What size and brand of radial sport tires will fit safely(and give good handling) on the GS?
i've read through Pantablo's site(recommended read for anybody who wants to know anything about the GS) and picked up some info from there, but it's just not quite enough specific info about brands and all.
110 front and 140 rear will keep you safe and happy
brand.....your call
i prefer sticky B-stones
if you run tru the pits at the WERA GNF( atlanta race this week)
you can probably get race take-offs for $50-75 a set
I'm not sure if they were radials but i had Pirelli Sport Demons on my GS and was very happy with the performance...especially in the rain. My 2 cents. ;)
Avon AV45/46 110/150
Quote from: aplitzAvon AV45/46 110/150
I was also wondering about what size rear my rim could take. Did you do a rim swap or can you use the stock GS rear to fit on a 150?
Quote from: aplitzAvon AV45/46 110/150
I love my avons, but I got the 140
Werase--what kind of B'stones? BT010? 020? :dunno:
BT45's are the forum fav...
trey
will the 140 fit with no problem. I currently have 130 on the back, I want to change it! 2004 gs500f.
I have a 150 on the rear. Stock rim. Handles and rides great!
Is there any contact on the sides of the 150? Any mods required to fit a 150?
I am also wanting a larger tire in the rear of my GS500f bout burned through the stock tire with just a little over 3500 miles on them also want something that is going to last a little longer.
I still like Bridgestone BT45 in stock 110/130 sizes.
Quote from: gs500riderwill the 140 fit with no problem. I currently have 130 on the back, I want to change it! 2004 gs500f.
Yes.
Quote from: sblandin68I have a 150 on the rear. Stock rim. Handles and rides great!
Your tire must still be very new. I had a 150/60 Michelin Pilot Sport on my 2001 gs500 and in the beginning it was awesome. Very sticky. As the tire wears that part at the edge that doesnt make contact with the ground at full lean will sharpen to a knife edge well before the tire is at the end of its life.
It starts to "fall into" corners more and more, eventually scaring the crap out of me when mine did it. I ran out and immediately purchased a 140/80 and preferred it overall. Got the Avons and was very pleased with them.
Quote from: cajrovdIs there any contact on the sides of the 150? Any mods required to fit a 150?
You mean clearance issues, dont you? Keeping in mind that every tire manufacturer's 150 is slightly different, if you get a 150/60 it'll fit without clearance issues. My Michelin Pilot Sport 150/60 cleared the chain and brake stay arm by a quite a few mm.
I dont recommend a 150 on the stock rim though. It pinches the tire so that you end up with a smaller contact patch of rubber on the road (less traction-I could more easily lock up the rear wheel for example) and the edges of the tire can't contact the road at full lean. Read my post above for what happens next.
People (including me) want a bigger tire to look better but even with a 150 the bike and tire look dinky sitting next to a sportbike. Want a bigger tire? Buy a bigger bike. My RR has a 180/55 rear.
The GS handles best with stock or near stock size tires. I suggest the Diablo's or the BT45's in 130/70, 140/70 or 140/80 sizes...nothing bigger.
I still don't understand why people want a larger rear tire; the smaller the better to corner with.
I am on my third set of tires now (All 110/130's) and I think things are getting better with every new tire purchase I do.
The stock Exedras were garbage. I got rid of them as soon as I possibly could.
Next, I tried the BT-45's, but I didn't like how quickly and NOTICEABLE the tire wore on the center portion. When I tried to lean the bike, it felt like the bloody tire had to go over a huge bump. Not a comfortable feeling when you're going at a "sporty" pace.
I have put the Metzler 330/550 earlier this year. Love them. Absolutely amazing grip, even wear, and great grip in the rain. The only thing I don't like about them is that my front tire has no chicken strips at all, yet my rear is still showing about a 1/4 inch of unsed tire. I rather it be the other way around...but I guess no tire is perfect.
