Tires need teeth in August in NE Ohio!!!!!

[gsJack]

The latest and greatest in radial tires are great on both wet and dry blacktop surfaces where they are generally tested, but not on hot tire snakes where they are not generally tested.  The new tread compounds are much improved over those of even a decade ago, but many of these tires are nearly bald when new compared to those of yesteryear.  Great for high speed track performance but, I ride on the public roads.

My much liked 150/70 RoadAttack rear was the stickiest tire I've ever used on the GSs since I don't use supersports, only sport touring tires for me with more than a bit of tire life.  At 8k miles it had never slipped from it's intended line even once as I've previously stated.  I just removed it with a total of 10k miles and replaced it with a 140/70 Roadrider. It had about 2 mm of tread left at the center and starting about 3-4 weeks ago it was slipping off of hot tar snakes constantly.  NE Ohio is the land of tar snakes, some roads are terrible with them.

I first noticed this back in the summer of 02, about 80k miles ago, when I bought my first radial tire.  My BT45 rear was half worn at 2k miles and I replaced it with a Z2 radial that went almost 14k miles.  The Z2 had better wet and dry traction and I soon found it wasn't necessary to slow down in the rain any longer.  A far better tire all around except it slipped more on tar snakes than the BT45 did.  Could this be attributed to tread pattern maybe?

http://www.tiresunlimited.com/images/bridgestone/BT45-R.jpg
http://www.tiresunlimited.com/images/metzeler_motorcycle/mez2.jpg

And the RoadAttack tread pattern compared to the new Roadrider:

http://www.tiresunlimited.com/images/conti_motorcycle/Conti%20road%20attack.jpg

http://www.tiresunlimited.com/images/avon_tires/AM26R%20ROADRIDER.jpg

Only have a couple hundred miles on the Roadrider so far and I'm liking it.  Maybe because it cost only $80 at my local dealer compared to $120 for another RoadAttack.  Plus mtg and bal of course.  Time will tell, I'll keep you posted if anyone even cares.   

In the future I think I'll be looking at tires with more teeth whether they are bias or radial construction.  There have been a few complaints on other forums about the cords coming thru on worn out tires like the Z6 without warning.  Can't tell sometimes when they come bald in the center when new .

http://www.tiresunlimited.com/images/metzeler_motorcycle/Roadtec_Z6.jpg

[lilbill]

NE Ohio is the land of tar snakes, some roads are terrible with them.

+1
I'm near Youngstown and can wholly agree on the road condition.
Let me say thank you for all of the tire advice in the past, it's been great!

Have you ridden on the Roadrider on a wet road yet?...I'll be needing tires and would have a similar need for traction and just wanted to see how it did in wet weather.

Thanks