New member

G'day all, I'm Chris, I live in the Riverina, I got myself a 2010 GSF1250SA a couple of months ago. My previous bikes are a Harley Nightster, Yamaha FZ1, Suzuki Boulevard M109R, Honda VT750c and now the Bandit. I think the Bandit will be the best bike I have owned if I can sort out the wind noise I get in my helmet! I ditched the original screen for an MRA Vario screen which does work well but i am still having trouble with noise, I wear custom moulded earplugs, and have a windjammer on my helmet. So I have now ordered a Zero Gravity Sports Touring screen and the MRA X-creen which I will bolt to it and hopefully that will fix my problems. I am also up for some new tyres and went to the local bike shop yesterday, they only stock Michellin PR4s and Pirelli Angels, i was going to go with the Michellins as that's what is currently on the bike but the Pirellis are about $60 cheaper and the guy reckons you get more km's out of the Pirelli so I might try them, unless anyone has some better advice? Living where I do I need to ride a good 400km's before I hit any corners so 90% of my riding is on flat straight roads. 
I do a bit of riding around the vic high country and usually do the snowy ride so i might run into some of you guys on the road.

Cheers

Welcome to the forum mate, a lot of knowledgeable and friendly people here, some one is sure to know about the tyres.
For what its worth I had the PR4's on my previous bike (SV650) and didn't like them, the front had no feel after 3,000ks the back on the other hand was fine, got 12,000ks out of them.

Welcome to the forum Chris . Ewok had the ordinary Angels I believe & had a problem with the rear destroying itself . Apparently the GT version is ok to use though ........A lot on here have used the PR4s , but now prefer the Dunlops , I personally like the Bridgestones for both price and suitability . There are unfortunately lots of opinions on tyres ( bit like oils really ) , but if your dealer only supplies the two types & you have no other choice,I would make sure the Angel is the GT version if you go that way .

Hi Chris, I bought same model, second owner, with a Michelin PR3 on the front and a PR3 on the back.  Both worked pretty good however, the previous owner had a set of PR4's and he did not like them, obviously since he fitted the PR3's afterward.  I have since had the front forks upgraded with heavier springs (apparently the standard springs are only ok for about a 70 to 75 kg rider) new steering head bearings and some work on the shim stacks, handles much better!  Had a PR2 fitted to the front at the same time, it seems to be great, does everything I want it to.  A mate who has had his 2010 Bandit for a few years and many tyres has just fitted a set of PR5's and says they are the best so far.  Good luck.

Welcome Opa. I've also got a 2010 1250S which I've had since new and have now put about 93,000kms on it. I've run PR2s, PR3s, PR4s and Angels (one set of GTs). You certainly don't want to run non GT Angels as they are not designed for the Bandit's weight.  I got about the same kms out of the Angel GTs as the PR4s. But I preferred the Michelins because I felt the Angels were too slow to warm up. 

I'm currently running a PR2 on the back and a Dunlop Road Smart 3 on the front. I love this combo. I found the Bandit turned in more slowly with Michelins on the front, be it PR2, PR3 or PR4. The RS3 solves that problem.  I order the PR2s from Motorcycle Tyre Warehouse as they are cheaper and last up to 50% longer than the PR3 or PR4 (16,000+ kms, whereas I was only getting 12,000 - 14,000 out of the PR3/4s). Michelin has now released the PR5 which costs even more.  

I'll stick with the PR2/RS3 combo for as long as I can buy PR2s.

Welcome Chris

I liked the PR3s but hated the 4s after about 5000km
I love the Dunlops but 2 punctures in 9 months (1st 2 in over 25 years) has me wondering if they are a bit soft

Thanks for the welcomes and responses, i never realised how many different tyres there were available! I should have said that the Pirelli Angels I looked at were the GT's, i didn't realise there was a non GT version, all the ones they had in stock were GT's. I have found that my bike is a little bit hard to turn into a corner and wants to stand back up but put I that down to the old tyres that have been flattened across the centre. I did a bit of reading on the Dunlop RS3's and I might give those a go, hopefully the punctures that Chook has encountered was just a coincidence. EWOK thats an impressive amount of KM's you have racked up, you must really like your Bandit! I plan on keeping mine for a few years, with the sort of riding I do my next bike will definitely have cruise control.

I've punctured 1 Roadsmart in 35,000km Its now plugged and as good as gold.
I've punctured every rear  PR2/3/4 ive ever had over the last 20yrs.

2wheelsagain wrote:I've punctured 1 Roadsmart in 35,000km Its now plugged and as good as gold.
I've punctured every rear  PR2/3/4 ive ever had over the last 20yrs.

That makes me feel a bit better

Touch wood, no punctures. I'm still running Bridgestone battlax 023s front and rear. I'm thinking I'll try Dunlop's or bridgestone t30s next.

Hi Chris, my rig is totally different to most others on here as I've got a training wheel stuck on the left side (sidecar Bandit) so I usually don't chime in on tyre issues as my wear and cornering doesn't use the side of the tyre at all.  However if a lot of your riding is straight flat roads, I've found that the Bridgestone Battlax series to be the hardest center compound of any tyre I've tried, I'm getting 3 to 4 times the distance out of them.

I've managed to fit a 130/70-17 BT45R mounted on the front rim after a bit of re-jigging of the front guard, you probably wont want to go this large.

Just another option to through in the mix.

BTW the rear tyre is a car 205/45ZR17, fits perfectly on the Bandit rear rim.  On my third in 10 years, and the first two had a fair bit of life in them when swapped out.  Sort of makes up for having to pay for the third wheel