Tyres: Lasertec vs Pilot Activ

[sblack]

It's coming up to tyre time for the gs and i've been doing my research and am leaning towards either the Metzler Lasertec or Michelin Pilot Activ. The bike gets used by my wife for commuting on a mix of highway and city streets and by me for a bit of commuting and runs through the twisties when I can. So my thoughts where a sport touring that will give good wear for my wife's highway riding but still reasonable grip for my twisties riding. I'd also like to stick with stock tyre sizing. Searching the forum has shown some good reports for the Pilot Activ and a search for Lasertec show's that it's gsjack's fav front tyre and as a pair no. 3 on his tyre list. Finding actual comparisons between the two is not so easy. Does anyone know how the two compare from mileage and grip(in all weather conditions). Ideally, is there anyone out there that's used or at least ridden on both tyres that can share their views?

[galahs]

I have the Activs and like them, but have never ridden on the Lasertec so can't really offer a comparison.

[sblack]

Thanks galahs, that seams to be the case with anyone whose tried either, no luck finding anyone whose tried both.. maybe that's because once people have found what they're happy with they stick to it? Spoke to a dealer today that sells both and they couldn't help either, said they're both good tyres and I'd be happy with either. Guess I'll let the dollars decide.

[bubba zanetti]

I have the Activs and like them, but have never ridden on the Lasertec so can't really offer a comparison.

Mate, what did you pay for the activs and what sort of K's do you get out of them?

[galahs]

So far I have only done 5,000km's on them. Mostly straight roads. They are handling it pretty well.

They even handled riding through sleet and snow comfortably.

I can't remember the price of the top of my head, but they were slightly dearer than the BT-45
I find the Michelin gripper but its too soon to see how well they last.

[gsJack]

Mmmmmm, can a Yank post here?     I have no idea how tires are priced down under but here in the US the Metzelers have become too expensive for my tastes.   They remain highly rated in my opinion but just not worth the price compared to the others.  I was just comparing online prices recently from AMT one of our major suppliers.  For a pair of GS500 oem size tires:

Lasertecs  $227
Demons     $208
Activs         $183
BT45-G       $152  (GS OEM tires)
Roadriders  $149

The Activs were one of the last of these to arrive on our market and I've not seen a comparison from someone who used both but those that have tried Activs have spoken highly of them here and also on the EX500 forum.  Price would  cause me to choose the Activs over the Lasertecs if I were to choose between the two now.

The bike gets used by my wife for commuting on a mix of highway and city streets and by me for a bit of commuting and runs through the twisties when I can.

When I read that line my first thought was the Roadriders.  Hard to beat as an economical commuter tire and still adequate for my needs in the twisties, could be I'm just getting old but I still do most of my riding in a spirited manner on the twistiest roads I have around here.

I put the Roadriders on late last year and a recent measure of the tread depth on the rear tire indicates they will go over 15k miles for me.  That's more milage than I got from the sport touring radials that cost $40-50 per tire more than the Roadriders.  The st radials certainly performed a couple notches better than the Roadriders but not $80-100 dollars better.  I got 10k miles from the Lasertec rear and about 12k from the front and they cost almost as much as the radials do at my local place.

[bubba zanetti]

Thanks for the replies, I'm due for new tyres sometime in the new year and was considering the Michelins as a change to the Pirelli sports demons I've been running, depending on price.

I get around 10,000 km's out of a rear and the front has done about 19,000 km's so far and been on about 2 1/2 years.

When I got both tyres put on it was about $280 for the pair and the last rear I got put on was about $150.

ATM I'm riding the pushbike to work so my commuting has dropped by half so I'll get even longer out of set. 

[sblack]

Mmmmmm, can a Yank post here?     I have no idea how tires are priced down under but here in the US the Metzelers have become too expensive for my tastes.

Happy to get input from anywhere in the world gsJack. Interesting to see the pricing difference over there. So far I've only done a quick check at a couple of places but have found quite a different story. One store had the Lasertecs at about AU$270 the pair (that's about $175 of your money atm) and the Activs where $34 more. I can't find where I put the exact prices and all I can remember is the difference in price and that the Activs were just over $300. The other place I tried could only offer BT-45s and quoted $346 fitted. Since i wasn't actually wanting to get the BT-45s i didn't bother replying to get a price without fitting.

As for your suggestion of the Roadriders I think I remember you commenting that they don't have the grip of the Lasertecs, something like they're more at the touring end of sport touring? How much difference are we talking? I may never ride to my tyres limits as it is but I'm the kind of person who likes to know I have extra grip handy should the need for it arise (more thinking of avoiding trouble than pushing harder). The cost vs distance of the sports tyres out there is more than I'd like to pay but the mileage you're listing for the Lasertecs sounds pretty reasonable to me at the price I can get them.

[sblack]

Just called the shop back, price was $285 for the pair of Lasetec, $319 for the Activs. I also asked about the Roadriders and they came in a lot more expensive at $378. They don't deal with Avon as much as Metzler and Michelin so i called another place that has Avon as it's main brand and got quoted $352. So it seams we have the complete reverse here to the US in terms of tyre cost. Looks like I'll be going with the Metzler as the cheap option.

[bubba zanetti]

I just got my pink slip done and while I was there I got a price on some tyres. The lazertecs are $10 a set dearer than the sports demons at about $280. The bloke I was talking to couldn't talk highly enough of the metzlers, so looks like I'll be going to a new tyre come replacement time.