wear, while the subject of tyres will start an argument almost as quick as oil (please for the love of God don't go there), and while I have heard others express preferences for other makes/models...no-one has ever rubbished the PR2's.

Personally, I run a Pilot Power front, (now replaced by the Pilot Pure) and a PR2 rear, this is a great compromise between grip and wear; at a recent wet track day I had no trouble with damp track and only spun the rear up on standing water.

Cheers Peter

I have just ordered a set of PR3's from jake wilson. I just wish that I had added Dynabeads too. I cannot seem to find a supplier here in Australia. Tyres should be arriving next week and just have to have them fitted. I have read nothing but great reviews on these tyres from just about every forum site on bikes not just bandit forums. Once they are fitted and tested i'll post something up on the product review pages.

reddog wrote:@Dekenai: I'll rubbish the PR2's. Nearly ended myself, my wife and the Bandit early on in the ownershipof the bike. The cold/wet grip is pretty sketchy to say the least. If you want a tyre that lasts quite a distance go for a set. I'll keep with the Bridgestone's which don't last as long but provide very good grip wet or dry.

Sorry mate only just saw this. It was the rear end. Just think... slide, then grip rear end fully compress and carries on through the turn. Not good I can assure you.

Had my new Michelin Pilot Road 3 tyres fitted toady with Dynabeads. Dural bike and power fitted them for $80 which seems a little steep however they fitted them no questions asked and also fitted the Dynabeads as well, which is probably why it was a little pricey.

It is early days yet however the tyres feel good and the front end seems very well planted on the corners. I still have to wear off the mould release and cut the tyres in full to really try them out.

The Dynabeads seem to be doing their job too. The bike felt very stable even at Speeds of 140km's ( i had to do a thorough road test). So far so good, the only thing that i could possible comment on is that there is a slight wobble during acceleration which I think is due to the beads distributing themselves around the tyre. I will obviously have to carry out more road testing to give a more detailed report.

When you say a slight wobble during acceleration do you mean from a standing start or accelerating from a constant speed when on the move, or both ?

It is from a standing start. Once you are moving and the beads are spinning all is well

From a standing start makes sense - I was thinking of giving them a try but I'm still not completely sure. Seems a lot of people swear by them.

Well the beads continue to impress. Took the bike for another ride from Katoomba to Wentworth falls for breakfast and then back again past Katoomba down towards Lithgow stopping at the Full throttle Diner for another Cuppa.

Before I set of however I noticed that there was still a balance weight on the rear wheel which the garage had obviously forgotten to remove when fitting the new tyres (new PR3's from JW). Once this was removed I set off and immediately noticed a difference. The slight wobble that I have previously mentioned has gone so I can only assume that this was being caused by the old balance weight which was in the wrong place for the new tyre and now redundant due to the Dynabeads.

For those of you thinking of using these I can at this point recommend them. The GSX is smooth to ride and I have not noticed any side effects to having them. It will be interesting to see how this goes as the tyres wear and the balance shifts. Will the ride still be as smooth? Will there be any issues once the tyres are no longer a perfect shape? Time will tell.

If anyone in the sydney Area is interested then please by all means contact me and come over and try them out. There always has to be a first person to try new technology.

Mpottsy wrote:there was still a balance weight on the rear wheel which the garage had obviously forgotten to remove when fitting the new tyres (new PR3's from JW). Once this was removed I set off and immediately noticed a difference. The slight wobble that I have previously mentioned has gone so I can only assume that this was being caused by the old balance weight which was in the wrong place for the new tyre and now redundant due to the Dynabeads.

call me a cynic, but since the whole point of the dynabeads is to "automatically balance the wheel" then really it shouldn't matter if there was an old weight on there at all - it should have still compensated for the discrepancy?????

boomer wrote:

Mpottsy wrote:there was still a balance weight on the rear wheel which the garage had obviously forgotten to remove when fitting the new tyres (new PR3's from JW). Once this was removed I set off and immediately noticed a difference. The slight wobble that I have previously mentioned has gone so I can only assume that this was being caused by the old balance weight which was in the wrong place for the new tyre and now redundant due to the Dynabeads.

call me a cynic, but since the whole point of the dynabeads is to "automatically balance the wheel" then really it shouldn't matter if there was an old weight on there at all - it should have still compensated for the discrepancy?????

Not a cynic at all boomer, once the wheel was spinning and the beads where moving around it did compensate fantastically, there was not wobble at all once moving. I think the wobble was caused on the initial take off from a standing start where the excess weight was improperly placed. Once I was moving the beads did their job and compensated. As you say even with an incorrectly and in this case an overly exaggerated imbalanced tyre the beads did their job. Now that I have remove said weight the standing start take off has no noticeable wobble.

One very Happy customer