Maybe next year, I'll try Pirelli's ;)
Quote from: GoferWhat size and brand of radial sport tires will fit safely(and give good handling) on the GS?.................but it's just not quite enough specific info about brands and all.
To answer the original question, there are no radial sport tires sold in this country that properly fit the GS500 that I'm aware of. Tires like the Mich Pilot Sport and Metz Sportec are available in a 150/60 size that will physically fit the GS and it's rims, but they are not recommended for our 3.5" rear rim because the resulting tire profile is not satisfactory in the tire mfg opinion. Pablo relates his experiences with the 150/60 Pilot Sport above.
There are however some very good sport touring tires available for our GS's. For the 92 and 93 seasons, I put the Metz 110/70 Z4 and 130/80 Z2 tires on my 97 GS and found them both better handling and longer wearing than previous bias tires I used. Got about 14k miles out of the rear Z2. For the current 04 season, I put the Avon 110/80 and 140/80 AV45/46 tires on my 02 GS and like them better than the Metz's for all around handling. Very good in the wet. I've got about 10k miles on them now and looks like they will wear at least as long as the Metz radials.
I'm in complete agreement with both John and GSRider about the OEM 110/70 and 130/70 sizes being best for handling in the twisties for the GS500, but there are no sport touring radials available in these sizes. I will probably stick with 110/70 or 110/80 front and 140/80 rear sport touring radials as long as I can. The 140/80 rear raises the rear about 3/4" and my progressing arthritis makes me want to go back to a 130/70 to lower the rear a bit. Might just try a link change to lower it instead next year.
GSRider>>> Next, I tried the BT-45's, but I didn't like how quickly and NOTICEABLE the tire wore on the center portion. <<<
Similar to my experience GSRider. I replaced the OEM tires on the 97 GS with BT45s and got about 9500 miles out of the rear. A second BT45 rear I put on later after picking up the pace considerably was more than half worn by actual measure in 2k miles when I put on the Metz radials. Still riding 15-20k miles a year, I have to consider tire life along with handling when choosing tires. I have yet to try the Metz 330/550, Perilli Demon, or Avon AM51/52 bias ply tires, but I expect they would be much better than previous bias tires. Great strides have been made in tire compounds in recently years.
Any idea yet what kind of tire life you will get from the ME330/550 tires in OEM sizes GSRider?
Im getting a Bandit wheel in a few days and am either going to buy Avon AM51/52 tires or I'm going to bite the bullet and get a nice set of radials. The Avons cost around 120 for both tires, which is very nice. I dont know what radials I would get, probley Metzler's Z4 or thier new Z6, I would like Avon AM45/46 combo put the price is a little to high for me. Im not sure how tight funds will be since Im restoring my GS, If I was going to keep the stock wheel I would probley go with a Pirelli Sport Demon 140/70, just my 2 cents
Quote from: GSRiderI have put the Metzler 330/550 earlier this year. Love them. Absolutely amazing grip, even wear, and great grip in the rain.
the sport demons are even better
QuoteAny idea yet what kind of tire life you will get from the ME330/550 tires in OEM sizes GSRider?
Well, so far, I've gotten about 11,000km/6900 miles out of the set, and I still have enough tread left for the rest of the season; albeit the season is shorter and shorter.
I figure I'll be lucky to get another 2000 miles though. :(
GSJack, I haven't tried the Avons yet, but if you have had good luck with them, I might try them after the Pirellis.
BTW, I've never tried putting on a "80" profile tire. I wouldn;t really mind trying it so long as handling isn't compromised. What happens when you put on a 110/80 130/80 vs. the regular profiles?
In the tire profile, I mean?
Quote from: GSRiderQuoteAny idea yet what kind of tire life you will get from the ME330/550 tires in OEM sizes GSRider?
Well, so far, I've gotten about 11,000km/6900 miles out of the set, and I still have enough tread left for the rest of the season; albeit the season is shorter and shorter.
I figure I'll be lucky to get another 2000 miles though. :(
GSJack, I haven't tried the Avons yet, but if you have had good luck with them, I might try them after the Pirellis.
