The wear indicators are starting to show on my rear tire, the one that came on the bike which is a Michelin Pilot Activ 130/70.

I've ridden on this bike about 4K since I bought the bike and the tire was reportedly (and looked) "nearly new". I'll skip any review of this tire becuase I have nothing to compare it to. One thing though is that when I went from the original Shinko 705 front tire to my current Pirelli Sport Demon the difference was so amazingly night and day that I am hopeful I will have a similar improvement going to a Sport Demon on the rear to match.

Dang, those Sport Demon rear tires are some expensive tires!!

so...

1. where can I get a good deal for a rear tire?
2. how much does it cost to have it mounted typically? Should I just buy the equipment and do it myself?
3. should I stick with the 130/70 or go to 140/70? I have read mixed reviews both ways. I figure this may be the last rear tire I ever buy for this bike so I want to do it right since I'll only be doing it once.

BikeBandit or American Motorcycle Tire are a couple of places I buy my tires from, more from BB lately than anywhere else. I usually just install factory sized tires. You ought to check with a local motorcycle service shop, as sometimes they'll give you a better price on mounting and balancing the tires, if you buy it through them. Otherwise they'll either charge you more or even refuse to mount them. I install my own tires, not that hard but a little time consuming and requires tire tools and tire lubricant, I use RUGlyde(?) from NAPA. There's many youtube videos on the procedure.

Why are you only planning on doing it once? Going to sell the bike soon, buy a bigger one, or ?

As for tire life, I get much better life out of the Michelin Pilot Activ and Avon RoadRider tires than I do the Pirellis Sport Demon tires.

Well I figure since I have a Sport Demon on front, I should match it on the rear. I really like it on front.

And I figure if a Sport Demon rear tire lasts more than 5K miles then the chances are pretty good I will replace this bike or at least stop riding it as regularly before it wears out completely.

Quote from: mr72 on June 19, 2018, 08:55:20 AM
Well I figure since I have a Sport Demon on front, I should match it on the rear. I really like it on front.

And I figure if a Sport Demon rear tire lasts more than 5K miles then the chances are pretty good I will replace this bike or at least stop riding it as regularly before it wears out completely.

You just reminded me, my MOT (inspection) is due soon.

I've had Sport Demons front and back since I bought this bike last August. It passed its MOT in July with only a couple hundred miles on those tyres, and since then, I've put about 5000 miles on the bike. The front looks like it's got another 5000 miles left in it, but I'm definitely going to have to get the rear replaced.

I think I'm going to replace the rear with a Michelin Pilot Street - hardier whilst keeping that all-weather performance.

Quote from: Kookas on June 19, 2018, 11:55:09 AM
I think I'm going to replace the rear with a Michelin Pilot Street - hardier whilst keeping that all-weather performance.

5K miles sounds like a pretty short lifetime for a Sport Demon... but I guess that's par for the course for that tire.

Why the Pilot Street then? Is it acceptable to put a bias tire on front and radial in the rear? How will the PSR match with the SD up front?

The Pilot Street Radial is cheaper too, and even cheaper than the Pilot Sport Activ like is currently on my bike.

Quote from: mr72 on June 19, 2018, 12:06:00 PM

Quote from: Kookas on June 19, 2018, 11:55:09 AM
I think I'm going to replace the rear with a Michelin Pilot Street - hardier whilst keeping that all-weather performance.

5K miles sounds like a pretty short lifetime for a Sport Demon... but I guess that's par for the course for that tire.

Why the Pilot Street then? Is it acceptable to put a bias tire on front and radial in the rear? How will the PSR match with the SD up front?

The Pilot Street Radial is cheaper too, and even cheaper than the Pilot Sport Activ like is currently on my bike.

Googling it, yeah, it doesn't seem like very long at all. I've kept them inflated - to be honest, they've never really lost air that quickly, so they've never dropped below about 34 psi.

All the wear is focused on the centre, so it's probably because I've done a ton of miles on relatively straight roads - as it's my primary transport so it does a lot of motorway miles to work, family and the shops - and I am also a bit of an acceleration obsessive, although this bike isn't exactly a drag racer. You'll probably get much better life if you do all your miles on twisties.

As for the mixing tyres thing - honestly, I'm neither an expert nor experienced, but I can't see any reason it would be a bad idea to mix them. Ultimately, all they do is give the wheel they're on some level grip - I can't see any reason why differing shapes, grip and wear rates would ever be an issue unless you had linked brakes.

The sport demons are great tires. Like most tires, the rear wears much faster than the front.

