Quote from: 500riderI have the Metzler ME330 front and ME550 rear but I can't say that I'm happy with them.  I have ridden a couple hundred miles on them but they still feel squirmy when I lean the bike over.  Have I just not scrubbed them in yet or what?  I thought they should grip better than the stock tires but it feels like they are slipping.  

Any body else running Metzler?

Rob

Normally a couple hundred miles is enough to pretty well scrub in street tires, but I see you are from Canada and this is winter.  Traction is greatly reduced in the cold with all tires.  I ride all year around here in NE Ohio and the pace is definetly slower when it's cold out there.  Have ridden for 20 winters so far.  :lol:  :lol:

I've always liked Metzeler tires, but have not personally tried the new ME330/550 tires.  The older ME33, ME55, and ME99 tires they replace had an excellent reputation for years.  My son ran the ME33/ME99 tires on his 82 GS1100E for years.

I had a ME33 front and a ME88 rear on my 97 GS500E.  The ME88 now replaced by the ME880 is a touring type tire and had better traction than the OE or BT45 tires I had on before that.  I had a Dunlop K491 touring tire on after the ME88 and it was a mistake on a bike like the GS500.  The Metzeler tires have always been a good compromise of life and traction.

Even better than the ME33/ME88 combo was the Z4/Z2 radial combo I put on the 97 GS the past 2 years.  That 130/80 rear Z2 tire is an excellent combination of tire life and wear.  Got almost 14k miles out of the rear Z2 with handling better than any of the bias ply tires I tried on it.

I was considering trying a ME330 front with a MEZ2 rear next season on my newer 02 GS500 since I was not as happy with the Z4 front as I was with the Z2 rear.  But I really want to try the new Avon AV45/46 tires on the 02 this coming season.  Decisions, decisions.   :dunno:  :dunno:

Quote from: vtlionoh yeah, and I haven't the experience or the tools to remove my rear wheel (i think).  my local guy quoted me 35 bucks to do the rear-tire start-to-finish for me.  is that about the going rate?:

$35 sounds pretty good to me!

Here there is a place that will mount new tires for 30 if bought elsewhere, if bought there, 15.
Mark

I actually had purchased a different pirelli's upon a different recommendation and it only came in an 80.  The rear was out of stock so I ended up with just the front.  I wanted to keep both tires the same so I ended up with the SDs.  I was concerned more with the height difference cause I am only 5'4".  Though the height was higher it wasn't bad, the ride is SOOOO much better than it was with the old tires!!!!  But my tires were so crappy I never really pushed the bike before I got new tires.
I can tell you though that the bike turns great.  I don't "fall" into a turn or anything...just glide into it!
:mrgreen:

jack-
av36 or av46 rear? which would you prefer and why?

Quote from: vtlionso snapper, did you notice any difference in performance with the 80's?

The larger, heavier tire won't increase performance - probably decrease all around (over the same tire in stock size).  Acceleration would be slower, suspension would be slower, and handling would be slower.  I doubt you would gain any top speed from the swap either, since it isn't top gear that's limiting the speed, but power.  In fact, I think some report higher top speed in 5th gear or w/ a 15T rear sprocket (?).  If you want the best performance, you should stick w/ the stock 130/70 or perhaps consider radials.

As far as wheel removal, it's really not so bad.  I think all you need is a wrench big enough for the axle nuts and a way to support the bike.  Probably the trickiest part is aligning the wheel when you reinstall, but that's something you should practice anyway.  But $35, including wheel removal, seems like a fair price.

EDIT:

Quoteor w/ a 15T rear sprocket

Oops, I meant, 15T front sprocket

so there's no reason not to go with 140/70's right?  they should fit well and ride just fine, no?

You should not have a problem.

Quote from: pantablojack-
av36 or av46 rear?

nevermind. av36 only comes in 180 rears. av46 is available in 140/80 as smallest rear.

Quote from: vtlionso there's no reason not to go with 140/70's right?  they should fit well and ride just fine, no?

...uh...aside from the aformentioned potential performance decrease?

In reality, I would think they'd all fit fine and ride well enough.  :dunno:  A 140/70 is still wider than stock, as is the 140/80, but I don't know how those two would compare to one another... The 140/80 is technically bigger, but narrower relative to its width (taller)...

It seems lots of folks have gone bigger w/ out complaints, so maybe any differences are minimal... again, dunno.  If you want something like a 140/80, why not just go to a radial... like the avons or metzelers?  gsJack knows.

Quote from: 500riderI have the Metzler ME330 front and ME550 rear but I can't say that I'm happy with them.  I have ridden a couple hundred miles on them but they still feel squirmy when I lean the bike over.  Have I just not scrubbed them in yet or what?  I thought they should grip better than the stock tires but it feels like they are slipping.  

Any body else running Metzler?

Rob

I got a 550 on the rear and I thought it felt squirmy to for about 500 miles. Now I am at 7K miles with it and it looks almost new and handles great, at any GS speed.

Quote from: pantablo

Quote from: pantablojack-
av36 or av46 rear?

nevermind. av36 only comes in 180 rears. av46 is available in 140/80 as smallest rear.

Actually they both came in the 140/80 size Pablo; when I destroyed my like new Z2 rear earlier this year, I found a 140/80 AV36 in stock locally that I could get mounted and balanced right away.  The AV36 has been discontinued and replaced by the newer AV46 tire.  There is probably only limited sizes left over in the AV36's.

I would go with the AV46 given a choice between the two.  It has the newest tread compounds and should give both better performance as well as longer life than the AV36.  Remember the AV45/46 tires are Avons sport touring tires and do not give the same level of traction that the sport tires like the Pilot Sports give.  Avon also has new AV49/50 sport tires that are more equivelant to the Pilot Sports in traction but they come only in the 150/60 size you didn't like with the Pilot Sport rear.

I read with considerable interest your previous post about the way the Pilot Sport was falling out from under you when nearing the end of it's life.  When I put a Dunlop GT501 bias belted front tire on last year with a Z2 radial rear, it did that exact same thing.  The first two or three times I hit a sharp curve fast, it felt like the bike was falling out from under me to the low side.  Whatever it was I compensated for it automatically and ran that combo another 3000 miles and could not make it do that again.  I compensated for it automatically and never felt threatened.  Lucky for me I can respond from experience in such sutuations because I sure can't think that fast anymore.    :lol:    When you mentioned it, I wanted to go out and try a 150/60 rear to see what would happen.