BTW, I've never tried putting on a "80" profile tire. I wouldn;t really mind trying it so long as handling isn't compromised. What happens when you put on a 110/80 130/80 vs. the regular profiles?
In the tire profile, I mean?
I've never noticed any big difference in the handling of of the GS between the 70 and 80 profile tires at the pace I ride. I've had little problem running with friends with liter bikes in the mountain twisties with my GS500s, although at 72 years of age I think I've maybe slowed a bit this past year. I think if you are referring to all out riding at the limit, you might get a better opinion from someone like Pablo on the handling differences. My chicken strips run closer to 1" now, somewhat wider than they used to be. :lol:
Quoting Pablo above, [I had a 150/60 Michelin Pilot Sport on my 2001 gs500 and in the beginning it was awesome. Very sticky. As the tire wears that part at the edge that doesnt make contact with the ground at full lean will sharpen to a knife edge well before the tire is at the end of its life.
It starts to "fall into" corners more and more, eventually scaring the crap out of me when mine did it. I ran out and immediately purchased a 140/80 and preferred it overall. Got the Avons and was very pleased with them.]
Pablo has since progressed further into the world of sport tires on his CBR600RR, but his opinion at the time of the Avon 140/80 sport touring tire sounds about right to me. I'm very pleased with the handling.
I used to use Dunlop touring tires on my 400-750cc Hondas, but my first GS500 just wanted to corner faster than those touring tires would accomodate. :lol: :lol:
Here's a link to my tire log showing the tires I've tried on my 97 GS500 which now has about 80k miles on it:
http://members.aol.com:/jcprrp/97GStirelog.txt
If you want to corner faster than a good sport touring radial will accomodate, you want sport radials like the 150/60 Sportec or Pilot sport tires which are about the only size our GSs will accomodate unaltered. Most current sport radials are only available in 160mm and larger sizes.
I put a half worn bias ply Dunlop GT501 front on my 97 GS with the well worn Z2 radial rear in 02 and experienced the same falling into corners that almost scared the crap out of me like Pablo described above. It did it 2 or 3 times the first day and I somehow compesated for it and could not make it do it again for the 3k miles I put on that combo. My experience and instincts work faster than my thinker does now. :lol: I stick with the excellent sport touring radials because of my high yearly milage and not wanting to put on the extra tires to get thru the season, but I really would like to try a set of Sportecs on a GS. The only sport radial I've had on a GS is the BT010 currently on the front of the 97 GS and it is way more sticky and responsive than the sport touring radials. Turns in much faster.
I have an ME330 up front and it works great. I replaced the ME550 (stock size) in the back after around 5 to 6,000 miles b/c it squared off. I did not like how the bike handled with the squared off rear tire.
On the back I now run a Pirelli Sport Demon in the stock size and love it. I took to a track day as was very impressed. In the corners I was able to keep up or gain on riders with "true" sport bikes.
Tire wear on the front looks minimal so I'll probably be keeping the ME330 for a while.
My 2 cents.
My reason for asking isn't because of wanting a bigger rear tire. It's just that nobody makes radials for the GS's tire size.
i simply don't trust bias-ply tires because the design makes the tire work against itself. Bias-ply makers are constantly trying to make bias-plies run cooler because too much heat in them can cause a blowout(think about cars during the 1960's and you can see what i mean). Unfortunately a cooler-running tire means less heat :roll: and less heat means less stickiness. :dunno: It's just a personal preference.
Thanks for the responses. Sorry if this whole thread would've shown up in a search.
Gofer, try the Pirelli Sport Demons. I believe their bias-ply but they're as close to a radial as you'll find...probably the best tire for sporty riding too, except for the radial sport tires.
Quote from: Goferand less heat means less stickiness.
i'm not sure that's true. different compounds get sticky at different temps. the tires are probably designed to be plenty sticky within their own operating temps.
cheers,
will