The tools to change a motorcycle tire are pretty cheap. Beyond your normal mechanics set, you need a minimum of 2 tire irons, a valve stem tool, wheel weights,  plus a way to set the bead on tubeless tires. I pay a local car tire shop ~$5 to set the bead but if you have a decent air compressor you can do that yourself.

I think that struggling to change a motorcycle tire is a right of passage every motorcyclist should go thorough. Some people would rather pay the shop rate than get their hands dirty. I have seen shop rates for changing a tire range from $25 - $75. Usually on the cheaper end if you buy the tire from the shop. These are prices just bringing the wheel in off the bike. Expect to pay more if you show up with the wheel still on the bike.

Quote from: Bluesmudge on June 19, 2018, 12:28:18 PM
The sport demons are great tires. Like most tires, the rear wears much faster than the front.

The tools to change a motorcycle tire are pretty cheap. Beyond your normal mechanics set, you need a minimum of 2 tire irons, a valve stem tool, wheel weights,  plus a way to set the bead on tubeless tires. I pay a local car tire shop ~$5 to set the bead but if you have a decent air compressor you can do that yourself.

I think that struggling to change a motorcycle tire is a right of passage every motorcyclist should go thorough. Some people would rather pay the shop rate than get their hands dirty. I have seen shop rates for changing a tire range from $25 - $75. Usually on the cheaper end if you buy the tire from the shop. These are prices just bringing the wheel in off the bike. Expect to pay more if you show up with the wheel still on the bike.

Don't you also need something to mount the wheel on for balancing? I guess you can probably get away with mounting the wheel on the bike with the caliper clear and the chain off?

Quote from: Kookas on June 19, 2018, 12:24:53 PM
All the wear is focused on the centre, so it's probably because I've done a ton of miles on relatively straight roads - as it's my primary transport so it does a lot of motorway miles to work, family and the shops - and I am also a bit of an acceleration obsessive, although this bike isn't exactly a drag racer. You'll probably get much better life if you do all your miles on twisties.

I don't do all of my miles on twisties. The bulk of the actual mileage I do is on reasonably straight roads, sort of commuting. We do have our share of windy roads around here and I ride them recreationally, but that's like 25% of my total mileage. This is a Central TX suburban area. We have fast straight highways connecting everything.

I think the SDs wear a lot more in the center because the rubber is soft and the same compound across.

Quote
As for the mixing tyres thing - honestly, I'm neither an expert nor experienced, but I can't see any reason it would be a bad idea to mix them. Ultimately, all they do is give the wheel they're on some level grip - I can't see any reason why differing shapes, grip and wear rates would ever be an issue unless you had linked brakes.

Well I think the theory says that grip plays a big part, wherein more grip front than rear would make it more likely to oversteer and vice versa. But I'd have to be riding the tires way close to the limit to reveal that tendency, and I just don't do that. Not at all. I don't corner fast, I don't accelerate fast, I just don't ride hard. I do hate the feeling of my current rear tire which is kind of apt to [feel like it's] slip[ping] on roundabouts so I have the impression that my front tire is a lot stickier than the rear, which makes sense.

Anyway, everything I read is that the Pilot Street Radials are on par grip wise with the Sport Demons but last twice as long. And they are $30 cheaper. I think I might order one.

Quote from: Bluesmudge on June 19, 2018, 12:28:18 PM
The sport demons are great tires. Like most tires, the rear wears much faster than the front.

Yeah I get that and that's honestly why I am considering a longer-wearing tire for the rear. However I already have probably 1500+ miles on the front tire.

Quote
The tools to change a motorcycle tire are pretty cheap.

I'm sure I can accomplish this job myself without any issue. I need a couple of tire irons and everything else I have. I mean, if I can build bicycle wheels I am sure I can do this. I can balance the tire on my truing stand with the stock axle, or if it won't fit, I can rig something, no problem. I have a big compressor.

QuoteI think that struggling to change a motorcycle tire is a right of passage every motorcyclist should go thorough. Some people would rather pay the shop rate than get their hands dirty.

Oh, you know that's not me. Think I might order a Pilot Street Radial from CG while they appear to be cheap and pick up a pair of tire irons from Harbor Freight.

I still think it's unlikely I'll put over 5K more miles on my GS but who knows. If the PSR sticks as well as the Sport Demon and lasts 2x as long for less money then what's not to like? Radial rear with bias front tire seems to be an approved combo.

I've always been a Michelin fan, no personal experience with the SR but I'll still put money on that horse.  If I still had a GS that'd be the tire I'd run.  It's essentially a PR2 in smaller ratios, and for the money I think it's a great value.  I've used the Power 2CT on my Buell and loved it, and I've been happy with the performance of the PR4 on my Ducati, and now the Road5 on my Ducati has seriously impressed me.
Hate to be a brand snob, but I'll run Michelin on every bike I own from here on out, the brand has just been overall impressive to me.

I get a customer every now and then that swears Metzeller makes the best tire ever, "period", but it's offset by many customers who are indifferent (which is my personal experience with Bridgestone.  They're good tires, and consistent, but not really impressive).  My experience with Pirelli is generally that they're good but overpriced, though my boss is much more opinionated than me.  He has a new set of Rosso Corsa IIs on his Hypermotard and claims he slips on paint lines in dry conditions.  Continental is a good manufacturer, but their tires tend to be just ok in all ways and not exceptional in any.  For a budget tire I think Continental is a way better choice than some alternatives, but in the case of the GS the Michelins are actually the cheaper choice.


Just recently ordered a set of the SRs for a customer and they look/feel like good tires off the bike.  He hasn't come back in since we mounted them for him but I'd assume "no news is good news" on that one.  Will update if I get more feedback.

Watcher, what's your opinion of running them mismatched?

There's like a $10 difference in price between the Sport Demon and the Pilot Street in that size. I'm not replacing the front tire at all. So if a Sport Demon would mate better in the rear with a SD front then I will tend to go that way. But if the Michelin will work as well as the SD on the rear with the SD up front, then why not try the Michelin.

FWIW as a "brand snob" I have had a ton of experience with car tires and I consistently found that Michelins were extremely overrated and overpriced; for a given car tire you could always find a far better tire for less money. While Pirellis were also priced fairly high they were flat out the best tires I ever ran on my Miata, out of nearly 20 sets of different tires. Close second were the BFG Comp 2s. I know this is totally irrelevant apples/oranges with motorcycles but the point is that I have kind of a brand affinity to Pirelli and a bias against Michelin, and my experience with the current tires on GS (Michelin and Pirelli) seems to confirm it. Maybe MC tires are a different breed. Also kind of alarming to me that the Pilot Street Radial are cheaper than the Pilot Sport Activ I currently have, which I don't really like at all.

Pilot steet and pilot street radials are different, with the radials being radial instead of bias.
I run pilot street radials on my gs500 and they are gripping great and looking fine after 13,000km (just over 8000 miles). I'm not seeing wear/flattening so I expect a fair bit more out of them. This is from commuting about 90km total each day so I can't comment on how they carve up the twisties, but I haven't run into any grip issues in the dry or wet yet.
They're cheap too

Avon Road-Riders seem quite good over the last 400 miles or so. No scares, no noises, no problems, marginally more expensive than the Bridgestones the MOT place suggested. Conti GO! (with exclamation mark) were awful.

Pirellis are just ditch-finders in any form and I won't be talked out of it. Even a wheelbarrow would on fire in a ditch if you shod it with Pirellis and then blinked.

mis-matched I never thought was an issue? When it matters the two wheels are probably doing two very different things anyway?

Happy to be wrong.

except about Pirellis.

Quote from: tobyd on June 19, 2018, 02:36:57 PM
Happy to be wrong.

except about Pirellis.

Oh, get ready. I have a Sport Demon up front and it's pretty fab. Exposes the weaknesses in the Michelin rear tire easily. It's so much better than the tire it replaced, which was a relatively highly-regarded Shinko, it's not even worth comparing. Even the moment it was mounted before being scrubbed in it blew away the Shinko.

Quote from: mr72 on June 19, 2018, 02:10:47 PM
Watcher, what's your opinion of running them mismatched?

I wouldn't.  Especially not with the compounds being different.  I'd rather run a less than ideal matched set than a mismatched set of good tires.

Quote from: mr72 on June 19, 2018, 02:10:47 PM
I know this is totally irrelevant apples/oranges with motorcycles but the point is that I have kind of a brand affinity to Pirelli and a bias against Michelin, and my experience with the current tires on GS (Michelin and Pirelli) seems to confirm it. Maybe MC tires are a different breed. Also kind of alarming to me that the Pilot Street Radial are cheaper than the Pilot Sport Activ I currently have, which I don't really like at all.

Everyone has their own affinities, and our behavior as humans is such that all it would take is one negative or one glaring positive for us to be "100% X, 'F' Y and Z".  I don't really have an opinion on automotive tires, I have little experience in that field, but it wouldn't surprise me that a manufacturer would produce a better product for one application and a lesser for another.  Case and point, Dunlop is a long running leader of the pack in offroad tires, and while their street tires aren't total crap I think there are better options for the money.
A prime example is the Q3+.  They're great tires, but I'd rather have a Bstone, Michelin, or Metzeller competitor than the Q3+.  For cruiser the D series is ok, but I'd rather go Mich or Metz or even Avon for cruiser.

I've got a more unique position as I'm involved in the industry and get to see a lot of evidence for and against.  I prefer Michelin, as do many of my colleagues, Bridgestone gets a lot of support as well, and Dunlop is generally a good "go to".  Pirelli seems to be less popular, and gets a less enthusiastic response.  Often we have really good deals on Pirellis, and generally that's when I sell them the most.  Retail cost vs retail cost we move Dun, BS, and Mich a lot more, and it's almost always biased as Dun for cruiser and BS and Mich for sport.  Sometimes I'll get an "I loved my PR4s, never had a better wet weather tire, can you talk me into something else?  If not I'm getting another set of PR4s."  To me that speaks volumes.  Usually for Pirelli, most commonly the Angel series, I get a "These are what's on the bike now, they work pretty well.  I'll just stick with these," which to me says "They were satisfactory and I don't like change."

In truth, though, it's hard to go wrong with any of the big names.

Never heard of Shinko, its funny how the moment you have good tyres it immediately shows up the bad ones though?

Do they still sell BF goodriches (maybe only for cars / 4x4s) in the states? They were great, haven't seen them in ages over here.

Quote from: Watcher on June 19, 2018, 02:54:30 PM

Quote from: mr72 on June 19, 2018, 02:10:47 PM
Watcher, what's your opinion of running them mismatched?

I wouldn't.  Especially not with the compounds being different.  I'd rather run a less than ideal matched set than a mismatched set of good tires.

Really.

Hmm. Even when I'd be getting a so-so (by your estimation tire to match the front Sport Demon, rather than the (maybe better) Michelin?

I am still not 100% convinced it's worth it to spend more for the Pirelli.

Fortunately I'm not in a hurry. I'll consider my options for a while.

Quote from: mr72 on June 19, 2018, 03:01:07 PM
I am still not 100% convinced it's worth it to spend more for the Pirelli.

Fortunately I'm not in a hurry. I'll consider my options for a while.

If your front is even close to the wear bars I'd consider replacing the whole set at once.

What's the age of the tires?



Re: cost, if your local CycleGear has a tire machine they should do $25 per wheel if you purchase the rubber through them (that's mounted and balanced).  You'd have to bring them the wheels off the bike, and in addition to the $25 there is a charge of $4 per wheel for a new valve stem (new stem is company policy, if you rage about this they're obligated to waive that cost, but you didn't hear it from me), a $5 disposal fee per tire (unless you demand your old tires back), and a state fee per DOT tire sold (in AZ it's $2).  So total cost for service will be somewhere around $27-$40.

If you're interested in doing the work yourself you'll probably spend about $40-50 in the tools.  Watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAKIuSjPXxA

Lots of things to talk about here.

Shinko makes a decent tire. A buddy ran a set on his GSX-R1000 and had no complaints. Not the best tire, but a good bang for the buck.

I put a set of Michelin Pilot Street Radials on my GS500. $197 on sale. So far, so good. Pirelli makes a fine tire, too. Lots of good options out there. I always look for sales.

Mixing tires is not uncommon, but for the best results replace both at the same time. Two new shoes can make the ol' girl feel new.

Demounting/mounting is easy with the right tools. Using irons can be a real bear on old tires. A Harbor Freight tire changer works well with a No-Mar mount/demount bar. It takes longer to remove the wheels from the bike than to replace the tires. As mentioned seating the bead takes a compressor. I use a little, portable 2 gal one that works great. If you don't do a lot of tires and don't want to scratch you wheels pay someone to do it for you.

Balancing is easy with a pair of jack stands and a 1/2" steel rod. Let the wheel rotate; the heavy spot will be at the bottom. Add weights accordingly. The local Cycle Gear will give 1/4 oz weights for free.

Quote from: Watcher on June 19, 2018, 03:10:32 PM
If your front is even close to the wear bars I'd consider replacing the whole set at once.

What's the age of the tires?

Rear, unknown. Close to the wear indicators.

Front, nearly new. maybe 1K or 1.5K miles on it. Its the Sport Demon.